The thesis of this paper is that the advanced capabilities provided by TSAT are limited and will not be sufficient to serve the ground-based portion of the communications network supporting network-centric warfare (NCW). To validate this proposition, this study will start by identifying space-based systems that will enable NCW, discuss the requirements for ground-based NCW, and finally determine the combination of spaced-based systems sufficient to deliver advanced capab...

The intent of this research is to provide an analysis of the ICBM maintenance team utilization at the current intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) alert rate and at lowered alert rates. Quantitative research methodologies are used to model historical ICBM maintenance data from the 341st Maintenance Group (MG) and simulate future maintenance team utilization at both the current and decreased ICBM alert rates. The results of this simulation and modeling show negligib...

The purpose of this research is to recommend a relaxation of the airlift operations’ doctrinal definition of the hub-and-spoke concept to allow for inclusion of a regional hub in-theater. To justify this recommendation, a case study methodology is used to compare performance of the intratheater airlift channel system as it existed in Iraq in February 2004 to a model channel system created using a regional hub heuristic. The two channel systems are compared using dependen...

This paper shows that in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and other counterinsurgency operations, space forces will not be “war winners” but can provide crucial support. Specifically, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities can help isolate the battlespace. These systems can also enhance the ability to combat fielded rebels through surveillance, reconnaissance, and communications. Finally, the effects space forces generate can support the government and help strengthen its ...

In this paper, I seek to demonstrate that the methods of using airpower to take the fight to the enemy and protect our ground forces during small wars need not involve the most advanced aircraft available. This “low-tech” approach does not suggest using lesser technology per se but proposes a different look for the types of aircraft that can perform a specific mission and for their manner of employment—that of protecting ground forces while combating the elusive insurgen...

This paper proposes two broad modifications to concepts and cultures to embed Effects Based Operations (EBO) at the critical nexus of the tactical and operational levels of war. Services, as part of the joint community, must narrowly define EBO in a quantifiable, measurable realm. The USAF needs to solve its tactical training/operational campaigning dichotomy by moving toward capabilities-based training. The services should stop clinging to the antiquated concept of sepa...

A complex and interdependent environment in the global war on terrorism (GWOT) highlights the challenge of translating the theory of effects-based operations (EBO) into practice, particularly with respect to influencing the will of the people and achieving a desired end state. The following paper seeks to illustrate the conditions and challenges surrounding the translation of current effects-based theory into operational practice in the GWOT by using three conceptual con...

Under command of British general Allenby, the EEF successfully executed one of the most decisive engagements in any theater of World War I. Ably employing and synchronizing infantry, cavalry, and air forces, Allenby provided future military professionals and historians with a shining illustration of the efficacy of combined arms operations. Unfortunately, the true lessons of Allenby’s campaign were lost for future generations of military officers. This paper analyzes the...

This study explores the contemporary relevance of the Guadalcanal campaign to current military operations. Specifically, it uses expeditionary joint air operations flown from Henderson Field during the period August 1942 to February 1943 as a case study for the employment of airpower from an austere airfield. Henderson Field provides a historical example of the expeditionary airfield as a center of gravity for joint military operations, and it demonstrates that key force...

In 1989 years of Soviet control over political, economic, and military systems had left Poland unprepared to significantly contribute to NATO. However, Poland accepted the challenge of building a capable air arm for NATO as it began to reform its political system, modernize its air force, and strengthen its economic system to support air force modernization. This research paper analyzes Poland’s progress in implementing these reforms and is grounded in three themes: (1) ...

This brief study of the earliest American Airmen and their influence on the development of an air-minded culture is a work in progress.

This paper identifies a possible shortfall in United States (US) military planning, the experience of US Central Command (CENTCOM) planners in dealing with the Central Asian States. The problem is that military planners have little experience with engagement activities in the Newly Independent States (NIS), particularly in the Central Asian States. In this paper, I took a three-step approach to solving this problem. First, I familiarized the reader with ethnic conflict a...

Why was the United States Air Force (USAF) so resistant to the idea of dedicated suppression of enemy air defenses and electronic countermeasures support for its strikers? Why had they given the electronic combat (EC) mission almost entirely to the Navy? Was the technology of stealth really the driving force, or was there more? They needed money and technology to make them work. In short, I found the four elements of the model I propose in this paper.

This paper provides a brief summary of the direct costs associated with automation. It also provides a framework for designers, managers, and pilots in implementing measures to mitigate these costs. Safety improvements are not the province of any one of these groups. Instead, an integrated effort between these communities is necessary to promote aviation safety. I have assumed that the reader has a working knowledge of glass cockpit aircraft as well as a basic understand...

In 1944 a young man from Nahant, Massachusetts, experienced World War II as an unsung corporal assigned to an unheralded unit near an obscure English village. Few history books recall his war. But he and his unit personified a brand of service—seldom newsworthy, often tedious, always selfless—that underpinned Allied victory. This man was my father. This research paper is his unit’s story.

Having flown in a single-seat cockpit more than 14 hours deploying to Southwest Asia, I am familiar with the negative effects of long duration flights as well as the impact transmeridian sorties have on an aircrew’s circadian rhythm. Any attempt to make that experience less painful for the aviators climbing into their jets during future deployments deserves pursuit and further investigation. Unfortunately, a great deal of the information available for the operational air...

Control of the vertical dimension—air and space—is essential to preserving healthy commerce and situational awareness during peacetime and sustaining military operations during conflict. Air and space forces must be integrated in order to achieve rapid dominance of the battle space when necessary. While airpower has existed for almost a century, military space operations are yet in their infancy. Military leaders, planners, and operators are just beginning to recognize t...

My interest in the center of gravity (COG) concept began in the Republic of Singapore when I noticed with some amusement that a concept which purports to help campaign planners focus their main effort can be embroiled in such controversy and confusion. I attempt to unravel some of the mystique that surrounds the employment of the COG concept. Hopefully, by drawing out the potential sources of confusion that often accompany the use of the concept, we can soften the diffic...

This paper addresses Marine Corps aviation’s contribution in the area of air-ground integration during the Second World War. I chose this topic because it is not an area that has been widely researched, and it deals with a mission that I am tasked with as a FA-18 pilot. The issue of air-ground integration is as relevant today as it was in World War II, and it has many implications for air support in the joint arena.

I wanted to research and write a paper that will provide a culturally based view of social and political change and the strategic implications those changes might have on international relations and, specifically, military policy and planning. It is my hope that this research will give policy makers and planners cause to consider carefully the important underlying cultural factors that inevitably influence the strategic goals and behaviors of nations as they respond to a...