Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 5, 2013

Kenneth Walker (1898–1943) was a United States Army aviator and an Army Air Forces general who had a significant influence on the development of airpower doctrine. Walker graduated from the Air Corps Tactical School in 1929, then served as an instructor there. He supported the creation of a separate air organization, not subordinate to other military branches, and was a forceful advocate of the efficacy of strategic bombardment. He published articles on the subject, and became part of a clique known as the "Bomber Mafia" which argued for the primacy of bombardment over other forms of military aviation. He advanced the notion that fighters could not prevent a bombing attack, and helped develop the doctrine of industrial web theory, which called for precision attacks against carefully selected critical industrial targets. In 1942, during World War II, Walker was promoted to brigadier general and transferred to the Southwest Pacific. He frequently flew combat missions over New Guinea, for which he received the Silver Star. On 5 January 1943, he was shot down and killed while leading a daylight bombing raid over Rabaul, for which he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. (Full article...)

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