Steadfast and Courageous: FEAF Bomber Command and the Air War in Korea. - Review - book review

Aerospace Power Journal, Spring, 2001 by Kenneth P. Werrell

Steadfast and Courageous: FEAF Bomber Command and the Air War in Korea, 1950-1953. Air Force History and Museums Program (http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/pubs/index.htm), 200 McChord Street, Box 94, Bolling AFB, Washington, D.C. 20332-1111, 2000, 60 pages, $4.00.

Anything, Anywhere, Anytime: Combat Cargo in the Korean War by William M. Leary. Air Force History and Museums Program (http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/pubs/index.htm), 200 McChord Street, Box 94, Bolling AFB, Washington, D.C. 20332-1111, 2000, 40 pages, $3.00.

Within Limits: The United States Air Force and the Korean War by Wayne Thompson and Bernard Nalty. Air Force History and Museums Program (http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/pubs/index.htm), 200 McChord Street, Box 94, Boiling AEB, Washington, D.C. 20332-1111, 1996, 63 pages, $5.00.

The USAF in Korea: A Chronology, 1950-1953 edited by A. Timothy Warnock. Air Force History and Museums Program (http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/pubs/index.htm), 200 McGhord Street, Box 94, Bolling AFB, Washington, D.C. 20332-1111, 2000, 105 pages, $7.50.

MiG Alley: The Fight for Air Superiority by William T. Y'Blood. Air Force History and Museums Program (http://www.airforcehistory.hq/af.mil/pubs/index.htm), 200 McChord Street, Box 94, Bolling AFB, Washington, D.C. 20332-1111, 2000, 48 pages, $4.00.

The Air Force History and Museums Program has produced five volumes of a projected eight-volume series that covers the major topics of US Air Force involvement in the Korean War. Because of their brevity, scholarship, and recent origins, they will appeal to a wide audience--and rightly so. Certainly, they make Air Force operations in that conflict more visible and understandable--a giant step forward from the detailed, difficult, and dated official history The United States Air Force in Korea, 1950-1953 by Robert F. Futrell.

Steadfast and Courageous tells the story of the B-29s that bombed from the very beginning of the war to the end. During the campaign, they knocked out the few strategic targets in North Korea; leveled North Korean cities; and attacked airfields, close air support, and interdiction targets. The bombers had problems. The numbers employed were small-just over a hundred aircraft, in contrast to over one thousand stationed in the Mariana Islands at the end of the Japanese war. In addition, the Boeing bombers were plagued by engine problems, just as they had been in the Pacific war. But most of all, these Superfortresses were savaged by Communist MiGs and forced into night operations. Steadfast and Courageous delivers this story, along with such interesting and important details as the use of guided bombs and the first combat use of air-to-air refueling. The study concludes by noting, "With courage and steadfastness, Bomber Command's aircrews policed their assigned beat, stoically enduring their losses. Many were their missions, many were their accomplishments" (57). This is also a fair appraisal of the US Air Force during the entire war.

William Leary writes about transport operations in Anything, Anywhere, Anytime. In writing one of the better volumes of the series, the author puts this neglected subject into the context of the war and gives interesting details in clear, lively prose. He not only discusses the story of transporting passengers, evacuating casualties, and supplying the troops in the field, but also concludes with lessons that the Air Force drew from the conflict. Leary describes the highlights of the air-transport story and clearly shows how important it was to the ground conflict.

Within Limits is an overview of the air war. It gives the big picture by providing the context of the entire ground and political war. As a result, it is less detailed and accurate in the smaller matters. Because of its broader scope, it may not be as useful to some readers as the other studies in this senes. (A footnoted version of this study appears as a chapter in Bernard Nalty's Winged Shield, Winged Sword: A History of the United States Air Force.)

Tim Warnock's The USAF in Korea: A Chronology, 1950-1953 is well done. It consists of an overview of each month of the war and then follows with important and interesting happenings on specific days (fortunately, not every day). Like other volumes in this series, it candidly mentions not only the successes, but also the failures and defeats of airpower. It is noteworthy for its broad coverage, dealing with both the glories of air-to-air combat (the F-86 versus the MiG-15) and other important aspects, such as bombing, air-sea rescue, and air transport. Although some readers may grouse over incidents or people not mentioned, my two criticisms are technical: (1) there are no maps, an omission that becomes quite a burden due to the great number of similar-looking Korean place-names, and (2) the pictures are dark. Yet, these are minor drawbacks, relative to the advantages of this slim volume. In fact, readers may get a better "feel" for the air war by reading or skimming this chronology than by reading a more con ventional text.