| Today's United States Air Force is a decisive factor on the modern world battlefield. During World War II this was not so. In fact, Germany led the world in many important aeronautical fields, particularly jet engines and high-speed flight designs. Their superiority had its foundations in theoretical science and practical application of that knowledge to military problems. America, on the other hand, had relied upon empirical experimentation in efforts to solve problems which related to the here-and-now.;As the year 1938 came to a close, General Henry "Hap" Arnold took command of the Army Air Corps. Arnold, one of the Army's earliest aviators, had served as an infantryman, a pilot, a Washington staff officer, a supply chief, and a wing commander. He had been involved with the development of the Army's first guided missile, "The Bug," and had become acquainted with a wide variety of scientists, engineers, and professors over his lengthy military career. He held a strong belief that exploitation of science and technology would benefit the Army Air Force.;Near the end of the war, Arnold selected an emigre scientist, Theodore von Karman, to lead a study forecasting the future of science and technology and its application to the Air Forces. Karman, a Hungarian-Jew educated in the German tradition, had come to America enticed by Guggenheim Fund dollars in 1926. The changing political climate and social developments in Germany forced his permanent relocation in 1930. Karman was regarded as the most brilliant aeronautical scientist of his generation.;This is the story of how Arnold and Karman ensured that theoretical science and application rather than empiricism grew to dominate Air Force research and development infrastructure. It is a story of how personalities drive actions, how institutions reflect personalities, and how the interaction of these factors influenced, and continue to mold, the evolution of American air supremacy. |
