In an age of increasing complexity and specialization in the techniques of war, it is a strange fact of our military establishment that there are more pilots serving in the U. S. Army than in the Air Force. For as this colorful volume makes clear, the modern Army has carefully kept pace with the innovations that flight introduced to warfare and adopted them to its own needs and requirements.

FLYING ARMY traces the evolution of Army aviation from its roots in Thaddeus Lowe's Civil War observation balloon, through its first tottering steps with artillery spotting and liason aircraft in World War II, and on to today's highly mobile Airborne Infantrymen and Air Cavalry units that have all but replaced the foot soldier of the past.

Although Army leaders began pressing for their own air arm during World War II, in response to the difficulty of obtaining close and timely Air Force support of ground troops, it was in the Korean War that Army aviation came into its own, and the book details every step in that development. It is a record highlighted by the story of the helicopter, whose unique capacities for transporting personnel and supplies, for evacuating wounded, and for observation work in Korea laid the groundwork for its important role in Vietnam today.

In addition to the written account, FLYING ARMY also includes 232 photographs illustrating the leading figures in the growth of Army aviation as well as all aircraft flown by Army pilots, from the Piper Cub of World War II to the devastatingly powerful HueyCobra assault helicopter and the amazing Sikorsky SkyCrane now in use in South East Asia. Together pictures and words provide a vivid chronicle of the dramatic past and present of the Army's distinguished flying arm.