Volume 32 Issue 4, Winter 2018

A Model of Air Force Squadron Vitality 

Maj Gen Stephen L. Davis, USAF, Dr. William W. Casey
Revitalizing Air Force squadrons and squadron-like organizations will result in more cohesive, ready, agile, and capable units that the nation requires to successfully defend its vital interests in complex operating environments, now and in the future. The key attributes of vitality for any Air Force unit, especially squadrons, are: verifiable mission success, purposeful leadership and esprit de corps, and those attributes are built on an important foundation: clarity of purpose. 

Wars of Cognition: How Clausewitz and Neuroscience Influence Future War-Fighter Readiness

Maj Michael J. Cheatham, USAF
Success in future predicted war will increasingly rely on individual war fighters’ superior cognitive abilities to operate under threat and time constraints. This article outlines neuroscience-based concepts leaders should consider integrating into training to improve individual war-fighter performance in predicted future war. 

Seize the Highest Hill: A Call to Action for Space-Based Air Surveillance

Lt Col Troy McLain, USAF, Lt Col Gerrit Dalman, USAF
Joint operations have come to take air dominance for granted, but in conflicts against contemporary peer adversaries, there will be no such guarantee. In particular, the persistent combat surveillance required to sustain a theaterwide air picture will be denied by missile engagement zones that exceed air surveillance radar ranges. 

The Long-Range Standoff Cruise Missile: A Key Component of the Triad 

Dr. Dennis Evans, Dr. Jonathan Schwalbe
The US nuclear triad consists of ballistic missile submarines (or ship, submersible, ballistic missile, nuclear-powered, [SSBNs]), land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and B-52 Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit bombers. The nonstealthy B-52 relies entirely on the AGM-86 Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) in the nuclear role, whereas the B-2 penetrates enemy airspace to drop unguided nuclear bombs.

Science and Technology Enablers of Live Virtual: Constructive Training in the Air Domain 

Dr. Christopher Best, FLTLT Benjamin Rice, Royal Australian Air Force
Training is an essential component of military capability. Large networks of simulators are now used regularly to provide complex and realistic training for air combat. Recently, attention has turned to the possibility of integrating live aircraft into these simulation networks.

Operation Vengeance: Still Offering Lessons after 75 Years

Lt Col Scott C. Martin, USAF
More than 75 years ago, the US successfully used airpower for the first time to successfully engage a high-value individual (HVI)/target of opportunity (TOO) when it executed Operation Vengeance, the attack against a flight of Japanese bombers carrying Japanese Adm Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Imperial Navy. While that operation is a storied part of Air Force history, there are still lessons that the planning and execution of that operation can teach planners and air operators in the modern and future military.

Three Competing Options for Acquiring Innovation 

Lt Col Daniel E. Schoeni, USAF
The president’s 2018 National Defense Strategy warns that the DOD technological edge is eroding. Under the last two administrations, the DOD has sought to regain the lead in fields such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems. It recognizes that such innovation will come from the nondefense firms that have a decisive lead in these fields. 

The Cold War They Made: The Strategic Legacy of Roberta and Albert Wohlstetter

By: Ron Robin
Reviewer: Dr. Clark Capshaw
Roberta and Albert Wohlstetter were two of the most prominent architects of the Cold War intellectual edifice. Their influence emerged from their dual intellectual partnership that centered first around the RAND Corporation, where both worked on strategic issues of the nuclear age, and later, at the University of Chicago. 

We Kill Because We Can: From Soldiering to Assassination in the Drone Age

By: Laurie Calhoun
Reviewer: Capt Michael W. Byrnes, USAF
Laurie Calhoun’s We Kill Because We Can sets out to tackle a range of complex questions about national security policies. What interactions govern technology and policy, particularly on the MQ-1 Predator program? How do we reconcile legal implications in combating the work of militants in light of domestic and international frameworks?

The Big Book of X-Bombers and X-Fighters

By: Steve Pace
Reviewer: Lt Col Ryan A. Sanford, USAF
In The Big Book of X-Bombers and X-Fighters, freelance aviation history writer Steve Pace attempts to showcase the history of the US Air Force’s fighter and bomber X-plane inventory in a lushly illustrated compendium of aircraft and program details. 

Rocky Boyer’s War: An Unvarnished History of the Air Blitz that Won the War in the
Southwest Pacific

By: Allen D. Boyer
Reviewer: Maj Peter L. Belmonte, USAF, Retired
One might build a good-sized collection of books by and about World War II pilots and aircrews, but a collection of books about support troops wouldn’t endanger the structural integrity of anyone’s bookshelves. That’s why this present volume is an important addition to United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) historiography.

El Dorado Canyon: Reagan’s Undeclared War with Qaddafi

By: Joseph T. Stanik
Reviewer: Maj Brian R. Huston, USAF
Since 11 September 2001, the United States and its allies have undertaken antiterrorism campaigns around the world. However, one of the most significant battles against state-sponsored terrorism occurred 25 years before 9/11.

The Prometheus Bomb: The Manhattan Project and Government in the Dark

By: Dr. Neil J. Sullivan
Reviewer: 1st Lt Glenn R. Peterson, USAF
Dr. Neil Sullivan’s The Prometheus Bomb covers roughly six to seven years of history from the infamous Albert Einstein letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Harry S. Truman presidency. 

Sidewinder: Creative Missile Development at China Lake

By: Ron Westrum
Reviewer: 2nd Lt Scott T. Seidenberger, USAF
The Sidewinder air-to-air missile has proven itself a staple of air combat for more than
half a century. In Sidewinder: Creative Missile Development at China Lake, Ron Westrum
chronicles the development of the AIM-9 Sidewinder, skillfully dissecting the intricate web
of personal, organizational, and technical factors that led to the success of what would become
a vital US weapons program.