To military aviators, "air superiority" is an unquestioned prerequisite for effective aerial operations. Stripped to its barest essentials, it has a deceptively simple definition. As the authoritative Department of Defense Diction of Military and Associated Terms declares: air superiority is "that degree of dominance in the air battle of one force over another which permits the conduct of operations by the former and its related land, sea, and air forces at a given time and place without prohibitive interference by the opposing force." These are case studies in the achievement of air superiority.