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Volume 32 Issue 4, Winter 2018

  • Published
  • Air & Space Power Journal, Air University, Maxwell AFB, AL
  • SENIOR LEADER PERSPECTIVE
  • A Model of Air Force Squadron Vitality

    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.

    Video: A Model of Air Force Squadron Vitality Interview                                
  • FEATURE ARTICLES
  • 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

     

    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

    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

    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.
  • VIEWS
  • Operation Vengeance: Still Offering Lessons after 75 Years

    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

    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. 
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • The Cold War They Made: The Strategic Legacy of Roberta  and Albert Wohlstetter

    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

    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

    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. 
  • El Dorado

    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.
  • Sidewinder

    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.

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