General Earle E. Partridge, USAF

This study analyzes the career of General Earle Everard "Pat" Partridge, USAF, with a fo-cus on the airpower lessons that inspired his craftsmanship of the first air campaign of the United States Air Force. The author separates Partridge's career into three sequential periods: com-pany grade operational experiences; field grade instructional and doctrinal studies; and finally Partridge's flag grade leadership and innovation. The conclusion, drawn from a career spanning both World Wars and culminating in the Korean War, is that Partridge generally endorsed offi-cial doctrine as a training goal; a goal to be adjusted to meet the unique and unpredictable con-textual demands of an explicit war scenario. Next, the writer evaluates Partridge's leadership in the Korean War-the first to follow the National Security Act of 1947-where service doc-trine, joint training and technology deficiencies demanded unprecedented compromise and inno-vation. The final section of the study illustrates the lessons learned by Partridge in the aftermath of the Korean War, lessons that are as valuable today as they were fifty years ago on the Penin-sula where America and its allies fought Communist expansion.