"Flexibility is the key to airpower"
A quote investigation
Flexibility is the key to airpower…
…and indecision is the key to flexibility…
…therefore indecision is the key to airpower!
I’ve heard the quote “Flexibility is the key to airpower” for decades.
It’s often attributed to Gen. Guilio Douhet, an early air power theorist who called for, among other things, an independent air force, and bombing of civilians to terrorize the populace into begging their government to end the war.
I’m always interested in finding the source of any quote, and often times, I’m disappointed.
This is one of those times. I was unable to find an actual context for the quote, and it’s not found anywhere in the Dino Ferrari translation of Douhet’s collected works under the title of his most famous work, Il dominio dell’aria, first published in Italy in 1921.
The USAF Air University has a publicly available PDF here The Command of the Air - Air University.
But, like many sayings, it’s got staying power. Might even say staying airpower…
It's got saying power