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Text originally published in 1998 under the same title.
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Although in most cases we have retained the Authors 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 readers benefit.
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General Earle E. Partridge, USAF: Airpower Leadership In A Limited War
BY
DAVID H. GURNEY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER
Preface
Lieutenant Colonel David H. Gurney, USMC (BA, California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo) completed this study while serving as class leader of the seventh USAF School of Advanced Airpower Studies (SAAS) course. His father was a West Point graduate and career USAF pilot, and his fathers father was an Army Air Corps pilot and career United Airlines Captain. Lieutenant Colonel Gurney is an AV-8B Harrier pilot with over 4000 hours of flight time.
Lieutenant Colonel Gurney has completed three operational flying tours with Marine Attack Squadrons 211 (twice) and 311, as well as a single tour flying the OV-10A/D Bronco as a qualified FAC(A)/TAC(A) with Marine Observation Squadron Two. Additionally, he has served with the Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment as a Forward Air Controller and with the Naval Air Training Command as an intermediate and advanced strike flight instructor. During these assignments, he participated in numerous worldwide operations, both as the Harrier Detachment Commander aboard the USS Belleau Wood and land-based in the western Pacific. Lieutenant Colonel Gurney has filled billets as Squadron Executive Officer, Operations Officer, Aircraft Maintenance Officer, Director of Safety and Standardization, Intelligence Officer and Instructor Pilot. His next duty assignment will be on the General Staff of Marine Forces Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia.
Lieutenant Colonel Gurneys Professional Military Education includes Amphibious Intelligence Officer School, Amphibious Warfare School, Naval Postgraduate School
Aviation Safety Officer Certification, Marine Corps Command & Staff College, Air Command and Staff College, and the Naval War College. He is the 1988 recipient of the Naval War College Foundation Award.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to thank Dr. Jim Corum for his expert advice and guidance in focusing and presenting this topic, as well as his limitless patience in reviewing my numerous drafts. Before receiving his incisive guidance, I had believed that I was a writer.
I would also like to thank Brigadier General I. B. Holley and Dr. Hal Winton for the generous gifts of their time over numerous dinners and private conversations which enriched my professional military education beyond description or value.
Finally, I acknowledge the heavy debt I owe to one of the greatest airmen to emerge from Annapolis, Dr. David Mets. Dr. Mets asked me to take on this project within five minutes of meeting me, and the subsequent blessings of his encyclopedic knowledge and first-hand experiences have fortified this Marine in the darkest doldrums of the Air University and Historical Research libraries. David Mets shares my fathers uncanny knack for driving to the heart of any issue that I wish to segregate from the task at hand, and his sharp wit and unsinkable humor will stay with me always. Semper Fidelis!
ABSTRACT
This study analyzes the career of General Earle Everard Pat Partridge, USAF, with a focus on the airpower lessons that inspired his craftsmanship of the first air campaign of the United States Air Force. The author separates Partridges career into three sequential periods: company grade operational experiences; field grade instructional and doctrinal studies; and finally Partridges flag grade leadership and innovation. The conclusion, drawn from a career spanning both World Wars and culminating in the Korean War, is that Partridge generally endorsed official doctrine as a training goal; a goal to be adjusted to meet the unique and unpredictable contextual demands of an explicit war scenario. Next, the writer evaluates Partridges leadership in the Korean Warthe first to follow the National Security Act of 1947where service doctrine, joint training and technology deficiencies demanded unprecedented compromise and innovation. The final section of the study illustrates the lessons learned by Partridge in the aftermath of the Korean War, lessons that are as valuable today as they were fifty years ago on the Peninsula where America and its allies fought Communist expansion.
Chapter 1 Introduction
Background
Three days after the North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel and began their rapid march south to Pusan, General Earle Everard Pat Partridgein his capacity as acting commander of the Far East Air Forcejoined General Douglas MacArthurs staff in Tokyo for a teletype conference with the Pentagon. To his astonishment, President Trumans decision to halt the communist advance in Korea was relayed with an order to deploy U.S. ground forces to South Korea. Surprise at the order was shared and given voice by General MacArthur as he repeated aloud: I dont believe it... I cant understand.... {1} During the previous week, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson and Joint Chiefs Chairman Omar Bradley had toured U.S. forces in the Far East and were well aware of the poor state of combat readiness in-theater. The U.S. had alreadyat Washingtons directionevacuated all civilians from Korea and withdrawn the few American military forces to Japan. Turning to Partridge, MacArthur asked: Can the Fifth Air Force stop the North Korean columns?
I didnt know what the situation looked like; I hadnt been over to Korea yet [since before the invasion]. He was asking me a question and I wouldnt commit myself. I replied: General, I dont know how big these columns are, where they are, or how well theyre protected. So I would be reluctant to say that the Fifth Air Force can stop them. All I can say is that we will do our best. {2}
Partridges work was cut out for him. Possessing short-range jet fighters (F-80s) and battle-weary P-51ssome still bearing D-Day markings from the last warhe faced the prospect of contesting air superiority over the Korean peninsula from Japan. He nevertheless rapidly organized and led a remarkable combined air campaign that would reverse the North Korean advance and underscore some hard lessons for airpower. In implementing Air Force combat doctrine for the first time as an independent service, Partridge saw that contextual realities and the idiosyncratic nature of war would demand innovative tactics, techniques, procedures and strategies.
