Beyond The Wild Blue is an accurate rendition of the history of the United States Air Force. Using a combination of archival film research and personal interviews with many of the important figures in the history of the Air Force, Beyond The Wild Blue provides a vivid and fast moving portrait of a service which went from the ruins of World War II demobilization to become the principal weapon of the U.S. Armed Forces. Beyond The Wild Blue presents a comprehensive survey of all of the great aircraft and missiles of the United States, along with the crews and commanders that made the U.S. Air Force what it is today. Beyond The Wild Blue would be useful for classes on American History, Military History, and Cultural History and Civics. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

Disintegration and Rebirth

During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces had become the most powerful military force in history. By September 18, 1947, when the newly independent United States Air Force was formed, demobilization had reduced it to an impotent shadow of itself, with only two combat-ready groups. Yet there were brilliant new aircraft coming such as the North America F-86 and the Boeing B-47 to meet the powerful threat of the Soviet Union. Tempers flared when the USSR tried to drive the U.S. out of Berlin with a blockade. The USAF fought and won its first battle airlifting supplied to Berlin and breaking the blockade.

Vocabulary

• visionary
• isolationism
• convulsive
• precipitous
• armada
• antagonize
• oscillation
• invulnerable
• fiasco
• stoic
• magnitude
• cajoled
• stultifying
• credibility
• logistic
• furor

Discussion Questions

1. Everyone knows that the Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, created the first successful aircraft, but they contributed to the formation of a military air force in other ways. What were the contributions of the Wright Brothers to the eventual formation of the U.S. Air Force?
2. Billy Mitchell was a brilliant pilot and tactician, yet his career ended in ruins. Why did his career flounder, and how did his personality contribute to his downfall?
3. War has been a part of human history for all time, but the invention of the airplane changed the nature of war forever. How did air power change the way war is conducted? How did the realization of the airplane's military potential change the evolution of the new flying machines?
4. World War II was the largest, most deadly war the world had seen up to that time. The Allied Forces (U.S., Russia, England, France, etc.) finally won the virulent confrontation. How did air power contribute to the Allied Forces' victory over the Axis Forces (Germany, Japan, and Italy)?
5. The airplane is the creation of the 20th century, the century of rapid technological advancement. How are technology and air power interdependent?
6. The U.S. defeated Japan in World War II with an atomic bomb, which was dropped from an airplane named the Enola Gay (after the pilot's mother). How did the advent of atomic power contribute to the formation of a separate division of the Armed Forces, the U.S. Air Force?
7. What are the differences between piston engines and jet engines? How did the development of the jet engine revolutionize air power?
8. The plane that was especially built for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but used mostly by President Harry Truman, was nicknamed The Sacred Cow. Why is The Sacred Cow considered the birthplace of the independent Air Force?
9. In 1948, the United States performed an amazing airlift to bring supplies to the blockaded city of Berlin. How was the Berlin airlift the testing ground for the newly independent Air Force?

Extended Activities

1. Imagine that you are a reporter or newscaster at Kittyhawk. Write an article or a script for your readers or listeners describing the momentous flight of the Wright Brothers.
2. Create a recruitment poster for World War II that entices young people to join the Army Air Forces. How would you create a desire to join the Army Air Forces, given the danger of the job?