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The Bomber Mafia were a close-knit group of American military men who believed that long-range heavy bomber aircraft in large numbers were able to win a war. The derogatory term 'Bomber Mafia' was used before and after World War II by those in the military who did not share their belief, and who were frustrated by the insistence of the men that the heavy bomber should take a primary position in planning and funding. After World War II, the 20 years of foundational work by the bomber mafia resulted in the separation of the United States Air Force from the Army to become an independent military arm.〔 The bomber mafia's strategic doctrine, changed by war and experience, helped shape the mission of the new Air Force and its Strategic Air Command.〔 Many years later a related term "Fighter Mafia" described those within the Air Force that favoured light weight fighters good at dog-fighting instead of heavy missile-firing fighters. ==Origins== Developed over the years 1926–1929 at Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) at Langley Field in Virginia, a forward-looking doctrine of daylight precision bombing was promulgated by four instructors who argued that an enemy's army and navy could be defeated intact due to the destruction of industrial and military targets deep within enemy-held territory. This theory was first espoused by Italian General Giulio Douhet, though his ideas included the terror bombing of population centers that the American theorists eschewed.〔Griffith, Charles (1999). ''The Quest: Haywood Hansell and American Strategic Bombing in World War II''. Air University Press ISBN 1-58566-069-8, pp. 39-40.〕〔Miller, Donald L. (2006). ''Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany'', New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-3544-4, pp. 49-50.〕 In contrast, American theorists devised a strategy of pin-point bombing that targeted the enemy economy and the production of weapons.〔Belote, Howard D. (1999). ("Warden and the Air Corps Tactical School: What Goes Around Comes Around." ) ''Airpower Journal'', Fall 1999.〕 Though unproven, the major attraction of this sort of strategic bombing doctrine was that a war was expected to be won relatively quickly, with minimal casualties, and that grinding, static trench warfare as seen in World War I could be avoided.〔 In November 1932 when British Lord President of the Council Stanley Baldwin said "the bomber will always get through", he was talking about the terror bombing of cities. The US Bomber Mafia agreed with Baldwin only in that the bomber would prevail in its mission. They intended the mission to be against military and industrial targets, not populations. To effect this doctrine, the United States Army Air Corps would be required to expend the majority of its resources in amassing a fleet of self-defending heavy bombers, and in the training and maintenance of a great number of airmen to fill aircrew and ground crew positions. The ACTS officers who believed in the heavy bomber doctrine realized that any other Air Corps expenditures such as for tactical bombers and fighter aircraft would take away from the proposed large fleet of heavy bombers. Moreover, the men realized that the United States government would have to reduce funding to naval and ground forces in order to establish a great air fleet. To implement these changes, the ACTS instructors began to instill a sense in their students that a separate and independent air arm of the type described earlier by Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, to be called the United States Air Force, was the way forward. As a compromise first step, the General Headquarters (GHQ) Air Force was established within the Army Air Corps in 1935, commanded by General Frank M. Andrews, a strategic bombing advocate. Andrews staffed the command with like-minded officers such as Henry H. "Hap" Arnold.〔Rentfrow, James C. (2001). (''Electronic Combat Support for an Expeditionary Air Force: The Lessons of History'' ). Air Command and Staff College, Wright Flyer Paper No. 15.〕 Although flawed and tested only under optimal conditions, the doctrine (originally known as the "industrial web theory")〔Griffith, p.45. Lt.Col. Donald Wilson of ACTS and a "Bomber Mafia" member is credited with the term.〕 became the primary airpower strategy of the United States in the planning for World War II. Four former instructors of the school, the core of the "Bomber Mafia", produced the two airpower war plans (AWPD-1 and AWPD-42) that guided the wartime expansion and deployment of the Army Air Forces.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bomber Mafia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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