Never forget! Holm Center commander reflects on living through 9/11 Pentagon attack

In a show of support, an untold number of letters from across the country poured into the Pentagon in the weeks and months following the 9/11 attack there. Many of the letters and drawings, such as the one pictured, were displayed at the memorial service held at the Pentagon a month later to honor the 184 people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. (Courtesy photo)

Post 9/11 Transformations in Warfare

Published April 30, 2026
By HAF A5SM

TOPIC SPONSOR: HAF A5SM

How has warfare evolved over time in the post 9/11 world? In recent years, new developments have challenged traditional approaches to armed conflict, such as 'new wars', law-fare, cyber and information warfare, AI development, and 'grey-zone' or 'hybrid' warfare. How have emerging technologies been integrated into warfare? How are they redefining the conventional battlefield for the USAF? How have new actors and technologies impacted the dynamics of international relations and global security?

Beers. Lt. Col. Shannon, "Congress, Commander in Chief and the Implications for the Department of Defense," AF Fellows Portfolio (Georgetown), 2025, 19 pgs.
- Beers explains that warfare has evolved into a continuous string of executive-led, undeclared, and limited military engagements. The integration of emerging military technologies, particularly over-the-horizon airpower and unmanned systems, has actively facilitated this evolution by enabling the President to initiate military operations without triggering the severe political consequences or public outcry associated with a declared war. Looking forward, he warns that integrating new domains like cyberwarfare—where actions such as shutting down an electric grid can be lethal—will further blur the legal lines between "imperfect" and "perfect" wars, testing current constitutional boundaries.
Lind, Maj. Corbin, "Flying Tigers: The Next Generation--Warthog Diplomacy for a Global Grey War," AF Global College thesis, 2025, 88 pgs.
McFarlane, Maj. Brandon L, "Precision vs. Strategy: Evaluating the Joint Targeting Enterprise's Role in Achieving U.S. Long-Term Objectives," AFGC thesis, 2025, 42 pgs.
- McFarlane explains that the Global War on Terror (GWOT) fundamentally altered warfare by introducing the JTE as the primary framework for operations, which heavily integrated emerging technologies like unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and precision-guided munitions. While these technologies redefined the battlefield by enabling persistent surveillance and remote strikes with minimal risk to U.S. personnel, McFarlane highlights their severe limitations. He argues that the overreliance on signals intelligence (SIGINT) and aerial surveillance often led to target misidentifications and devastating civilian casualties, proving that technological precision cannot overcome flawed intelligence or replace a cohesive political strategy.
Mulder, Col. Christopher P. et al, "Honest Brokers in the Gray Zone: Adapting the NSC for the Twenty-First Century," Air Forces Fellows Paper, published as an AU Press Walker Paper, 2023, 146 pgs.
Seguin, Lt. Col. Thomas Ryan, "Battle of Marawi: A Case for Military Effectiveness Study," AWC EL 2019, 13 pgs.
Shields, Jeremy R.P., "The Sixth Military Revolution: Is the Department of Defense Ready?" SAASS thesis, 2923, 81 pgs.