Even if it hadn't been used, the United States' air war plan for World War II would have been uniquely significant. It marked the first time that airmen in the Army Air Forces were permitted to do their own planning; thus it was a crucially important step in their move toward independence. Further, it raised seriously the question of whether a major industrial nation could be defeated solely through air bombardment. For these reasons and others, the plan deserves attention from all who concern themselves with strategies for national defense. We are thus pleased that our NDU Press can make these few moments of history available to you. But plans don't write themselves, and the planning process, rather than the finished document, is the focal point of this study. The author, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Gaston, uses the plan, AWPD-1, as a lens for studying that process. He looks through the document to follow events on the floor of the planners' arena. Sources include the diaries of Henry H. Arnold and James Gould Cozzens (Pulitzer Prize winning author of “The Just and the Unjust,” Guard of Honor, and By Love Possessed), the fragmentary autography of Laurence S. Kuter, and an interview with Major General Haywood Hansell. ( )