Publisher, editor and SIG Coordinator David W. Tschanz earned his Ph.D. in history in November 2001. His dissertation topic was the Nabataean Occupation of the Al Jawf Oasis. Member James F. Dunnigan is nearing completion of the fourth edition of his classic, How to Make War. Former Associate Editor Robert A. Miller is leaving Saudi Arabia after fourteen years in the Middle East. Bob intends to head to Yeovil England to rest up a bit and then will in all likelihood look into settling roots in Gainesville, Florida. Long time readers will remember his exquisite cover art which graced our issues for a number of years. Honorary member and Mensa Bulletin editor Julie Olson became Julie Boone on September 7, 2001. Congratulations! Former Editorial Assistant Karl Tschanz completed Advanced Training as a Fire Direction Specialist on a MLRS at Fort Sill. In December he was transferred to South Korea where, according to all reports, he is doing well, if feeling a bit chilly. Alan Cranford, who has 82 days left in Riyadh, had the following to say about last month's cover article: Richard Estes did a credible job explaining the asymmetric nature of Douhet's strategy. I tend to think that Douhet was repeating a mistake made by the military of that day, of running land and sea operations in a vacuum, but my criticism is wrong. In "The Command Of the Air," Douhet clearly made his point that all else was to be subjugated to the air campaign. The chapter titled "The War of 19--" illustrated an eight-day war, where Germany's independent air force totally crushed France. Nobody has pulled off a Douhet strategy. In 1939, nobody had the means. World War Two saw a gradual escalation of the air war--not a knock-out blow as Douhet preached. The American war plans had an immediate knock-out blow, launched from the Philippines and from Alaska, directed against Japan as early as 1930, but the means to deliver this blow didn't exist until 1945. Oh, the United States Army Air Force had fleets of bombers as early as 1943, but there were still obstacles such as the Pacific Ocean--and scores of Japanese air bases between the United States and Japan. Note: Pearl Harbor was NOT in accordance with Douhet's strategy. Douhet warned against "wasting" air war resources on enemy surface forces--he would have counseled Japan to aim at the mainland American cities and wipe them out (if I read "The Command Of the Air" right.) Anything less was a waste of time. As Japan didn't have the means to do this, I feel confident in saying that Douhet would have counseled Japan to stay out of the war. After all, Douhet DID say that the only three nations requiring aircraft carriers were the United Kingdom and Japan (two island empires dependent upon their colonies for their life-blood) and the United States. The closest thing to a Douhet strategy has been McNamara's Mutually Assured Destruction doctrine. MAD was only a retaliatory option--gradual response is the American way. The trouble with MAD is that any threat less than annihilation isn't severe enough to commit global suicide (if that is possible-- I have a copy of "The Effects of Nuclear Weapons" and the coverage isn't total--but would be an unprecedented disaster.) Many threats do not have anything worth nuking. September 11 and the current "war" in Afghanistan and make my point. Bin Laden and the rest of the gang took a pasting from the air, lost their hardened bases, and now are being hunted down one-by-one. The conflict in Afghanistan, is it a total war? As Al Qaeda is decentralized and "grass-roots," there is no means to decapitate it. How long did the world chase Nazi war criminals after Germany surrendered in 1945? Have there been any new trials? I believe that Mr. Estes treated Douhet fairly. After all, few of the armchair generals have even bothered to read Douhet. Back to Cry Havoc #37 Table of Contents Back to Cry Havoc List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by David W. Tschanz. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com