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    Claire Lee Chennault: Theorist And Campaign Planner
    Claire Lee Chennault: Theorist And Campaign Planner
    Claire Lee Chennault: Theorist And Campaign Planner
    Ebook111 pages1 hour

    Claire Lee Chennault: Theorist And Campaign Planner

    By Major John M. Kelley

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    About this ebook

    This monograph examines Claire Lee Chennault as a military theorist and campaign planner. It inquires whether Chennault’s evolution of a theory of war assisted his planning the China-Burma-India Campaign during World War II.

    The monograph is divided into four sections. The first section focuses the historical background of Chennault and the war in Southeast Asia, emphasizing the war in China as this is where Chennault preponderantly fought from. In addition, it identifies the aims of the major belligerents of the Sino-Japanese War and why the Chinese actions were important to the Allied cause. The second section explores Chennault’s theory of war. This section explores how he developed his theory of war and the theory itself. The third section analyzes how Chennault’s theory met the Chinese and American ends (desired end state), means (application of the available resources), and ways (resource employment to achieve the ends). The fourth section concludes that Chennault’s theory of war assisted him in planning the China-Burma-India campaign during the Second World War.

    Two functions precipitated from Chennault’s theory of war. First, his theory clarified the past and the present; notably the Great War and the airpower’s technological evolution. Second, it assisted Chennault to foresee the future. The future was realized because Chennault transcended the theorist role to that of an operational commander. His theory fostered an operational concept, the war of mobility, which developed into a fighting doctrine. With these resources and the invaluable contributions of the Chinese peasants, Chennault devised a method of employment that maximized the contributions from all the means. Chennault rationally created a campaign plan designed according to his theory.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVerdun Press
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781786252449
    Claire Lee Chennault: Theorist And Campaign Planner

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      Book preview

      Claire Lee Chennault - Major John M. Kelley

      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 1963 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2015, 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.

      CLAIRE LEE CHENNAULT: THEORIST AND CAMPAIGN PLANNER

      By

      MAJ John M. Kelley, USA

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      ABSTRACT 5

      I. INTRODUCTION 6

      II. BACKGROUND 9

      CLAIRE LEE CHENNAULT 9

      THE WAR IN CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA 12

      III. THEORY 16

      IV. CHENNAULT’S ENDS, MEANS, AND WAYS 26

      ANALYSIS OF THE DESIRED END STATE 26

      ANALYSIS OF THE MEANS 29

      ANALYSIS OF THE WAYS 36

      ADVISOR (Circa 1 June, 1937 — 31 July, 1941) 37

      AVG (1 August, 1941 — 4 July, 1942) 39

      CHINA AIR TASK FORCE (5 July, 1942 — 9 March, 1943) 40

      14TH AIR FORCE (10 March, 1943 — 1 August, 1945) 41

      CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 46

      CONCLUSION 46

      IMPLICATIONS 46

      BIBLIOGRAPHY 49

      BOOKS 49

      MANUSCRIPTS 50

      ARTICLES 50

      DOD MANUALS AND PUBLICATIONS 52

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 54

      ABSTRACT

      This monograph examines Claire Lee Chennault as a military theorist and campaign planner. It inquires whether Chennault’s evolution of a theory of war assisted his planning the China-Burma-India Campaign during World War II.

      The monograph is divided into four sections. The first section focuses the historical background of Chennault and the war in Southeast Asia, emphasizing the war in China as this is where Chennault preponderantly fought from. In addition, it identifies the aims of the major belligerents of the Sino-Japanese War and why the Chinese actions were important to the Allied cause. The second section explores Chennault’s theory of war. This section explores how he developed his theory of war and the theory itself. The third section analyzes how Chennault’s theory met the Chinese and American ends (desired end state), means (application of the available resources), and ways (resource employment to achieve the ends). The fourth section concludes that Chennault’s theory of war assisted him in planning the China-Burma-India campaign during the Second World War.

      Two functions precipitated from Chennault’s theory of war. First, his theory clarified the past and the present; notably the Great War and the airpower’s technological evolution. Second, it assisted Chennault to foresee the future. The future was realized because Chennault transcended the theorist role to that of an operational commander. His theory fostered an operational concept, the war of mobility, which developed into a fighting doctrine. With these resources and the invaluable contributions of the Chinese peasants, Chennault devised a method of employment that maximized the contributions from all the means. Chennault rationally created a campaign plan designed according to his theory.

      I. INTRODUCTION

      At every crossing on the road that leads to the future ... each progressive spirit is opposed by... a thousand men appointed to guard the past. — Maurice Maeterlinck

      Between 1937 and 1945 the world’s attention was riveted to the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific. Yet, there was a theater of war in China and Southeast Asia that was a fight for survival for the Chinese and Japanese. While other nations such as Italy, Germany, France, and the Soviet Union eventually departed the theater for other battlefields, the United States and the British stayed the course for the duration of the war. Yet, the United States and the United Kingdom scarcely agreed on a common goal while campaigning in the theater.{1}

      Whatever the sensibility of the divergent execution of the United States/United Kingdom Southeast Asian strategy, the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater contributed to the ultimate defeat of Japan. The allied successes in the CBI were all out of proportion to their meager costs. The addition of the allies to the theater prevented Japanese expansion into the Indian Ocean and, more importantly, kept China in the war. A large portion of the credit for the allied success in frustrating Japan’s designs in the CBI Theater rest with Claire Lee Chennault, The Flying Tiger.

      Chennault is renowned as a practitioner of aerial warfare in China. He did not command the theater—the Chinese, Russians, British and Americans had their own command structures. Yet, he was largely responsible for the campaign through his advice to Chiang Kai-shek, and the precedent established for the allies when the US and UK entered the theater at half-time.{2} His Fourteenth Air Force, really no larger than a composite wing, had an impact against the Japanese disproportionate to its modest size.{3} His 308th Bombardment Group had the highest accuracy of any B-24 group.{4} His 23d Fighter Group had the greatest number of aerial victories of any US fighter group.{5} His early warning net saved countless American and Chinese lives by giving them time to reach air raid shelters. His fliers held the record for the number of repatriations after a shoot-down or ditching.{6} Chennault’s intelligence net (precursor to the OSS Asian operations) continued to aid the Nationalist Chinese against Mao’s communists. One of Chennault’s Civil Air Transport planes was the last aircraft to deliver relief supplies to the besieged garrison at Dien Bien Phu.{7} The CIA eventually purchased his fleet and incorporated the clandestine air service into its operations.{8} Back in the dark days of December 1941, his Flying Tigers were one slender thread of Allied hope.

      Chennault’s public legacy is that of the Flying Tiger, but there was much more to the man. From 1937 until recalled to the Army in April of 1942, Chennault was Chief of Staff of the Chinese Air Force (CAF) and subordinate to Chiang Kai-shek.{9} From his observations of the German, Italian, British, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese methods, Chennault deduced their fighting strengths and weaknesses. He was responsible for assisting Chiang in achieving Chinese strategic goals and, after recall and promotion to Brigadier General, he was responsible for assisting the US in achieving its strategic aims. While he remained true to his President and country, Chennault’s wisdom, foresight, and insatiable desire for achievement eventually collided with the Army leadership.{10} This conflict drove him to his third retirement from the Army and he departed China on August 8th, 1945.{11} By this date Chennault had long proven and vindicated all his theories of

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