American Aerospace Power: Reinvigorating Our Adventurous Spirit.

摘要

The thrill of flight, the boundless wonder of space exploration, and the intellectual satisfaction of creating an innovative engineering masterpiece these are just some of the many reasons young men and women join the United States Air Force. However, military aerial heroics and civilian commercial travel are so commonplace that the luster and enthusiasm for aerospace activities has worn. This familiarity presents a stumbling block for the Air Force when it attempts to communicate its ability to apply innovative technologies and concepts to address specific geopolitical and national problems. It is not necessarily that the American public is unimpressed by the Air Force s technological prowess; rather, technological superiority is expected and therefore it does not generate the excitement or enthusiasm it once garnered. With the dawn of aviation in the early twentieth century, it soon became clear that aviation changed the course of the world, and of warfighting, forever. As an aerospace nation, the US has an asymmetric geopolitical advantage as our expansive aerospace capabilities and capacity enable flexibility and adaptability to every strategic dilemma. As well, the combination of advanced technology and professional airmen ensures aerospace power will continue to provide a definitive advantage to the US for the foreseeable future. To keep this advantage, the Air Force must remind the American public of our past, our current domination of the aerospace environment, and the need to remain dominant in the future. Although a comprehensive advertising campaign certainly can reach a great number of people, the USAF must break free of its self-induced technological and personal isolation from the American public and engage in inter-personal contact to reignite the flame of adventurism and instill an excitement for aerospace development and activities.