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...
Air Force Doctrine Document 1 states, "Air forces must be controlled by an airman who maintains a broad perspective in prioritizing limited assets across the range of operations." Hence, "centralized control by an airman" becomes the essence of...
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...
In 1991 the organizational structure of the Air Force changed substantially. Since then, senior Air Force leaders have called for an additional change in the mindset of the airman. The USAF is a "stovepiped" organization in which most officers know...
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 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...
Is America's counterinsurgency (COIN) effort being shortchanged? Does a one-dimensional doctrine fail to exploit America's full COIN potential? Would a genuinely joint approach provide better options to decision-makers confronted with the harsh...
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...
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...
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 discusses, from an airman's perspective, the expression of American operational art called parallel war. Parallel war is defined as the simultaneous and near continuous attack against strategic, operational, and tactical targets. The...
In the spring of 1972, North Vietnam launched a massive, three-pronged attack into South Vietnam that was eventually repulsed by South Vietnamese forces, United States (US) advisors and massive amounts of American airpower. The problem is...
This monograph addresses the continued relevance of airpower’s master tenet in light of advances in technology. The purpose of this monograph is to examine the doctrinal assumptions used to justify centralized control with decentralized...
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...
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...
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...
Currently, the United States finds itself in a very similar predicament to what Great Britain experienced after emerging from the First World War as she set about the governance of a growing empire during the interwar period. With the stated intent...
The issue of close air support is one of the most emotional issues between the Army and the Air Force. Both services interpret close air support in terms of the lives of their personnel. The fundamental question previous studies have not addressed...
The end of the Persian Gulf War was followed by the establishment of Operation PROVIDE COMFORT and Operation SOUTHERN WATCH. Both of these operations have no-fly zones as their centerpieces. These first no-fly zones have already been followed by a...
This monograph examines Claire Lee Chennault as a military theorist and campaign planner. It inquires whether Chennault's evolution of a theory of war assisted his planning the China-Burma-India Campaign during World War II. The monograph is...