THE US IS AT A CROSSROADS WITH RESPECT TO SPACE. THE CHALLENGE THAT NOW PRESENTS ITSELF IS HOW TO CRAFT A STRATEGY THAT MAINTAINS THE UNITED STATES' ASYMMETRIC ADVANTAGE IN SPACE WHILE MOVING FROM THE CURRENT AGE OF UNCONTESTED ACCESS TO ONE WHERE ACCESS MUST BE ASSURED BY DELIBERATE ACTIONS. ALL MILITARY STRATEGIES ARE KEY TO THE OVERALL GRAND STRATEGY OF THE STATE, BUT THE US MILITARY STRATEGY FOR SPACE HOLDS A SPECIAL DEGREE OF INFLUENCE UPON THE OVERALL SUCCESS OF US GRAND STRATEGY. THIS SPECIAL DEGREE OF INFLUENCE DERIVES FROM THE CHARACTERISTIC OFFENSIVE OMNIPRESENCE OF ORBITAL...

This study analyzes the Air Forces defense of cyberspace. The author assesses the cyber strategies and doctrine of the United States government, to include the joint military and Air Force specific documents. This assessment reveals the conflicting attitude held by the different organizations regarding the balance between cyber attack and defense. Next, the writer examines Clausewitzs theory of defense and identifies key concepts relevant to the cyber domain including the goal of defense, which is preservation. The author reviews the 2007 cyber attack on Estonia and uncovers how this nation...

This study examines the role of combat gliders in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States during World War II (WWII). This thesis compares and contrasts each country with respect to pre-WWII glider experience, glider and airborne doctrine, glider pilot training, and glider production while outlining each country's major glider operations. The author then compares the glider operations in the China-Burma-India Theater to the operations in Europe to describe the unique challenges based on the terrain and mission. Next, this thesis presents an analysis of the glider's precipitous...

This book comprises an effort to answer the question of how an airman can be qualified to be a Joint Force Commander, using the biographical example of General Roy S. Geiger, USMC. Geiger was the fifth designated Marine Aviator, earning his wings in June of 1917. He then served as a squadron commander in the First Marine Aviation Force in World War I (WW I), where he flew combat sorties and earned his first Navy Cross. In the interwar years, he served in multiple command billets, acted as head of Marine Aviation, and performed with distinction as a student at the Army Command and General...

This book comprises an analysis of two contemporary tactical airpower commanders from World War II, Lieutenant General Elwood Pete Quesada and General Feld Marshall Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen. It attempts to determine how they succeeded where others failed. Whether solving operational issues, developing technical innovations, or devising logistic solutions, these commanders transcended service-centric doctrine and loyalties in order to achieve their objectives. The author searches for common elements among their personal background, professional education, officer development, and...

PRIOR TO WORLD WAR II, THE FORMAL COLLECTION AND EXPLOITATION OF FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE IN THE UNITED STATES FELL ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY IN THE DOMAIN OF THE MILITARY. THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR AND OTHER EVENTS DURING THAT WAR CREATED A GROWING CONSENSUS THAT THE NATION REQUIRED A CENTRAL AUTHORITY TO MANAGE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE PERTINENT TO MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT. IN RESPONSE, THE NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF 1947 CREATED THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY AND THE POSITION OF DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE. OVER THE NEXT HALF-CENTURY, NUMEROUS COMMISSIONS AND PANELS FOUND NEITHER THE...

This book is a theoretical and historical exploration of the role and relevance of airpower in counterinsurgency (COIN). Despite an overwhelming material advantage in airpower and the popular belief that this provides America with an inherently beneficial warfighting asymmetry, the US struggles to realize the full value of airpower in COIN. The author proposes that airpower provides the US with a conditional advantage that must be deliberately unlocked through strategic deliberation. The author further proposes that a distinct theory of airpower for COIN is needed to foster and guide strategy...

This book applies lessons learned from air mobility's pivotal role in Field Marshal Sir William Slim's World War II Burma campaign to contemporary air mobility operations. The author begins by tracing the evolution of air mobility from its pre-World War I roots to the Second World War, noting how its development proceeded despite the lack of coherent, codified doctrine. Next the author assesses Slim's Burma campaign and how the key elements of organization, training and leadership, apart from air mobility, proved critical to Allied victory. Building upon this, the discussion turns to air...

There will likely be political, moral, and social implications of UCAV employment that strategists and military commanders will need to pay attention to as they craft strategies for future conflict. UCAVs are a very appealing option for the politician faced with use-of-force decisions due to reduced forward basing requirements and the possibility of zero friendly operator casualties. The flexibility of the weapon system offers the politician a seemingly high degree of control over the process of war. Together, these advantages may make a politician more inclined to use force first rather than...