Spaatz Through His Perseverance example essay topic

The Way and Life of General Carl A. Spaatz The name General Carl 'Tooey' Andrew Spaatz has become synonymous with the phrase air power and strategist. Air power has come along way since Wilbur and Orville launched the first airplane in 1902 in the city of Kitty Hawk. Famous engineers have taken the Wright-Brothers design and made great improvements to them while slowly integrating these new powerful means of transportation, weaponry and communication aids into the military. Since the onset of World War I there has been a debate on how to most effectively use these new airplanes in the Army's collection.

Most individuals believed that airplanes should be under control of the Army theater commander, while very few felt that these airplanes should be a separate entity from the Army. One of these few people who believed that the Air Force should be separate is General Spaatz. General Spaatz possessed perseverance, leadership attributes and military knowledge; all factors leading him becoming a substantial proponent of a separate Air Force. Spaatz legacy continues to live on; his leadership skills continue to influence people today as General Spaatz is still able to impact air power in the 21st century. It is no accident that General Spaatz is a proponent of a separate Air Force. Spaatz's perseverance, leadership attributes and military knowledge would lead him to be a proponent of a separate Air Force were all being shaped, tweaked and instilled upon him during his early plebe years at the United States Military Academy (USMA) beginning in 1900.

Looking back on Spaatz's career at the USMA, one would not predict Spaatz to become the first Chief of Staff of the newly independent United States Air Force. However, these four years spent at the USMA were very influential, particularly in Spaatz's development as a leader and his ability to persevere. While at the USMA Spaatz was very much a rebel and was constantly breaking the rules. Nevertheless, Spaatz knew he was smart, he demonstrated this by being ranked in the top half of his class.

Although, as Spaatz entered his senior year, he felt he had nothing else to prove and began to slack off. Eventually Spaatz ended up being ranked near the bottom of his class. He went from the rank of 39th to 98th of 107 within a year. With the possibility of getting kicked-out Spaatz used his perseverance and determination to go from that 98th rank to 57th by graduation (Mets 8).

Spaatz knew he was a smart individual and was just persistent on being lazy and breaking the rules while at the USMA. Due to his perseverance to consciously break the rules Spaatz was written up a number of times for failing to perform to the military standard. His wife claims he was not the ideal military soldier and often defied the rules set upon him, as he was still marching punishment tours on graduation day (Mets 7). Some of Spaatz's infractions include failing to clean his rifle properly, gambling, smoking and drinking. The USMA focuses on developing obedience, loyalty and discipline among their plebes; however, the one thing that developed the most was Spaatz's willingness to go against the majority. David R. Mets writes in, Master of Airpower that the one thing learned during his years at USMA was a, "disposition to challenge the system" (7).

This ability to have his own ideas and persistence developed at USMA and would be very important in Spaatz's push for a separate and equal Air Force. Spaatz's character development, particularly in the areas of leadership, perseverance and military knowledge did not end with his graduation from the United States Military Academy. After his commission into the Army he was sent to the ideal 2nd Lieutenant location of Hawaii where he was placed in charge of a regiment of black soldiers. He then moved on to the Army Air Service in 1915 and eventually landed in North Island, San Diego, California. While at North Island, Spaatz was very active; he learned how to fly and took in a great deal of information about the general field of air power (Mets 14). Through Spaatz's persistence during pilot training he became a natural-fly er, "He reportedly soloed after only 50 minutes of instruction" (Glines 2).

After his time in San Diego Spaatz was stationed at Columbus, New Mexico, where he saw first hand the United States inability to fight effectively. While stationed at Columbus his 1st Aero Squadron was tasked with chasing down Francisco "Pancho" Villa in Mexico. The Air Services inability to track him down due to ineffective resources culminated in 1917 with the United States entering the war against Germany. The Mexico disaster along with the war against Germany, "served as a wake-up call for America that its ragtag air force was not ready for a war in the air anywhere" (Glines 2). After these disheartening events Spaatz was sent to France where his phenomenal leadership skills came to light for the first time. When Spaatz arrived at Issodum, France in September 1917, the United States military was short in pilots and thus, concentrated on training and producing as many pilots as possible.

Issodum was to become the fourth phase of a pilot training plan and was imperative to producing advance pursuit pilots for the war. However, when Spaatz arrived at Issodum the school and grounds was in ruins, often referred to as a "mud hole" (Mets 25). Issodum had no quarters for the cadets to live in, no feasible way of getting to the nearest city from the base, no hot water and was very implausible and difficult to take off and land in the muddy runways on the base. Unfortunately, all this was nothing compared to the real problem at Issodum; there was a significantly high death rate, five times higher, compared to other training bases.

