The US Air Force, and the U.S. armed forces separate service air arms, have historically wrestled with how to apply air and space power to non-traditional forms of warfare, such as insurgency and counterinsurgency. While the airplane was used as...
America's current financial strains necessitate an investigation into the effectiveness and efficiency of our fighting forces. This monograph explores the history of technology, theory, and doctrine development in heavy ground combat power and...
This monograph suggests an airpower theory that helps explain why airpower does not result in quick, clean, economical, "ideal" war. The genesis of this study comes from the observation that airpower advocates, from early personalities such as...
The Luftwaffe's defeat of Allied airpower in the Kasserine Pass in 1943 imprinted the principle of mass upon the US Air Force's organizational psyche. The then Army Air Corps recognized the necessity of consolidating airpower under the command and...
This monograph studies the use of aircraft in insurgency. It compares airpower and insurgency theories, looks at the historical use of aircraft in insurgency, and considers four recent examples of insurgents or separatists attempting to apply...
With the development of the "long war," the U.S. military's focus has shifted dramatically from its traditional emphasis on conventional operations to irregular and indirect approaches to safeguard America's vital interests. One of the least...
This monograph discusses the importance of understanding US airpower (Air Force, Navy, Marines and Army) in order to better appreciate its tactical contribution to joint warfighting. Even after the Persian Gulf War misunderstandings persist and...
Airpower has a significant influence within the American political process. Political debate over the application of airpower in limited conflicts involves when and how to use it, and whether it can be the sole means of military force. This...
This monograph elucidates lessons of trust learned through the study of historical command relationships between soldier and airman. The purpose of this monograph is to highlight the need to apply the lessons learned from these case studies in...
Airpower is an asymmetric means for the application of government counterinsurgent force against enemies of the state. The high cost of investment in aircraft and the high technology training of maintainers and aircrew make a viable air force a...
This monograph examines whether or not the current U.S. Army Operational Design methodology could increase the effectiveness of airpower. Analysis of existing design literature provides a common understanding of the U.S. Army’s design methodology...
The question this monograph attempts to answer is whether "coercive strategies and their associated defeat mechanisms provide valid courses of action (COAs) for the US against global terrorists networks and nations that harbor terrorists?" The...
This monograph examines under what circumstances, if at all, an air campaign can achieve decisive results independent of other forces. The recent war in the Persian Gulf has given the research question its immediate significance. Given the...
The small wars fought by the French in Algeria and the United States in Vietnam provide lessons for the United States military to use today. Although neither France nor the United States met their strategic objectives, their command and control...
The purpose of this monograph is to formulate an improvement to and highlight deficiencies in the current manner of the command and control of unmanned aircraft systems. The paper employs a historical method of analysis of the centralization of the...
In response to today’s dynamic nonlinear operating environment, the United States Air Force Security Forces is executing a dramatic transformation of its Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership, Personnel, and Facilities. These...
The Second Chechen War, which began on 23 September 1999 with massive Russian air strikes, bore little resemblance to the inconclusive campaign that had ended just three years earlier. In the earlier conflict, Russian Air Force operations...
This monograph discusses ways in which airpower can be most effectively applied to hasten or delay the offensive culminating point. Airpower can be used to strengthen friendly combat power, delaying the arrival of the culminating point, or used to...
The United States Air Force has become increasingly involved in peace enforcement missions throughout the world since the end of the Cold War. Recent examples include Operations Allied Force and Deliberate Force in the Balkans, and Operations...
This monograph answers the question of whether operational air commanders have the necessary doctrinal tools to plan for effective airpower employment in gradually escalated, coercive warfare. It concludes that current Air Force doctrine does not...