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 2008 for Joint Base Balad to evaluate the effectiveness of the new strategy in actual operations. The lessons learned, as discussed by Colonel Milner, are instructive for future operations.