Unknown Force Presentation
Derek Oaks
Keynote Speaker / Aerospace / DoD / Author / Fighter Pilot / Combat Veteran / I speak about Vision, Trust, Focus and Culture. I help people define True Leadership
The Air Force is approaching the 80-year anniversary, still searching for an identity, for a way to define what its force looks like, what it really offers the joint force.
Yes, there has been 8th Air Force and SAC, the Wolfpack and the fighters of Rolling Thunder, smart planes and dumb bombs, then laser-guided bombs, JDAMS, stealth and Air Dominance. But none of that defines what the Air Force offers. They are simply tools of the trade.
When you ask the Navy what they offer, they will talk in terms of Carrier Battle Groups with a certain mix of ships, aircraft, and personnel. The Army will talk in Divisions, Brigade Combat Teams, and the required mix of personnel to sustain such a force. Both ask you want you need, and they'll present a force structure. If you ask the Air Force, it will offer a UTC, which in the big scheme of things means nothing, defines nothing. The Air Force can't decide what its force looks like, what it really offers to the fight besides tools and technical wizardry. And it is killing the force one squadron at a time.
Airpower is inherently flexible, and Airmen want to be contributors to the joint fight. But that desire to participate and demonstrate flexibility has made it nearly impossible to define what its force should look like. We talk in terms of targets, tons of cargo, and 4-ships. We then talk about new tech, stealth, sensor fusion, and weapons capabilities. But seldom does the Air Force talk about required force structure to do its job. Enamored with the next tech, we are more than willing to sacrifice numbers because we've never really defined what our 'division' or 'carrier battle group' looks like, and what they can do at full strength.
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The squadron is often considered the basic fighting unit of the Air Force, but what does that mean? What do I get when I buy a squadron? Beyond a specific mission, what level of force is involved? And does that come with 12, 15, 18, 21 or 24 aircraft? All doctrinally unknown.
Beyond squadrons, what does force presentation look like? In a major theater war, or even in a Red Flag, we package to address the specific targets, specific threats, protect certain assets, provide the right support. Yet as a whole, we have been historically unable to define what that force looks like. And it is killing the force, one squadron at at time.
The Air Force historically loses budget wars. We are forced to trim the size of squadrons, sacrifice capacity for hopes of new tech because we can't afford both and can't justify both.
Before the Air Force plunges into force irrelevance, it would do well to define what it is, what an Air Force looks like, and what it provides the Joint Force besides tech and a UTC.
Adjunct Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA)
11 个月There's been a way to fix this since at least 2009 when we briefed it to CSAF (I know this because I wrote the concept and briefing on Air Combat Teams), yet USAF did nothing until last month when it finally put forth a potentially viable concept called Combat Air Wings. (The original 2009 briefing recirculated the building in the months leading up to the CAW announcement.)The devil will be in the details in implementation (CAW's don't appear to address security cooperation, for instance, which they must and the 2009 plan did), but at least it finally has a name...
Govt. Relations I Defense & Security Consultant | Global Leader & C-Suite Advisor | Strategic Planner|
11 个月Patrick 'Grenade' Goodman sound familiar
Program Manager / SME
11 个月Part of the issue is that the USAF is not one coherent service. It is basically a dozen different services based upon what aircraft is being used. Also, air forces are inherently inflexible. The planes only do what they do. A C-5 drops cargo. An F-35 drops bombs. That's it. Infantry forces can do any number of things even if they do close combat best. The USAF is also the most capital centric US service as well. Long lead times for in production aircraft. No replacements for things that are not. You lose a B-2...and you just have one less. Finally, the USAF itself, like most air forces worldwide, is dying. Part of it is the lack of legitimate adversaries, part of it is its overwhelming success has resulted in most forces not even bothering to try to oppose it, part of it is outrageous costs combined with highly inflexible assets making it not worth it financially, and the big monster in the room is Space Force. The second Space Force gets a manned thermal nuclear shooter in space the USAF becomes the Coast Guard to Space Force. And that day is coming fast. Really fast. And it isn't the Army, or Navy, that is going to pay that bill. It will be the USAF budget.