John Warden and the Renaissance of American Air Power

by John Andreas Olsen

**** Included on the

Genres: History, War

374 pages, Hardcover

First published June 22, 2007

Reviews

[Raj Agrawal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olsen provides a balanced overview of Col John Warden’s life, influence, failings, and contributions to strategic airpower theory. Olsen includes many independent accounts of Warden’s impact on the US Air Force which adds some depth that was somewhat lacking in previous accounts on Warden. Additionally, this focused work models Osinga’s book on John Boyd.

I don’t have much to say on this book as I’ve been exposed to these perspectives over the course of my Air Force career (such as it is). I appreciate the critical approach to Warden’s five-ring theory, but I don’t believe it is quite critical enough. Many leaders saw the flaws in the “hope COA” inherent in Instant Thunder, yet the author does not take the opportunity to synthesize this into an alternative perspective. Fortunately, Pape does this is his book.

Olsen’s book is less about strategy and Warden’s contributions, and more a warning to future leaders. It doesn’t matter how much of a visionary you might be – your subordinates, your peers, and your leaders have to trust you for you to be effective. While Olsen tends to get caught up in Warden’s lack of “good-ol’-boy”-ness, trust is made up of many factors. I tend to believe that if you pursue integrity, put others before yourself, and prove yourself to be the expert in your field, the trust will come. Not to take away from Col Warden’s incredible contributions to strategy, but his pride and myopia may have caused him to fall short in all three areas.

[Trav · Rating 4 out of 5]

A relatively balanced examination of John Warden and how his personality and experience shaped the re-emergence of air power theory during the dying days of the Cold War and immediately after. The image Olsen paints of Warden is of a genius lacking the social skills to promote his ideas in an world organization that was resistant to change. Despite the reaction against his theories, Warden's ideas gained hold within the USAF and the broader defence community and thereby shaped America's approach to the air power in the post-Cold War world. Even those who consciously eschewed reference to Warden, applied his theories in the application of air power.

Once of the strengths of this book is the way in which its presents Warden's theories in the light of the context in which he developed them. This enables the reader to gain a greater appreciation of the originality of Warden's thought. This is particularly important for the those who gained their appreciation of air power after the success of DESERT STORM and now accept the concepts that guided that campaign as a natural expression of air power.

Finally, the fact that people on both sides of the Warden divide were able to express their views and comment on the manuscript gives this book an added sense of impartiality.

A good and worthwhile read.

[Olin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book with a gold mine of lessons on leadership and relationships.