Air Force Research Institute Papers

Air Force Research Institute (AFRI) Papers are written by Air Force researchers at large and military defense analysts assigned to the Air Force Research Institute, Air University, and beyond. The purpose of the AFRI Papers is to provide useful ideas and independent analysis of issues of current or potential importance to Air Force commanders and their staffs.

Preparing For The Next Space Race

This paper discusses the ambitions of the commercial space industry to build habitats in order to colonize space. It also discusses why space colonization is important to humanity. It then turns to the current international law framework to study if space colonization is legal. Next it looks at what
Shaping Air Mobility Forces for Future Relevance

This report asks whether the national air mobility system (NAMS) of the United States will or will not be able to accomplish its full spread of mission responsibilities in an uncertain future fraught with emerging challenges and threats. More specifically, this report will examine operational,
Basing Strategies for Air Refueling Forces in Antiaccess/Area-Denial Environments

Modern antiaccess/area-denial (A2/AD) systems threaten forward-based air refueling units. To mitigate those threats, various basing options are explored: hardening of aircraft shelters and support facilities, disaggregation of refueling units among prepared bases, and agile disaggregation among more
Strategy for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance

Numerous reports have highlighted obstacles to the integration of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) into military campaigns and major operations. The root cause of these difficulties is adherence to a centralized Cold War collection management doctrine focused on production rather
Resourcing General McChrystal’s Counterinsurgency Campaign

This narrative focuses on the process that US Army general Stanley McChrystal’s operational planning team went through as it conducted its research and analysis of a variety of counterinsurgency theories applied to the difficult operating environment in Afghanistan. [Col Matthew C. Brand, USAF
Integrated Defense: Lessons Learned from Joint Base Balad

Base defense—defending one’s air assets on the ground—is one of the least understood operational aspects of airpower. The current USAF strategy for defending air bases is integrated defense (ID). This study examines the first full implementation of ID in a combat environment in
A Giant in the Shadows

This paper examines the military career of Maj Gen Benjamin Foulois. It emphasizes the personal qualities and professional skill that enabled him to rapidly build up and lead the air arm of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) to victory in World War I. While previous academic works have focused
Air Force Command and Control: The Need for Increased Adaptability

The study captures the results of a CSAF directed analysis on USAF command and control (C2). The study examined Air Force C2 in seven cases covering the spectrum of conflict to determine whether doctrine and organizational structures require change to fit uncertain and dynamic future scenarios. The
The Next-Generation Expeditionary Air Force

On 20 November 2008, the CSAF tasked the Air Force Research Institute (AFRI) to determine if the current expeditionary air and space forces (EAF) construct is engineered to deal with current and future challenges facing the Air Force.* Specific elements for research were the need to meet the demands
General McChrystal’s Strategic Assessment: Evaluating the Operating Environment in Afghanistan in the Summer of 2009 [ONLINE ONLY]

This narrative focuses on General McChrystal and his strategic assessment team’s analysis. It describes the assessment team and covers some of the early friction between the members of the team who had arrived with the new commander and the existing headquarters staff. It then dissects the
On the Fly: Israeli Airpower against the Al-Aqsa Intifada, 2000–2005

Perhaps the greatest lesson the Israeli Air Force should have learned from the five-year campaign against Palestinian militants in the Occupied Territories was the danger inherent in planning from past success. It had long been accustomed to fight short, sharp, conventional wars. Operation Ebb and
AF Symposium Series 2010-2, Future Operator Symposium Proceedings

In July 2009 the Air Force Research Institute invited more than 270 active duty personnel, 14 general officers, and Department of Defense civilians to a “Future Operator Symposium” at Maxwell Air Force Base. The objective was to discuss what operators should look like in the future by
RPAs: Revolution or Retrogression?

Remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) are in a way merely the continuation of the old human longing for methods of striking or observing one’s enemies while remaining safe. This essay explores the advantages and disadvantages of the systems, and briefly speculates about the future of unmanned
Reflections of a Middling Cold Warrior: Should the Army Air Corps Be Resurected?

