Air & Space Power Journal, Air University, Maxwell AFB, AL / Published March 30, 2021
Entering the 2020s, space operations are poised to move beyond near-Earth space to encompass the cislunar environment and beyond with reinvigorated US initiatives to return to the Moon, planned commercial lunar projects, and coalescing international efforts to reach Mars. Against this backdrop of accelerating development with enhanced focus on the space domain, a new way of classifying space operations within a dichotomous structure is advocated that concentrates on the location where space operations are intended and conducted with respect to the Earth or other celestial bodies (e.g., the Moon).
This article describes a succinct set of “infrastructure truths,” clear statements of the foundational principles of infrastructure management. These principles can be used to guide advocacy and funding decisions for Airmen and space professionals at all levels of leadership. In order to set the stage for these truths, this article includes a brief history of the important role that air base infrastructure has played in the employment of airpower, with logical extensions to space and cyberspace, and a brief review of current doctrine pertaining to infrastructure.
With the birth of the United States Space Force, increasing demands are laid on military strategists to develop rigorous analytic capabilities to evaluate space warfare concepts and plans, and how they interact with terrestrial warfighting capability. The media interaction warfare theory creates a matrix based on interactions between land, sea, air, and/or space force structures.
Maj Andrew Caulk, USAF The US has failed to field unified capabilities in the information domain. Furthermore, information capabilities generated by military services are bound to fail without a cohesive, Department of Defense (DOD)-wide framework to wield them. This article examines the problem of how the DOD should organize and proposes an operational framework and designated supported command for information as solutions.
Maj Cameron Ross, USAF Since the advent of nuclear weapons, deterrence has been the primary strategic framework for the United States’ national security apparatus. As such, the rise of cyberspace operations has entailed a robust dialogue around how to apply deterrence principles within the domain. However, despite the significant challenges in adapting deterrence theory to the realities of cyberspace, few have questioned whether deterrence is the right framework to address the threat cyberspace presents. More strategists must explore new lines of thinking about cyber strategy outside a deterrence framework to advance cyber thought beyond the current state.
Maj Nicholas J. Mercurio, USAF Air Force suicide prevention messaging has typically focused on increasing suicide literacy. However, research has shown messaging that supports knowledge-based objectives does not significantly increase the likelihood a population will perform the desired help-seeking behaviors that will decrease suicides. The most effective suicide prevention messaging drives attitude and behavior change by demonstrating help-seeking behaviors are highly valued by the community and the norm, easy to perform, and modeled by peers and aspirational figures.
by Robert L. Brown Reviewed by LCDR James M. Landreth, USN Nuclear holocaust devastated the Japanese Empire at the conclusion of World War II, and the specter of even more cataclysmic super-bombs haunted the imagination of generations of Cold Warriors. Even today, the western world lives with anxiety over an unexpected nuclear attack in Eastern Europe from revanchist Russia, genocidal intentions on Israel by Iran, or an incomprehensible act by North Korea.
edited by Robert Egnell and Mayesha Alam Reviewed by Maj Caitlin Diffley, USAF The role of gender perspectives and women in the military is a critical but often glossed-over topic in security and defense. Robert Egnell and Mayesha Alam use a multipronged approach with chapters discussing the experience, status, and progress of women and gender perspectives in the military around the world: Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada, the US, the United Kingdom (UK), Israel, Australia, and South Africa.
by David R. "Buff" Honodel Reviewed by Maj Richard P. Loesch III, USAF Honodel’s goal with this work is to tell the story of his experiences in Laos, highlighting the fact that, even though the war was in Vietnam, pilots and equipment were lost in Laos. Although there are parts of the author’s story that precede the assignment in Laos, and there is a chapter at the end that looks at some parts of his life following his first tour overseas, Honodel sticks to his originally-stated intentions.
by Scott H. Dearduff Reviewed by Capt Herman B. Reinhold, USAF CMSgt Scott H. Dearduff uses his memoir, Chief: My Journey Thru Iraq at the Peak of War, to present a detailed account of his time serving as the senior enlisted advisor to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing commander at Balad AB, Iraq. His tour, which began in July 2006 and ended in July 2007, was a time of increased combat operations and increased casualties that caused numerous leadership challenges that he describes throughout his book.
by Melvin Croft and John Youskauskas Reviewed by Kenneth P. Katz The Air Force ROTC Detachment 365 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that I joined in the fall of 1981 as a freshman cadet was filled with aspiring astronauts. Having been inspired by the Apollo missions during elementary school and with the first flight of the space shuttle completed a few months before, it seemed like we were in the perfect time and place to achieve our dreams.
by Bert Chapman Reviewed by Nicholas Michael Sambaluk, PhD The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter plays an important and still developing role in the intersecting fields of aviation, defense investment, coalition dynamics, and military history. The complexity of the program—twice the economic size of the US manned lunar program of the 1960s—contributes to the importance of understanding the F-35 while it simultaneously adds to the challenge of doing so.
by Randall DeGering Reviewed by Lt Col Gerrit H. Dalman, USAF “Radar Contact!” is the lost history of air control and a seminal piece for students and leaders of airpower. It is the authoritative untold history of how air superiority came of age.
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