Putting the Ground Dimension in United States Air Force Doctrine: An Analysis of the Air Force's New Concept to Accomplish the Force Protection Mission Following the Khobar Towers Terrorist Bombing

摘要

Since aircraft were first used in war, before the United States Air Force (USAF) became a separate service, America has struggled with who and how to best protect airpower. As such, the attention given the Force Protection and Air Base Defense missions in the USAF has been sporadic at best. Unfortunately, it took a terrorist attack in 1996 to catapult the USAF into the post-cold war realization that their Force Protection Concept needed to be re-engineered. A fresh approach to address new threats-with a new strategy-new training-new technology-new organization-and new doctrine was needed. This paper reflects research to examine the USAF actions to fix the Force Protection mission since that fatal day at Khobar Towers. Did they finally get it right. The USAF has dramatically improved the way they accomplish the Force Protection mission. However, there is still room for improvement. To perform this analysis first some background history is offered to place the problem in its proper context. Next, courses of action are identified and examined for relevance. Then, the contribution of the new Force Protection Program towards achieving the USAF Core Competencies and Strategic Vision is explored. Finally, in the conclusion some recommendations are offered in hopes of increasing the overall strength of the Force Protection Program in the USAF.