Document created: 1 December 05
Air & Space Power Journal - Winter 2005

The Air Force of the Future

Airmen have always been visionaries—even before an independent US Air Force existed. One of the earliest Airmen—often called the father of the Air Force—earned a reputation as a prophet because of his perceptive insights. More than 20 years before the Air Force became a separate service and long before the term air superiority entered Airmen’s parlance, William “Billy” Mitchell was looking forward, into the unknown. In his book Winged Defense, he opined that “great contests for control of the air will be the rule in the future.” That brief sentence, penned more than 80 years ago, describes fairly well the modern concept of air superiority. As Mitchell prophesied, gaining and maintaining air superiority has taken its place among the top priorities of present-day combat. It is one thing to marvel at this kind of foresight, but it is another thing altogether to press ahead, as did Mitchell and his fellow airpower pioneers, to fulfill the possibilities of the future. This edition of Air and Space Power Journal dedicates itself to precisely that endeavor: peering into the future.

We currently enjoy technological capabilities that allow us to routinely perform heretofore unprecedented feats—seeing in the dark, for example. Furthermore, whereas our air forces of the past often needed multiple aircraft to attack a single target successfully, just one B-2 Spirit bomber can now carry 40,000 pounds of weapons through the world’s most advanced defenses and engage multiple targets. Granted, the dangers associated with plucking an American service member from deep within enemy territory have not diminished over time, but modern combat-search-and-rescue troops have the equipment to do so with exceptional efficiency and effectiveness. To cite a final example, thanks to today’s remotely controlled aircraft, the Air Force can quietly keep watch over a variety of trouble spots.

In the century since Billy Mitchell began dreaming of exploiting the air for military purposes, we have moved past that medium—into space. Among the contributions of space assets, satellites beyond our atmosphere help ground forces navigate featureless desert terrain and guide “smart bombs” to their targets. Arguably, without these and other advantages offered by space, US armed forces would not have become the world’s preeminent military power. Thus, we may legitimately ask whether or not an independent US Space Force should stand up and, if so, when.

But questions about our future don’t stop there. We can also ponder how the Air Force of the future will organize itself. How will our service educate, train, and equip its people? We face these questions and many others. Possible answers lie within the pages of this journal, where forward-thinking people speculate about a number of intriguing possibilities, from using balloons on the edge of space, to ensuring the operational security of the Internet, to providing technical education for Airmen engaged in space operations, to building a world-class enlisted corps.

The endearing—and enduring—American comedian George Burns, who died at the age of 100 in 1996, left us a treasury of wry observations, including his comment that “I look to the future because that’s where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.” Although, like Mr. Burns, we will spend the rest of our lives in the future, we do not know what it will look like. The US Air Force has come a long way, but we must now decide what comes next. We must become the Billy Mitchells—the prophets and the pioneers—so that we can shape our future. The ASPJ staff hopes that the articles in this issue will challenge assumptions, spark new ideas, and help lead us into the future.

Disclaimer

The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University

[ Back Issues | Home Page | Feedback? Email the Editor ]