Eyes of Artillery - Origins of U.S. Army Aviation in WWII

394 Pages·2000·34.34 MB·English

by  E. Raines

EYES OF ARTILLERY
INSIGNIA OF THE FIFTH ARMY ARTILLERY Am SECTIONS
ARMY HISTORICAL SERIES
EYES OF ARTILLERY
THE ORIGINS OF MODERN U. S. ARMY
AVIATION IN WORLD WAR II
by
Edgar F Raines, ,k
Center o!'MilitCIIY History
United States Army
Washington, D.C., 2000
Library of Congress Cataloging~ill~Publication Data
Raines, Edgar F.
Eyes of artillery : the origins of modem U.S. Anny aviation in World War II I
Edgar F. Raines, Jr.
p. em. - (Anny historical series)
Includes bibiiographiclil references and index.
I. World War, 1939- 1945- Artillcry operations, American. 2. United States.
Anny- Aviation- History. 3. Aerial observation (Military scienee)- United
States- History. I. Title. II. Series.
D790.R25 1999
940.54'4973- dc21 99-13019
CIP
CMH Pub 70-31- 1
Army Historical Series
Jeffrey 1. Clarke, General Editor
AdvisOlY COmmiffee
(As of October 1999)
Gerhard L. Weinberg John H. Morrow, Jr.
University of North Carolina University of Georgia
Lawrence R. Atkinson IV
Lt. Gen. David H. Ohle
The Washing/oil Post
Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel
Linda S. Frey
Carol A. Reardon
University of Montana
Pennsylvania Stale University
Michael J. Kurtz
National Archives and Records Mark A. Stoler
Administration University of Vermont
Brig. Gen. Fletcher M. Lamkin, Jr.
Maj. Gen. Charles W. Thomas
U.S. Military Academy
U.S. Army Training and
Doctrine Command
Peter Maslowski
University of Nebraska- Lincoln
Brig. Gen. John R. Wood
Col. Charles C. Ware U.S. Army Command and General
U.S. Army War College StafTCollege
us.
Army Center of Militmy flistOlY
Brig, Gen, John S, Brown, Chicf of Military History
Chief I-listm'ian JcITrey 1. Clarke
Chicf, Historics Division Richard W. Stewart
Editor in Chief John W. Elsbcrg
v