Spaatz, unlike his predecessors, would not stand for these working conditions and decided to make drastic changes. In the dead of winter, Spaatz began making changes beginning with the safety of the cadet pilots. The changes he implemented worked as the death toll decreased per thousand hours flying time and thus improving morale (Mets 26). With the improvement in moral Spaatz then focused on building the flying program up. He took the 'mud hole' at Issodum and through his leadership, perseverance and knowledge of what the military needed transformed Issodum into an efficient training base with an impressive flying program. The base became such a success that when General Pershing and Secretary of War Newton D. Baker visited the base in 1918, Spaatz was able to provide an amazing 100 plane air show much to their accolades (Glines 2).

By the time Spaatz was re-assigned from the base, Issodum was very much on its way to producing 1,839 advanced pilots (Mets 30). This amazing turnaround Spaatz engineered did not go without notice from his superiors. They were very impressed by his perseverance and leadership ability while keeping a low profile. From then on Spaatz was known as a " 'doer' and a problem-solver who got results without fanfare" (Glines 2). From Issodum until the end of his career, little known to most people because he shunned public attention, Spaatz had some sort of influence in every aspect of the military.

The next influential time period in Spaatz's career that led him to become a proponent of a separate Air Force came in 1919. In this year, Billy Mitchell created a scheme to create public interest in aviation with the Transcontinental Reliability Test. The test pitted 80 aircraft's to fly between San Francisco and Long Island. In his DH-4, aircraft Spaatz encountered many obstacles and barriers, which would lead any other person to not complete the Test.

However, through his resolve and stamina he was the first to arrive in Long Island. Unfortunately, he mistakenly landed in the wrong field. This blunder did not impede Spaatz's perseverance as he immediately got back up in the air and headed to the correct airfield and eventually settled for 2nd place. The Transcontinental Reliability Test did not generate the sought after public support that Mitchell had hoped for, however Spaatz realized the amazing capabilities of air power of the time (Mets 42). After the Transcontinental Reliability Test and the end of World War I, there was much debate about Billy Mitchell's theories on strategic air warfare. He envisioned using aircraft's to attack the enemy's resources beyond enemy lines.

This way of thinking was exactly inline with what Spaatz believed and the two teamed up and became the biggest supporters for a separate Air Force. However, this way of thinking was much against what the Army and Navy believed. The debates about strategic air warfare came to a climax in 1925, with the court-martial of Billy Mitchell, upon the request of President Calvin Coolidge. Mitchell was being charged with publicly criticizing his superiors; more specifically those who he felt were impeding the development of air power (Mets 60).

Upon Mitchell's court-martial, Spaatz could have easily abandoned his partner and gone with what the majority believed. Although, from his days at the USMA he knew and was conditioned that the majority was not always right. Spaatz through his perseverance, leadership and unquenchable character stuck by Mitchell and testified on his behalf in front of the board. Eventhough Mitchell was found guilty and was forced to get out of the Army, it was somewhat a victory for these advocates.

The court-martial was another highly profiled forum upon where they could get their ideas on the way air power should be used. Spaatz received much admiration and respect from his peers for the way he stood up for the ideals he believed in. They were impressed by his perseverance and dedication, especially, in a time when the odds where against him. His loyalty would go on to be important in advocating a separate Air Force. Another example of General Spaatz's dedication, resolve and perseverance to furthering the use of air power can be seen in an aerial refueling campaign that Spaatz commanded. While commanding the Fokker C-2 A Question Mark, Spaatz kept the plane in the air for 150 hours and 40 minutes and had a disastrous accident during the flight.

The flight highlighted a record setting journey where the Question Mark used over 5,600 gallons of gasoline while being refueled in mid-flight 43 times by a Douglas C-1 Transport, named the Rose Bowl (McNeely). During one of the refueling's Spaatz lost control of the refueling hose, due to the turbulence surrounding the Question Mark and Rose Bowl. Having lost control of the hose the high octane aviation fuel drenched Spaatz's skin. He immediately ripped off his clothes and began lathering himself in oil to prevent further burns.

His burns became very serious and threatened the mission's capability to continue (Maj. ). However, Spaatz would not have the Question Mark land on his behalf; he would rather fight and persevere through the pain then force the plane to land because of him. Spaatz told his men, "If the oil did not work [... ] he would bail out to get medical aid. He ordered the crew to continue the mission" (Mets 71).

Fortunately, the oil did work and Spaatz was able to complete the flight with his men. This experience is another tall-tail sign of the remarkable leadership skill that he possessed, without a second thought Spaatz in explicitly told his troops to always 'put service first'. His burning incident is another endeavor where he showed the punishment and pain he is willing to endure when he believes in something. The most important character attribute General Spaatz maintained, on his push for a separate Air Force, was his forward thinking and great military knowledge. His ability to demonstrate his military knowledge through his leadership and perseverance is the main reason the Air Force eventually separated from the Army Air Corps. Spaatz once again was a minority in his thinking about how to most effectively use the aircraft inventory the military had at the time.

