Hap Arnold and the Evolution of American Airpower

Infantry Magazine, Sept-Dec, 2000

Hap Arnold and the Evolution of American Airpower. By Dik Alan Daso. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000. 314 Pages. $29.95. Reviewed by Colonel Cole C. Kingseed, U.S. Army.

Few officers have had careers more distinguished than that of General of the Air Force Henry "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General of the Army Air Forces in World War II. In the first full-length biography based primarily on Arnold's personal papers and recently declassified federal documents, Air Force pilot and author Dik Daso examines the career of the officer whose vision laid the foundation for the technology, infrastructure, and philosophy of today's U.S. Air Force. This current biography is Daso's second contribution toward portraying Arnold as one of the 20th century's greatest military leaders. (The first was Architects of American Air Supremacy: General Hap Arnold and Dr. Theodore von Karman, 1997.)

Daso takes more than a traditional biographical approach to a man's life. In his effort to present a fresh look at the life of the Air Force's only five-star general, he focuses on the critical elements of science and technology that so influenced Arnold's life. He offers a provocative parallel that portrays Arnold's story as an evolution and a struggle for the development and acceptance of an air force as a legitimate clement of military power. Daso contends that it is his subject's journey through history--not his final destination in history--that offers the most critical insight into the mind of the commander of the most powerful air force ever assembled.

When he graduated from West Point in 1907, Arnold received a commission in the infantry, but his heart was in the cavalry. Four years later he volunteered for the Aeronautical Division of the Signal Corps. Under the tutelage of Wilbur Wright, Arnold received his pilot's license and embarked on a career that eventually led to the pinnacle of his profession. Although he was destined never to fire a bullet or drop a bomb in combat, Arnold quickly grasped the potential of the airplane and dedicated his career to the advancement of air power.

The interwar years produced disillusionment and declining budgets, but in 1929, Arnold began a decade of command experience, ranging from overseeing distribution of supplies, research and development, airmail operations, and transcontinental flights. With such vast experience in virtually every aspect of air operations, Arnold also refined his skills as an adroit Washington bureaucrat, increasingly comfortable within both the political and the industrial arenas. In 1935 he received his general's star, taking command of the West Coast Division of the newly constituted General Headquarters, Air Force. Arnold was elevated to Chief of the Army Air Corps three years later and in 1941, became commanding general, Army Air Forces (AAF).

Over the course of World War II, Arnold had every bit as much influence on the conduct of the air war as General George C. Marshall had on the strategic planning of the ground war. His personal intervention to garner congressional support for production of the B-29 bomber and his continual efforts to perfect the AAF organization were his greatest contributions to victory. Ironically, Daso says, Arnold's most prescient judgment may have been the one that required him to defer action. To separate the Army Air Forces in the midst of a global conflict would have interfered with many other, more critical plans and programs. Long an advocate of an independent air service, Arnold placed his dreams on the back burner until victory was won.

Toward the end of his life, Arnold delineated the three components of what he felt constituted a successful military career. The first prerequisite was basic knowledge: "exact, clear knowledge; not a hazy smattering." Arnold's knowledge of the basics of the military profession was the air chiefs "technique" that constituted the tools of the profession. To this knowledge, Arnold added unrelenting hard work-the same puritanical work effort that characterized his years on the Army general staff and within the halls of power in Washington, D.C. Finally, Arnold listed the most important element; vision, the key of which was to look beyond an immediate assignment to envision possibilities yet to be developed. It was his ability to conceptualize new horizons of activity that converted Arnold's dreams into realities.

In the final analysis, Daso presents an interesting sketch of America's foremost air commander, and adds significantly to our knowledge of the struggle for parity among the various military services. Though his analysis at times borders on idolatry, Daso achieves his purpose in presenting Arnold as a pioneer who advanced the evolution of American air power. Though Infantry readers might enjoy more combat and operational history in this biography, the author reminds us that Arnold fought World War II not in the field, but in Congress, on the Army General Staff, in factories, and in universities.