The dominance of two services, the Army and the Navy, leading the geographic combatant commands is striking. Of the 80 geographic combatant commanders appointed since the National Security Act of 1947, 43 have come from the Army. The Navy follows with 26. The Marine Corps comes in third with 6, while the Air Force has had 5 selected. The Department of Defense should recognize the implications of a commander selection process that supports the domination of the geographic combatant commands by two of the four services. Continuing this practice stifles innovation by limiting the full exploration of ideas. The President, Secretary of Defense, and Congress should promote a paradigm for military leadership diversity that acknowledges service cultural differences and recognizes the value in those differences. Most significantly, the Department of Defense should internalize the perspectives of senior Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps leaders so the geographic combatant commands become more effective because of these differences. In turn, the services benefit by identifying more with the geographic combatant commands, setting in motion a virtuous cycle, which better serves the national interest.

With the United States 19 reliance on rapid power projection, there is little prospect demands on airlift will decrease. On the contrary, today 's significant gap between requirements and capabilities will likely increase as the nation faces new challenges prosecuting the war on terrorism. One of which is the increased likelihood of airlift forces operating in hostile environments due to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and man-portable surface-to-air missiles. There are several possible mainstream solutions to meet growing airlift demands including purchasing additional military-style aircraft, refurbishing aging aircraft, increasing Civil Reserve Air Fleet involvement, stockpiling more pre-positioned equipment, or increasing burden sharing with allies. This thesis asks whether complementing Air Mobility Command 's current military-style aircraft fleet with commercially available aircraft is the most fiscally responsible option for solving Department of Defense 's intertheater airlift shortfall? Given the long lead times for design, funding, and acquisition, understanding future requirements and operating environment is important. Unfortunately, predicting the future is impossible and often leads to incorrect and expensive assumptions. Therefore, when creating a future airlift fleet, planners should not only provide capability to meet specific threats, but also provide a sufficiently robust, flexible, and most generally capable force effective against even unforeseen circumstances.