During World War II Spaatz served as head of the Eighth Air Force and made it very clear that they would be committed to daylight bombing while the Royal Air Force would bomb by night. Spaatz received widespread criticism for this decision, yet he persevered. This strategic move coupled with another of Spaatz's ingenious ideas, using long-range fighters to escort the bombers, paid dividends in the United States ability to fight effectively during the war. Upon the onset of the P-51 Mustang all other previous escort fighters became obsolete. This new fighter could now escort bombers all the way to Berlin, thus paralyzing the city (Glines 5). Spaatz seeing the effectiveness of the P-51 Mustang as an escort felt that they could be used even more productive if their mission was offensive along with being an escort.

After approving the fighters new mission General William E. Keener, new commander of the Eight Fighter Command, was told, "flush the enemy out in the air and beat them up on the ground on the way home. The first priority of the fighters is to take the offensive" (Glines 5). Although the bombers felt they were being abandoned this move was a turning point because the German pilots could not avoid the wrath of the United States military. Another critical decision in Spaatz's career that proved his military knowledge and thus gained much backing in his appeal for a separate Air Force was his dealing with oil and transportation bombing in 1944 during World War. Before the invasion of Normandy on D-Day there was great question as to how to best use the strategic bombers. Spaatz felt it best to switch to bombing Germany's synthetic oil industry, particularly the refineries in Ploesti, Romania where most of Germany and its allies received oil (Gen 3).

He believed by taking out the one thing every aspect of German's military depended on would bring them to their knees in defeat. However, General Dwight Eisenhower's air component commander, Trafford Leigh-Mallory, and deputy supreme commander, Arthur Tedder, wanted to use the bombers to attack Germany's transportation system so they could not supply reinforcements or logistical support to those sights that needed it (Carl 466). To the disappointment of Spaatz, Eisenhower chose to go with the transportation plan because of its clear and direct effect. Even with this slight defeat Spaatz knew his military thinking was correct so he continued to persist and eventually resorted back to his USMA days and defied what his superiors told him. On a mission where the Eighth was supposed to attack the Ploesti's railroad system, Spaatz haven been told explicitly not to attack any oil refineries, attacked a Romanian oil field while not dropping a single bomb on any railroads (Doughty 797).

These types of attacks on oil refineries continued until eventually their "petroleum products fell from 186,000 tons in March to 104,000 tons in April" (Gen 3). Spaatz received much lashing from Eisenhower due to his deliberate disobeying of his orders; however, Eisenhower began to see the long term affects Spaatz's decision was beginning to have. The United States and its allies saw the effects from the oil bombings and moved oil targets to one of its top priorities for the remainder of the war. Spaatz was dead-on in his thinking as these bombings severely crippled Germany and its ability to defend itself.

One of Hitler's highest strategists discussed the effects of the oil bombings with him, "the enemy has struck us at one of our weakest points. If [he] persists at this time, we will soon no longer have any fuel production worth mentioning. Our one hope is that the other side has an air force General Staff as scatterbrained as our own" (Gen 3). Once again Spaatz being a forward thinker was able to envision the place that strategic bombing needed to go, contrary to what his peers thought. Spaatz used his experiences from the USMA, and his early officer years to prepare him for these important military decisions that he made which led the United States and its' allies win the war. If it was not for these imperative events that took place in General Carl Andrew Spaatz's life growing up, he would not have had the resolve to be an activist for the Air Force.

Every instance throughout his career played a major role in his advocacy. Throughout Spaatz's career he slowly began creating a group of supporters that swelled through his eventual appointment as the first Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. From his days at the USMA, he often defied the norm and realized that the majority was not all ways right; if he believed in something he needed to fight for it. His character attribute of leadership can be seen during his Issodum days in France where he turned around a mud hole base, to his flight on the Question Mark where he was severely burned and ordered his troops to continue the flight. Spaatz's perseverance can be traced back to the Transcontinental Reliability Endurance Flight where he flew solo from San Francisco to Long Island. If it was not for Spaatz's superior military knowledge about the future of air power, his impeccable leadership and perseverance would have gone to waste.

His vision for bomber escorts being used as an offensive weapon, the need for a strategic nature of warfare to effect-based bombing in World War II were all essential events in his understanding that a separate Air Force was vital. The United States Air Force is grateful for a man like General Spaatz and the events that occurred in his lifetime. He may have been subject to coincidence, or even fate, but either way Spaatz's leadership, perseverance and military knowledge is no accident.

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