Air Power: Where's the Love?

摘要

I enjoyed your August 2009 editorial. Itrncertainly conveys the whining tone of many air power advocates. I suspect that tone will continue at even higher amplitude and pitch as the QDR progresses. The secretary of defense is trying to rebalance the department to better deal with the continuous force employment of stability and support operations. This rebalancing must come at the expense of expeditionary operations. Expeditionary warfare capabilities are used once a decade but must be responsive and of high quality. The basic issue is balance. A careful review of the potential expeditionary warfare employment opportunities will reveal only about 30 to 35 percent of the force structure needs to be dedicated to this employment mode over the next two decades. Prior to 9/11, 95 percent of the U.S. conventional capability was so dedicated, and the Pentagon's acquisition planning reflected this bias until fiscal 2010.