The Revolt of the Admirals is an historical account of the events surrounding defense unification and the .
creation of an independent Air Force from the end of World War II until late 1949. Until this time the Air Force.
had existed as an Army Air Force within the United States Army, under purview of the War Department, the .
precursor to the Department of the Army. "The Revolt of the Admirals," or the "Admirals" Revolt," refers to the.
situation the Navy had been placed in as the services struggled to redefine themselves with the emergence of a .
third service. The Air Force, coming strongly out of World War II, was making political strides into creating itself.
into a third armed service, separate from the Army and Navy, and demanding its own share of funding that had .
generally been split in half between the Army and Navy. The Air Force, backed strongly by its sister service the .
Army, also was defining itself under a question of roles. The Air Force considered as its mission that of strategic .
bombing, both conventional and nuclear, and intended to assume all military air forces in the United States, .
including naval aviation. At the same time, the Navy, while allowing the Air Force to control strategic bombing, .
had every intention of maintaining its air arm as well as its carrier force, and at the same time demanded to be given.
the option of using tactical atomic weapons if needed in tactical situations against targets of naval interest. At the .
same time, the Army was distrustful of the Navy having control of the Marine Corps, which had swelled to six .
divisions during the war. The Army believed, to a lesser extent than the Air Force about aviation, that it alone .
should be responsible for the operation of American military ground forces. The Navy at this point was being eyed.
jealously on all fronts for its numerous warfighting assets and roles, while in the background defense unification.
