On 12 September 2007, the Air University commander tasked the Air
Force Research Institute to provide an "outside-the-beltway" look
at what the United States Air Force (USAF) should be about in the
future, specifically what the service should look like 10-15 years
from now. This timeframe was far enough outside the Fiscal Year
Defense Plan to avoid some current programmatic boundaries, but not
so far out as to be immune to current trends. Additionally,
constraining the "future" to 15 years limits the rather miraculous
invention of extraordinary weapons found in some war games and
other future studies-for example, rods from space-and similarly
bounds the geo-political landscape. The goal of this study is to
identify the enduring attributes of our nation's air, space, and
cyberspace force in context of major transitions. The tasking
construct identified that the study should avoid a focus on
hardware and resourcing, and implied the focus should be on roles,
missions, and functions "such as the transition from the Cold War
to Long War-or whatever it is to be called-era." Finally, the
tasking identified the study's target audience as the presidential
transition teams, with a delivery date "prior to the next
election." Strategy in the post-Cold War era remains fluid. Without
a focus on a single foe, it is often complicated and debatable.
This study attempts to neither reinvent the USAF nor protect the
status quo at the expense of conventional wisdom. The intent is to
understand the value of the service's contribution to national
security and, where appropriate, offer considerations for change.
This study is informed by an understanding of airpower history and
a realization of current USAF systems and strategies. It is not
meant to be all encompassing, but rather provides insight into the
most pressing issues facing the USAF in the post-Cold War era.
Binding the strategy together is a redefinition of Global
Vigilance, Global Reach, and Global Power; not in a weapons
systems-specific context, but rather as a framework through which
the USAF serves the nation. An underlying assumption is that while
major combat operations, also known as conventional campaigns, are
the most dangerous to America's national interest, the conduct of
irregular warfare (IW) is the most likely. Accordingly, beyond
recasting Global Vigilance, Reach, and Power, the study focuses on
how the USAF can contribute to winning the current fight, while
simultaneously maintaining the technological superiority necessary
for prevailing in the future fight. In relation to the current
fight, this study discusses winning IW, air mobility, air-ground
integration and the planning cycle, intelligence reform, the
transformation of airpower thought-including integration of
unmanned aerial systems, the Total Force, and air base disaster
contingency planning. In maintaining USAF technological
superiority, the study focuses on acquisition reform, nuclear
surety and deterrence, intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)
and bomber modernization, space defense in depth, and operationally
responsive space and cyberspace operations.
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