Airborne Warfare [Hardcover]

James M. Gavin (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 186 pages
• Publisher: Battery Pr (June 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089839029X
• ISBN-13: 978-0898390292
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,392,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We must bring this book back into print!, August 6, 2000

By 

Sam Damon Jr. (Fort Bragg, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Airborne Warfare (Hardcover)

This is THE best futurist war book written after WWII. In it, General James M. Gavin expresses the truth that we can no longer deny: that ship-based warfare is obsolete and our world moves by the AIR. Those who control the air control the peace. Written before the Korean War, if we had adopted its proposals for lightweight, air-delivered armored vehicles we wouldn't have suffered like we did in Korea. Gavin is right on about our need today for "KIWI" (a bird without wings in case you didn't know) pod delivering aircraft to get EVERY UNIT into the Airborne Warfare business. The USAF toyed with the XC-123 packet plane but gave up on the idea for planes that require runways and must be loaded for each use. Gavin advocates a plane that would be "cow pasture" capable (land anywhere) whose Kiwi pods would be pre-loaded by the user unit beforehand. These pods could be owned by these units for training and mission readiness.

Advanced KIWI pods could be tracked themselves to be their own vehicles on the ground. A brilliant combat leader and theorist, General Gavin thought across service branch lines and arrived at the best ways to effect Airborne Warfare---what we have today is Airstrike warfare advocated by the fighter-bomber jocks in the Air Force. True Airborne Warfare as advocated by Generals Billy Mitchell (supposedly the AF's patron saint) and Gavin was about delivering GROUND FORCES that decisively maneuver and defeat enemies completely by controlling the ground where people live.

We need to update and reprint this book to reinspire this nation to a position of true warfighting excellence instead of the obsolete sea-based (robots in the future) posturing we do now where we think air strikes will win wars by themselves at no risk to Americans.

I hope Amazon.com with its connections will bring about a reprinting of this book..if they need a copy which to do this, I have one to loan for this purpose!

Airborne!

4.0 out of 5 stars On LTG Gavin's Airborne Warfare, January 8, 2009

By 

Ryan C. Bailey (Megalopolis) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Airborne Warfare (Hardcover)

This work is recommended for all military and political scientists, Congressmen, Contractors, Lobbyists, insightful military leaders and all those interested in advancing the warfighting organisations of The American Forces. The General has developed what is certainly the most useful series of military innovations in at least the last century.

Obtained a copy of this rare edition from a private collection. I understand its semi-rare. Most of LTG Gavin's ideas were brushed aside for a half century. Now we're starting to utilise his methodology. He focuses on Aerial delivery of Troops, light tanks and artillery pieces, atomic ready & highly maneuverable, as a solution to the logistics heavy and battle sluggish aspects which beslog our Army & have plagued our Republic since Washington.

He proposes a force structure in which "Airborne" is not a gimmick for delivery of unproteced and ill equipped infantrymen. Indeed the "Airborne" Infantry Divisions never deployed without dedicated armor until c. 2003 since it is insane, in my humble opinion. Every Infantry officer knows that the first thing he needs to win battles is dedicated Armor. Under LTG Gavin's proposal light Armor would be air inserted along with all organic equipment, power units, resupply and even housing. An airhead based light logistics system could, he asserts, free up seapower, expedite transit, secure troops, ensure US dominance for the future worldwide. His point has been extremely well taken by most who take the time to read what the Visionary General had to say.

His experience is no less than that of being the youngest division commander in the States since the Civil War and having been a staff officer in Airborne formations so large that they can no longer even be stood up; Paratrooper Corps & Airborne Army; 1944. He was also chief of Army R&D, a Business leader, Family man, Statesman and Writer.

All in all it may be argued that he overestimated the power of airpower. We feel he simply perceived more development whereas national lack of will has led to military stagnation. We unfortunately refused to make many of his innovations happen and as a result operate still with the mindset that attrition is the likeliest route to success. It is not too late. Countless US & Allied lives may still be saved through the implentation of his Airmobile Force Structure advocated by a certain minority of applied military theorists, myself included.

Read this life altering manifesto of military modernity.