Description
Book SynopsisTells the story of the forgotten airmen, the RAF special service officers who, embedded among local populations and indigenous tribes, collected vital intelligence, developed targets, directed air strikes when necessary, and, perhaps most important, provided personal assessments of airpower's qualitative effects against primarily guerrilla forces.
Trade ReviewThis is a unique and insightful study that cleverly illuminates the historical role of Royal Air Force special service officers: courageous, highly trained men posted to remote and out-of-the-way locations who acted as the conduits for communication and insight between the colonial administration and the tribesmen and who delivered appropriate and timely actionable intelligence. Newton uncovers the little-known nonlethal aspects of air control and its growing sophistication in understanding the nature of the environment. This is an excellent, well-timed, and authoritative book with clear contemporary utility." - Major General Doctor Andrew M. Roe, chief executive, Defence Academy, and commandant, Joint Services Command and Staff College, United Kingdom
"Rick Newton's
The RAF and Tribal Control is a meticulously researched, fresh analysis of RAF 'air control' operations in the Middle East during the interwar years. He ably shows that air control meant far more than bombing or strafing; indeed, the intent of the operations was to prevent conflict and assure law and order. The key to success was a thorough understanding of the needs and emotions of the local populace--a crucial factor that many of those calling for an 'airpower solution' to today's conflicts against irregular forces often neglect. Newton's book is a must for anyone who wants to know how air power can best be used to persuade or coerce." - Mark Clodfelter, National War College professor of strategy and author of
The Limits of Air Power: The American Bombing of North Vietnam"
The RAF and Tribal Control treads new ground in several important ways. Richard Newton links together the Subjects of airpower, irregular warfare, and coercion through his focused exploration of the British use of air instruments in Mesopotamia, the Transjordan, and Aden. More importantly he sheds light on the often overlooked dimension of airpower and the personnel advising airpower’s use. Newton assesses with a critical and objective eye, through official reports and personal papers, the successes and failures of British Special Service officers for reasons their modern successors, combat aviation advisors, and special tactics officers are only too familiar." - James D. Kiras, professor, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell Air Force Base
