Description

Since nobody reads a foreword, this may be regarded as an appendix. Back up to it if you need it. You will need the foreword only if you failed to get the word. The word, in this case, was the use of support aircraft in an amphibious operation as told to you by one of the air support training instructors. This introduction is really intended just for Dilbert, but anyone can look at the cartoons. Even if you are another of those characters who become glassy-eyed at plain print, you can always get a bang out of pictures of Dilbert doing dumb things. What the instructor was saying was that Naval Aviation, from Tarawa to Eniwetok, to Saipan, to Guam, to the Philippines, has finally perfected its role in an amphibious operation. Support aircraft doctrine grew directly out of these battles, by the method of trial and error. Since conclusions have been reached, it is requested that further experimentation by pilots, no matter how good their intentions, be discontinued.