Air forces in general, and the US Air Force in particular, place great value on the technical proficiency of their officer corps. This penchant has a very understandable basis—the raw capabilities in air, in space, and now in cyberspace emanate from machines, and very complex machines at that. Thus, to be without cutting-edge technology and leaders who grasp both the potentialities and limitations of such technology would be to place oneself at a severe disadvantage. Emerging developments such as remotely piloted aircraft, artificial intelligence, and almost instantaneous global communications networks have accelerated this proclivity over the last two decades....

James Harold “Jimmy” Doolittle was one of the most influential Airmen of the twentieth century. He is the only individual to have been awarded both the Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest military and civilian honors, respectively. His accomplishments include pioneering instrument flight, setting multiple aviation speed records, and leading the daring raid on Tokyo that bears his name. Doolittle, however, led more than airstrikes in World War II. Following his “thirty seconds over Tokyo,” this reserve officer rose in less than two years from lieutenant colonel to lieutenant general and commanded one of the...

Through summarizing Jimmy Doolittle’s life prior to his command of the Eighth Air Force—including the formative experiences in his childhood and early armed forces career, his time in commercial industry as an employee of Shell Oil, and his experiences early in World War II—we can better establish a reasonable expectation of his performance as commander of the Mighty Eighth.

James Harold Doolittle was born 14 December 1896 near San Francisco, California. He was the only child of Rosa Shepard, a stern disciplinarian, and Frank Henry Doolittle, a carpenter described by his son as a “loner in spirit.”¹ Shortly...

Doolittle assumed command of the Eighth Air Force on 6 January 1944.¹ As the AAF’s most prestigious air force, the Eighth dwarfed his previous commands.² With a massive complement of 211,222 Airmen, it was more than five times the size of the Fifteenth Air Force.³ The Eighth Air Force consisted of more than 4,200 combat aircraft organized into 25.75 heavy-bomber groups, four medium-bomber groups, 13 fighter groups, two troop-carrier groups, and a reconnaissance group.⁴ Doolittle also had to cope with the rapid expansion of his forces. During 1944 the Eighth’s bomber forces grew by 50 percent. By December Doolittle commanded...

Clausewitz famously observed that although the essence of war is immutable, its character is constantly changing.¹ Furthermore, Sun Tzu stated, “of the five elements, none is always predominant.”² In other words, in war “the only constant is constant change.”³ Innovation enables a commander to adapt to these changes and, thus, is an appropriate indicator of command performance. This chapter begins with an appraisal of Doolittle’s influence on tactical and technical innovation, explores his efforts to revise tactics in response to the problem of aircraft attrition, assesses his role in technical innovation by responding to aircraft mechanical problems, and closes by...

Lord Moran defines military leadership as “the capacity to frame plans which will succeed and the faculty of persuading others to carry them out in the face of death.”¹ The previous two chapters explored the first element of Moran’s dictum by evaluating Doolittle’s operational effectiveness and capacity to innovate. This one addresses the latter part. According to Mark Wells, heavy-bomber missions in the Mighty Eighth were “the most hazardous military operations which have been conducted over a sustained period.”² How well did Doolittle persuade his men to carry out his orders in the face of such danger?

This chapter examines...

The numerous books, articles, and films documenting Jimmy Doolittle’s legendary life, laudable as they are, have largely overlooked a significant portion of his career—his command of the Eighth Air Force. This study addressed that historical omission with a critical assessment of Doolittle’s performance as an operational air commander in combat. The appraisal reviewed his life prior to assumption of command of the Eighth and then addressed his operational effectiveness, innovative abilities, and leadership performance. This framework has penetrated the mystique of Doolittle to discover the commander behind the legend. Early in his career, Doolittle’s technical expertise, competitive spirit, and...