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CONCLUSIONS 

GENERAL 

It is generally regarded that the mission of an air force is to destroy the hostile air force to a sufficient extent to allow free operation of one's own air forces and then to attack and destroy the most dangerous of the enemy's elements either on the water or on the ground; that to bring this about all available air power should be thrown into the offensive immediately upon the outbreak of war, and that the nation inferior in air power at the beginning of a war will either lose the campaign at once or be placed in a very embarrassing military position. It is almost impossible to fully develop air power after a war has begun because the time required to train personnel and to manufacture equipment is so great. It is more difficult to organize a well balanced air force than it is to organise an army or a navy because it is less known and much more highly specialized. 

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