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Document created: 1 September 2007
Air & Space Power Journal - Fall 2007
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Prelaunch Notes |
Lt Col Paul D. Berg, USAF, Chief, Professional Journals
The US Air Force’s 2006 Vision Document reminds Airmen to “never forget that behind us is a proud and lasting heritage and in front of us is a limitless horizon.”1 As we celebrate our service’s 60th birthday, we recall our heritage, replete with heroic Airmen, amazing aircraft and spacecraft, and world-changing achievements. Our belief that “man’s flight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge” has been part of that heritage.2 Gen James H. Doolittle, one of our greatest heroes, once said, “If we should have to fight, we should be prepared to do so from the neck up instead of from the neck down.”3
General Doolittle’s words ring true today. Previous generations of Airmen forged our heritage from knowledge that included technical expertise, innovative doctrinal concepts, and creative leadership skills. Although all military organizations shared some of this knowledge, much of it was unique to Airmen, who operated in different domains than their brethren. In today’s world, where knowledge has become the coin of the realm, Airmen must arm themselves with cutting-edge ideas about how best to apply air, space, and cyber power in defense of national interests. They also must understand how to integrate their activities with land and sea operations.
We must develop new knowledge and deliver it rapidly to Airmen who need it. During the Cold War, “throw weight” meant the weight of an intercontinental ballistic missile’s payload, but we can now give the word a new knowledge-related meaning. Intellectual throw weight is the power of hard-hitting new ideas to influence events. The contribution of Air and Space Power Journal (ASPJ), the professional journal of the Air Force, to our service’s intellectual throw weight predates our service’s birth in 1947. Now published in six languages, ASPJ has become a respected international forum for discussing the latest air, space, and cyber knowledge. On the Air Force’s 60th birthday, we clearly see a limitless horizon for our service and its professional journal.
All ASPJ editions promote professional dialogue among Airmen worldwide so that we can harness the best ideas about air, space, and cyberspace power. Chronicles Online Journal (COJ) complements the printed editions of ASPJ but appears only in electronic form. Not subject to any fixed publication schedule or article-length constraints, COJ can publish timely articles anytime about a broad range of military topics.
Articles appearing in COJ are frequently republished elsewhere. The various ASPJ language editions routinely translate and print them. Book editors from around the world select them as book chapters, and college professors use them in the classroom. We are pleased to present the following recent COJ article (available at http://www.airpower.maxwell .af.mil/airchronicles/cc.html):
•Dr. Fred H. Allison, “Close Air Support: Aviators’ Entrée into the Band of Brothers” (http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/allison.html)
The ASPJ staff seeks insightful articles and book reviews from anywhere in the world. We offer both hard-copy and electronic-publication opportunities in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French, and Chinese. To submit an article in any of our languages, please refer to the submission guidelines at http://www.airpower .maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/howto1.html. To write a book review, please see the guidelines at http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/bookrev/bkrevguide.html.
Notes
1. 2006 Vision Document, 1, http://www.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-060228-054.pdf (accessed 12 May 2007).
2. Austin “Dusty” Miller, quotation on the Eagle and Fledglings statue at the US Air Force Academy.
3. “Jimmy Doolittle: Doolittle Quotes,” Pacific Air Forces, http://www.pacaf.af.mil/library/pacafheritage/jimmydoolittle/doolittle/index.asp (accessed 27 May 2007).
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
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