Air University (AU) > AUPress

Sept. 19, 2022
The Icarus Solution: The Lure and Logic of Airmindness

In 1990, the think tank RAND assessed the professionalism of United States Air Force officers at Air University. The study’s author, Carl Builder, concluded they lacked allegiance to air power theory and instead were enamored with the excitement of flight. He labeled this institutional crisis,
April 11, 2022
Assured Access: A History of the US Air Force Space Launch Enterprise, 1945–2020

In Assured Access: A History of the United States Air Force Space Launch Enterprise, 1945–2020, David N. Spires surveys more than six decades of Air Force launch support for the nation’s military, intelligence, and civilian space communities. From their inception as refurbished ballistic
Sept. 30, 2021
The Vital Era

In the past century, few have done more to establish the Air Force and its logistics enterprise as we know it today than Maj Gen Hugh J. Knerr; fewer still are as unique. An early aviator, Knerr established the first airlift mission and led the procurement effort for the B-17 with Gen Frank Andrews
March 2, 2021
Defending Air Bases in an Age of Insurgency, volume III: Integrated Base Defense Principles for Commanders

This third and final volume in the AU Press monograph series Defending Air Bases in an Age of Insurgency provides concise principles designed to assist Air Force and Space Force commanders in better understanding their role in base defense to better protect their people, resources, and war-fighting
Sept. 29, 2020
Behind the Light Switch: Toward a Theory of Air Mobility

This study offers a theory of air mobility intended to assist practitioners and policy makers in analyzing the efficacy of air mobility operations. It begins by presenting a model of air mobility utility that incorporates the key airpower and logistical principles of velocity, capacity,
April 9, 2020
The Harmon Memorial Lectures in Military History, 1988–2017

The Harmon Lecture Series is the oldest and longest-running lecture series at the United States Air Force Academy. This second volume builds the collection initiated in volume I (featuring lectures from 1959 to 1987). Volume II showcases 29 lectures featuring authoritative scholarship and acumen on
March 31, 2020
Two Centuries of US Military Operations in Liberia: Challenges of Resistance and Compliance

Liberia is the country in Africa where the United States has the most extended history of military engagement, and each intervention is layered on the experience of previous interventions. Over the years, the interventions have become more comprehensive and sophisticated, and Liberia can be
Dec. 11, 2019
Practical Guide to Negotiating in the Military, Third Edition [ONLINE ONLY]

The Practical Guide for Negotiating in the Military is a sourcebook for all leaders. It contains all the essential concepts and applications to help military leaders be more proficient negotiators. We all have our natural negotiating preferences, and if left to our own, will default to this
Oct. 3, 2019
The Command of the Air

Twentieth-century Italian general Giulio Douhet has influenced generations with his theories on airpower and air force development. The book, long established as essential reading for Air University students, collects separate writings The Command of the Air, The Probable Aspects of the War of the
July 2, 2019
Special Air Warfare and the Secret War in Laos: Air Commandos 1964–1975

The story of special air warfare and the Air Commandos who served for the ambassadors in Laos from 1964 to 1975 is captured through extensive research and veteran interviews. The author has meticulously put together a comprehensive overview of the involvement of USAF Air Commandos who served in Laos