F O R E W O R D
as additional duty and without so much as the conventional reward of
a “without-whose-aid” acknowledgment, had labored over a unit
history. In a very real sense it would be the work of a busy adjutant
of a fighter group in Italy or of a pfc sweating out the war in an AACS
station in the sub-Himalayas as well as of the authors who provided
the final interpretation.
A t the suggestion of the Advisory Committee, the Historical Office
invited the present editors to assume responsibility for securing such
a history as had been envisaged. This offer, after some hesitation which
was far from being mere formal demur, they accepted: reluctance to
extend an already overlong absence from their respective scholarly
interests was outweighed by the challenge of the opportunity and the
desire to see the program carried through to fruition. T h e acceptance
was under condition that the editors, after their return to civilian
status, be allowed to produce the book in their own way, with such
material assistance as the Historical Office could render. That condi-
tion, accepted alike by the office and the Air Staff, has been lived up
to in letter and in spirit.
Further study of ways and means for the accomplishment of the
task indicated that, of the AAF historical personnel who were willing
to make an additional commitment of their time, all except a few
planned a prompt return to their academic posts. It seemed an appro-
priate and helpful step, therefore, to seek sponsorship for the project
from some academic institution which would assume the heavy re-
sponsibility for guaranteeing publication of the finished work. In
December 1945 the editors, with the sanction of the Air Staff, opened
negotiations with the Chancellor of the University of Chicago. T h e
University, expressing interest in a military history “written without
suppression or distortion of significant facts,” agreed to sponsor the
project on the understanding that the authors would be given access
to all pertinent documents and would enjoy peqfect freedom of inter-
pretation. These conditions-without which indeed neither authors nor
editors would have undertaken the assignment-had obtained in the
Historical Office during the war in respect to studies done for the Air
Staff itself and bearing a high security classification. T h e editors have
felt a certain degree of organizational pride that the Air Staff accepted,
and has scrupulously observed, the principle that this custom be ex-
tended to a work designed for public circulation.
Further, it has been agreed that no royalties will be paid to the
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