Is the Expeditionary Aerospace Force The Right Approach for the Air Force As We Enter the 21st Century

摘要

The end of the Cold War brought significant repercussions to the U.S. military. Budget decreases, force structure reductions, and the change in national security strategy from containment to engagement all led to a significant increase in USAF deployments. Now, USAF personnel feel they deploy too often, with little notice, causing a decrease in readiness, reduced quality of life, and retention problems. Air Force leaders worked for several years building a plan to meet theater commander-in-chief requirements, reduce the tempo, and take advantage of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve contributions. To continue providing the theater commander-in-chief with a rapidly deployable, yet effective force to fulfill the new national security strategy, the Air Force Chief of Staff announced plans to develop the Air Force into an Expeditionary Aerospace Force (EAF). The EAF concept calls for organizing active duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve units into ten Air Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and two rapid response wings. The AEFs and rapid response wings will have a formal schedule to be available for contingency deployments. The Air Force Chief of Staff anticipates a byproduct of the formal scheduling and the addition of Guard and Reserve forces is reduced tempo across the Air Force and improvements in readiness, quality of life, and retention. After examining command and control, organizational structure, and personnel issues the reader will find the EAF will be responsive and efficient for contingency operations. The force can be tailored to the specific requirement and will be lean, to facilitate deployment. Integration of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve into the EAF will initially help spread the workload and reduce the tempo for active forces. However, implementation of the EAF plan will produce several problems.