Army Aviation

Best Hope for the Future

1610 lb GavinMay-June 1947: Major General James M. Gavin wrote an article, “Airborne Armies of the Future,” which appeared in the May-June 1947 edition of The Field Artillery Journal.  And on these pages he offered . . .

. . . “The future of our armed forces is in the air.  All the fighting men and everything they need to fight with in the future and live on as they fight must be capable of movement by air.”
He concluded with. . .

. . . “The nation that in the future has the best trained and equipped airborne forces has the best chance of survival.  Indeed, more than this, only by having such security forces can any nation survive.  For as long as these means of waging modern war are available to us they are available to aggressor nations.  And modern airborne forces of aggressor nations cannot be fought successfully with the weapons that fought past wars.  Not if they are to be engaged at parity and beaten.  Airborne troops are our best national security and the world’s most promising hope for international security.

The knowledge of the existence of a well-trained airborne army, capable of moving anywhere on the globe on short notice, available to an international security body such as the United Nations, is our best guarantee of lasting peace.  And the nation or nations that control the air will control the peace.”

Source:  See pages 178 and 182, “Airborne Armies of the Future,” by Major General James M. Gavin, The Field Artillery Journal, Vol. 37, No. 3, U.S. Field Artillery Association, Washington, D.C., May-June 1947.