An outstanding U.S. air commander in World War I, General William Mitchell was the first serious proponent of an independent U.S. air force and a unified defense department. His staunch and relentless advocacy of air power, however, was accompanied by outspoken public attacks against the War and Navy departments, for which he was court-martialed in 1925. Mitchell's theories of American air power, nevertheless, were sound; and eventually many of his proposals and prophecies—including strategic bombardment, mass airborne operations, and the eclipse of the battleship by the airplane—were demonstrated in World War II.
In this book, first published in 1925, Mitchell speaks of America's present and future role in the air. Compiled from Congressional records, articles in public journals, and personal experience, Winged Defense outlines the importance of air power in military and commercial terms, discusses U.S. aeronautical leadership, the dominance of aircraft over naval vessels and the organization of an air force, the importance of establishing an air defense system, the effect of air power on modifying and limiting international armaments, defensive measures against aircraft, and many other topics. Supplemented with rare vintage photographs, the book is a clearly written testament by one of the twentieth century's most farsighted and influential military leaders.