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ATTACK OUT OF THE SUN

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Contents

DEDICATION..............................................................................vPREFACE.................................................................................xiINTRODUCTION............................................................................11 SEEK THE BLUE MAX (Formulate Your Vision)............................................382 SELECT YOUR BOELCKE (Find a Mentor)..................................................523 BE "FIRST OF THE CHASERS" (Establish Goals)..........................................674 ENVISION YOUR TARGET (Visualize Victory).............................................875 FLY IN FORMATION (Grow Your Team)....................................................1086 MAKE YOUR FIRST SHOTS COUNT (Be Aggressive)..........................................1167 FUNCTION IN "PERFECT UNITY" (Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses).....................1268 FIGHT WITH CHIVALRY (Respect the Competition)........................................1579 ATTACK OUT OF THE SUN (Secure the Upper Hand)........................................16810 COUNT BULLET HOLES (Be an Efficient Manager).........................................17611 MOUNT A GUN TO YOUR MACHINE (Be an Effective Leader).................................20812 PAINT YOUR MACHINE RED (Make Your Product Stand Out).................................24613 TAKE YOUR CIRCUS ON THE ROAD (Stay Close to Your Customers)..........................25314 BE MODEST IN YOUR VICTORIES (Be True to Yourself)....................................25915 TIE YOUR HANDKERCHIEF TO A STEEPLE (Value Family and Friends)........................27116 GET A DOG (Relax)....................................................................277DEBRIEFING (Conclusions)................................................................289ABOUT THE AUTHOR........................................................................297ENDNOTES................................................................................299GLOSSARY OF GERMAN TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS..............................................317GLOSSARY OF GERMAN RANKS WITH THEIR APPROXIMATE EQUIVALENTS.............................319BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................320

Chapter One

The Orden Pour le Merite (Order of Merit) was Prussia's highest military award during World War I. The Order's badge consisted of a striking Maltese cross of deep blue enamel with eagles between the arms trimmed in gold and worn at the neck, a requirement when in uniform. It was awarded to officers for repeated and continued gallantry in action. The Pour le Merite was to become informally known as "The Blue Max" because of its predominantly blue color and its first pilot recipient, Oberleutnant Max Immelmann.

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In 1966, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation released the movie The Blue Max, starring George Peppard as the fictional pilot, Bruno Stachel, who was obsessed with winning Germany's most coveted medal. In contrast to Stachel's misguided determination to win the Blue Max honorably or dishonorably, von Richthofen's vision was to serve his country by transferring to the "cavalry of the air" when his traditional Uhlan (cavalry) role was altered by the war's trenches and barbed wire. Richthofen's friend on the Eastern Front had helped plant the Pour le Merite seed in the Baron's mind. The Baron was intrigued by the possibility of one day actually being awarded the Blue Max, but he was also concerned with making a difference in the air war by shooting down enemy aircraft. Richthofen looked to the sky, visualizing the new battleground as an opportunity to contribute. As in his game hunting conquests, his aerial victories would be his trophies and the Pour le Merite a measure of his success.

Look to the Sky

What are we doing? We're reaching for the stars. Christa McAuliffe, Astronaut, 1986. I joined the Flying Service at the end of May, 1915. My greatest wish was fulfilled. [Richthofen, 2005, p. 60]

Richthofen, stymied by the inability to conduct traditional cavalry operations at the Verdun Front in the spring of 1915, was bored and acknowledged his "restless spirit." During a visit home to Schweidnitz in late May, Manfred announced to his mother that he was going to "join the fliers." His mother noted the unmistakable elation in Manfred's voice when he spoke of becoming an airborne observer in the Flying Service. She also knew that once he had verbalized his intention, there was no turning back—it was already a fact to him. He had made up his mind, and, even though she knew little about aviation, she knew him well enough to know that it he would soon make his dream a reality.

Richthofen literally looked to the sky and formed his initial vision! He understood that his envisioned "cavalry of the air" would provide the same sense of freedom and demand the enterprise and skill that he could no longer exercise in the ground war. He felt that his training as a cavalryman would allow him to do well as an aerial observer, and he was not yet interested in becoming a pilot. Richthofen was anxious to get into the air and was afraid the war might be over by the time he received his pilot certification.

In the air, Richthofen found the autonomy and challenge he was seeking. He could serve his country, and yet he could also enjoy his work:

The glorious thing in the flying service is that one feels that one is a perfectly free man and one's own master as soon as one is up in the air. [Richthofen, 1918, p. 56] I was full of enthusiasm and would have liked to be sitting in an aeroplane all day long. I counted the hours to the next start. [Richthofen, 2005, p. 62]

Even though Richthofen enjoyed reconnaissance work in the Albatros BII and CI with his pilots Zeumer and von Holck, respectively, he was excited when he was transferred to the Western Front to fly in a "large battle-plane." Sitting in the nose of the two-engined AEG GII aircraft, he was now armed with a machine gun, could more-effectively protect the aircraft, and most importantly, could begin to collect aerial victories. Richthofen even took a short course in machine-gunnery. Unfortunately when he and Zeumer unsuccessfully battled a French Farman aircraft on September 1st, 1915, the Baron...