The need for the justification of an autonomous Air Force seems to be increasingly questioned. This article will argue the issue arises from a bad case of “presentism” that will make it inevitable that we will again be accused of having prepared for the last war in future conflicts. In
Leveraging Affective Learning for Developing Future Airmen

This study is intended to help AF leadership and educators better understand the importance of affective learning in the development of Airmen as life-long learners. Affective learning concerns learners' attitude, motivations, beliefs, and emotions. Unfortunately, the affective domain has been a
Challenging Nuclear Abolition [ONLINE ONLY]

Tough choices regarding defense spending and national security strategy are likely to come in 2009 and 2010, and may significantly affect nuclear weapons policy. Although the president’s efforts to develop a “new New Deal” may overshadow shifts in nuclear weapons policy, the
Learning to Fight Together: The British Experience with Joint Air-Land Warfare [ONLINE ONLY]

Applying a methodology that is best described as “inductive synthesis,” this research paper examines the elusive quest for effective integration between air and land forces in the context of joint operations. It draws on the British experience from the first attempts to provide air
Understanding Airpower: Bonfire of the Fallacies

The general purpose of this monograph is to help prevent or reduce error in debates over all aspects of airpower. Since we humans, our institutions and procedures, and our behavior are friction prone and apt to err, it is sensible to try to diminish the pile of assumptions, beliefs, attitudes, and
Centralized Control and Decentralized Execution

Lieutenant Colonel Hinote applies the Air Force tenet of centralization versus decentralization to the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and suggests that the urgent need for improved communication between air and ground forces. Relying on the teaching of the theoretician B. H. Liddell Hart,
Taking the Lead: Russia, the United States, and Nuclear Nonproliferation

Dr. Stephen Cimbala, distinguished professor and author of numerous books and articles on national security issues, seeks to reestablish relations on nuclear arms control between the United States and Russia. He reviews arms control history to illustrate the complexities of building agreements that
Communicating Airpower: Strategic Communication and the United States Air Force since 9/11

The Air Force Research Institute asked the knowledgeable Washington editor John Robinson to analyze Air Force communications and provide some lessons that might help the Air Force communicate with the nation. As the ground campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan drag on, perceptions of the Air Force
Expansion or Marginalization: How Effects-Based Organization Could Determine the Future of Air Force Space Command

The Air Force Space Command is currently a domain-based organization: the command “does things in and through space.” Tomme argues instead for an effects-based organization, whereby missions are grouped according to similar effects rather than platforms and locations. Separating combat
The Airpower Advantage in Future Warfare: The Need for Strategy

The purpose of the study is to contribute to some reduction in America’s strategy deficit; a common and serious error is the belief that airpower theory is uniquely immature and contested. Dr. Gray argues that the United States needs a theory of war and warfare. His book also advises a frank
Shortchanging the Joint Fight: An Airman’s Assessment of FM 3-24 and the Case for Developing Truly Joint COIN Doctrine

This study analyzes the pitfalls of accepting Army/Marine counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine as the joint solution. It also offers insights and ideas from an Airman’s perspective for strengthening joint doctrine development in order to deliver fresh alternatives to our national decision makers

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Air Force Research Institute Papers

Preparing For The Next Space Race

Shaping Air Mobility Forces for Future Relevance

Basing Strategies for Air Refueling Forces in Antiaccess/Area-Denial Environments

Strategy for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance

Resourcing General McChrystal’s Counterinsurgency Campaign

Integrated Defense: Lessons Learned from Joint Base Balad

A Giant in the Shadows

Air Force Command and Control: The Need for Increased Adaptability

The Next-Generation Expeditionary Air Force

General McChrystal’s Strategic Assessment: Evaluating the Operating Environment in Afghanistan in the Summer of 2009 [ONLINE ONLY]

On the Fly: Israeli Airpower against the Al-Aqsa Intifada, 2000–2005

AF Symposium Series 2010-2, Future Operator Symposium Proceedings

RPAs: Revolution or Retrogression?

Reflections of a Middling Cold Warrior: Should the Army Air Corps Be Resurected?

Leveraging Affective Learning for Developing Future Airmen

Challenging Nuclear Abolition [ONLINE ONLY]

Learning to Fight Together: The British Experience with Joint Air-Land Warfare [ONLINE ONLY]

Understanding Airpower: Bonfire of the Fallacies

Centralized Control and Decentralized Execution

Taking the Lead: Russia, the United States, and Nuclear Nonproliferation

Communicating Airpower: Strategic Communication and the United States Air Force since 9/11

Expansion or Marginalization: How Effects-Based Organization Could Determine the Future of Air Force Space Command

The Airpower Advantage in Future Warfare: The Need for Strategy

Shortchanging the Joint Fight: An Airman’s Assessment of FM 3-24 and the Case for Developing Truly Joint COIN Doctrine

Orders and Copyright Notice