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    1 August 1943 - Today's Target Is Ploesti: A Departure From Doctrine
    1 August 1943 - Today's Target Is Ploesti: A Departure From Doctrine
    1 August 1943 - Today's Target Is Ploesti: A Departure From Doctrine
    Ebook66 pages40 minutes

    1 August 1943 - Today's Target Is Ploesti: A Departure From Doctrine

    By Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Modrovsky

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    The focus of this paper will be on the 1 August 1943 bombing raid on the Ploesti oil field and refineries by an American task force composed of bombardment groups of the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces. The Ploesti raid stood apart from the rest of the war in the air. The idea for it, and the unusual tactics employed, came from the top; it generated from General Arnold’s headquarters and was approved by President Roosevelt. Winston Churchill called Ploesti “the taproot of German might.” It was not a part of any particular campaign, but was considered vital in itself. It was painstakingly planned and executed relatively quickly by the best-prepared and most experienced force available at the time. It was also fought with unparalleled bravery, the sole action of the war for which five Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded. The purpose in examining Ploesti is to first gain a complete understanding of the events leading to the planning for the raid, the raid itself, and finally the impact on the Germans in its aftermath. With this established, the intent is to assess the raid while keeping one fascinating question in mind - after building a doctrine for twenty years based on high altitude, daylight, precision bombing, why, in its first major bombing effort, did the United States “depart from doctrine” and conduct a low level bombing mission on Ploesti, the only low-level bombing mission conducted in the war?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLucknow Books
    Release dateAug 15, 2014
    ISBN9781782897439
    1 August 1943 - Today's Target Is Ploesti: A Departure From Doctrine

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      Book preview

      1 August 1943 - Today's Target Is Ploesti - Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Modrovsky

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 1999 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      1 AUGUST 1943 – TODAY’S TARGET IS PLOESTI: A DEPARTURE FROM DOCTRINE

      by

      Robert J. Modrovsky, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

      Preface 4

      Abstract 5

      Chapter 1 —Air Power – The Fight for Recognition 6

      Strategic Concept and Doctrine 6

      Political and Military Leadership 7

      Ploesti 8

      Purpose and Intent 9

      Chapter 2 — Strategic Bombing – Helping to Win the War 10

      The Road to a CBO 10

      The Casablanca Directive 11

      The CBO is Born 11

      Political and Military Strategy 12

      The CBO Campaign 13

      Mission 13

      Objectives/Targets 13

      Forces and Capabilities 14

      Resources Available 14

      Highlights; 1942-1945 14

      Chapter 3 — The Plan to Bomb Ploesti – A Departure from Doctrine 18

      The Challenges of Planning 19

      The Low Level Solution 19

      Tidal Wave 20

      The Aircrews 20

      Their Training 21

      Chapter 4 — Today’s Target is Ploesti 22

      On the Way to Ploesti 22

      Over The Target 24

      The Aftermath 25

      Chapter 5 — Retrospect and Assessment 27

      Do What You Do Best 27

      The Element of Surprise 28

      The Single Strike Fallacy 29

      Flexibility is the Key to Air Power 29

      In Memory of… 30

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 31

      Appendix A — Comparison Of Strategic Bombing Plans 32

      Bibliography 33

      Preface

      This work is written to honor not only those brave airmen that fought that fateful day over Ploesti, but for all Americans who have answered the call to defend and preserve the rights and freedoms that we enjoy in the United States. For those who perished, this work represents my personal tribute to their memory, and my deepest sorrow to the families and friends who have had to endure a lifetime of emptiness without their loved ones. Ploesti represented the true courage and gallantry of American airmen in the face of impossible odds, yet they carried out their mission as best they could, knowing full well the importance of their target to the Nazis. Each of them believed that their success would hopefully shorten the war and save the lives of fellow Americans. For all those Americans, so impacted throughout our history – may we never forget!

      To successfully complete a work of this depth requires the guidance and assistance

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