Foreword
Warfare has had its third dimension, niT, for so long thaI no soldier or ,mman now
serving has a personal memory of the expectations, adaptations, or debate that accompa
nied its early years. Air enthusiasts 100 often appear to forgel that the mosl effective
applications or air power have been in concert with ground forces. Indeed, for three wars
running- World War II, Korea, and Vietnam- the close support technique of choice fea
lured airborne eyes and ground artillery. This volume examines the institutional origins
of modem Amty Aviation by recounting the experiences orthe men who flew observed
fire missions in light aircraft for the Field Artillery during World War II. The War
Department designated these aircraft "air observation posts," but the ground troops they
supported affectionately referred to them by such names as "May tag Messerschmidts"
and "biscuit bombers" instead. Aircraft served as 11 key component of the Field Artillery
indirect fire systcrn- llild also played a crucial role in the command and control of
armorcd divisions during mobile operations. The author takes care to delineate how air
obscrvatioll posts intcracted with each clement of the combined arms team.
Eyes ofArfilfelJ' identifies the circumstances and debate that gave rise to the Air
Observation-Post Program. Thc development of military aviation generated an extcndcd
struggle within the Army for the control of aerial observation and posed related questions
conceming how air and ground clements should interact with one another. The author
gives primary emphasis to the period from January 1939, when the Field Artillery began
to actively seek control of its own observation aircraft, until September 1945, when Japan
surrcndcred ;md the War Departmcnt prepared to expand the organic light aircraft pro
gram to the other ground combat amlS. Many of the traditions, concepts, and disputes thM
still characterize Army Aviation originated during these critical years.
Eyes of Al'lillel)1 is the first archive-based, in-depth study of the origins of modern
Army Aviation in the United States. [t makes a gelluine and unique contribution to the lit
erature of World War II lind to the institutional history of the Army. The U.S. Army
Center of Military Hi~t01Y is proud to publish this valuable work.
Washington, D.C. JOHN S. BROWN
10 March 2000 Brigadier General, USA
Chief or Military History
vu
The Author
Edgar Frank Raines, Jr., was born and raised in Murphysboro, Illinois. He :lIIcndcd
Southern Illinois University, where he received his B.A. in history in 1966 and his M.A.
in the same subject in 1968. I-Ie obtained his Ph.D. in history from the University of
Wisconsin in 1976. From 1976 unti! 1979 he was the assistant academic dean at Silver
Lake College in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. He spent the next fourteen months as a historian
with the Office of Air Force History, Washington, D.C. Employed as a historian al the
Center of Military History since November 1980, Dr. Raines is currently assigned to the
General History Branch. In 1986 he coauthored (with Maj. David R. Campbell) The Arm)'
(1l1d fhe Joilll Chiefs of Sraff: EvolutiQII of Army Idem" 011 rile COlI/lIIlI/ul. COl/lml. (II/(I
us.
Coordil/ation of tile Armed Forces. 1942- 1985. Dr. Raines has writtcn numerous
unpublishcd special studies as well as several articles in military and social history. In
1985 his "The Ku Klux Klan in Illinois, 1867- 1875" won the Harry E. Pratt Award for
the best article on 111inois history.
Vl1l
Preface
On 24 February 1991, sOllle two hundred helicopters, UH-60 Blackhawks, AI.J-64
Ap:IChcs, CH-47 Chinooks, 01-1-58 Kiowas, and a few UH- I Hucys, carried the lSI
Brigade, IOlst Airborne Division, ninety-five miles into Iraqi territory- the longest air
assault heretofore attempled. It was a striking display of operational mobility during the
short, sharp ground combat ponion of the Gulf War und an iudication of why some mili
tary analYSIS, mosl notably Richard E. Simpkin, Ilsed the phmsc "rotary-wing revolu
tion" to describe warfare in the latc twentieth century. The helicopters that made possi
ble the 1st Brigade's assault inlO Forward Operating Base Cobra were operated and sup
ported by members of the U.S. Army. The Department of the Anny had organized the
Aviation branch in 1983, but the origins of Army Aviation go back much carlier- to
World War 11.1
This monograph discusses the institutional beginnings of Anny Aviation in the Field
Al1illery's Air-Observation-Post Program of World War II. [t seeks to explain why the
Army turned to organic aviation as a solution to the doctrinal and tactical problems it
faced in 1942 and how it implementcd this change. [n essence, this study argues that
transformations in the al1 of WHf crcated the ncccssity for rcform, while ncw technologies
provided the means that previously had not existed. The how is also important. A loose
coalition of senior officer mentors and mid-level and junior officer refomlCrs maneuvered
to organize a test of the organic aviation concept, demonstrate its efficacy for the Field
Artillery, sct up a training program, use light aircrafl effectively in combat, and expand
the program 10 the other combat amlS. In the process the center of innovation shined
frOIll the Office of the Chief of Field Artillery in the War Department to Headquarters,
Army Ground Forces, to thc Department of Air Training :ttthc Field ArtillclY School, to
the air sections in field artillery battalions overseas, and back again to the War
Department. Depending on the issue and the circumstances, senior officcrs, mid-level
officers, junior officers, or some combination of the above were most important at any
particular time.
Although the increasing importance of Army Aviation amply justifies a study of its
institutional origins, it also provides a means of eXlUnining the dominant tactical philoso
phy of thc U.S. Army in the twentieth cel1tury----(:ombined arms. The Arm)' /)iCliOlllll)'
defines this concept as "more than one t:lctical bmTlch of the Anny used together in oper
ations." Thc combined anns approach assumes that, if a commandcr C:ln efTcctively coor
dinate all his assets in a blcnd or fire and maneuver adapted to the particular situation he
faces, he will achievc a synergy that makcs the effectiveness of the whole greatcr than the
sum of its individual componcnts. I-low the ground Anny :I\tempted to integmte airerafl
I Ed"'ard M. Ftanagan. Jr .. Liglllllillg: Tile IOlsl ill III .. Gill/Will' (Washington. D.C.: Brussey's. 1994). pp.
165-77; Rich~rd E. Simpkin, RUClt: 10 Iht: S ...i ft: Thoughls Oil TU'cllt)"'Fir:J1 Cellllll)' Warfi,rr: (WashingIOil. D.C.:
Bmsscy'$ Defence Publishcrs. 1985). pp. 117-32.
IX