Contents

Senior Leader Perspective

• Building toward the Future
  Gen Edward A. Rice Jr., USAF, Commander, AETC

  Certainly, we are living in interesting times, and although numerous challenges face the Air Force today, we have a unique opportunity to shape our future. As the first online-only issue of ASPJ launches in January 2012, the Air Force--indeed, the entire nation--must deal with a period of fiscal austerity. Although not unprecedented, such (Read More)

  

Feature Articles

• The Efficiency Paradox
  How Hyperefficiency Can Become the Enemy of Victory in War
  Lt Col Geoffrey F. Weiss, USAF

  Theoretically, at some point increased efficiency cannot make up the difference, and the cuts become too deep, injuring a vital capacity or costing lives in combat due to a scarcity in training or resources. How will we know when we have reached that point? Perhaps more insidiously, is it possible that resorting to a culture of hyperefficiency in (Read More)

  

• What Every Airman Needs to Know about Medical Stability Operations
  Col Stephen Waller, MD, USAF, Retired
  Lt Col Jose Fonseca, USAF, Retired
  Col Joseph Anderson, USAF, MC
  Col James Fike, USAF, MC, Retired
  Col Sean Murphy, USAF, MC

  Humanitarian relief, emergency infrastructure reconstruction, provision of essential government services, and the maintenance of a safe and secure environment are all key features of stability operations, and 'military health support' plays an everyday, vital role in each feature. (Read More)

  

From The Editor

• Air and Space Power Journal's Creative Destruction
  Lt Col Michael Tate, USAF, Chief, Professional Journals

  The term creative destruction appears frequently in current publishing circles. Normally used by economists, it describes the constant evolution of capitalist markets and the processes within organizations. Creative destruction affects systems that require innovation in order to stay competitive and survive. Specifically, it entails the (Read More)

  

Ricochets And Replies

• Air Force Policy for Advanced Education
  Jim Garcia, National Defense University

  I congratulate Maj Tobias Switzer for his well-written article "Air Force Policy for Advanced Education: Production of Human Capital or Cheap Signals?" (Winter 2011). The author’s interpretations of the data are reasonable, and his reasoning is logical and complete. I agree with his conclusion that, through its promotion policies, the Air Force (Read More)

  

• Air Force ISR Operations
  Maj Brad Kornreich, USAF, Luke AFB, Arizona

  Cultural transformation lies at the heart of Lt Gen Dave Deptula and Col Mike Francisco's article" Air Force ISR Operations: Hunting versus Gathering" (Winter 2010). Although I completely concur with this vivid metaphor's usefulness concerning information, some unit-level considerations are worthy of deeper discussion and thought. (Read More)

  

Historical Highlights

• The Strategic Striking Force
  Lt. Col. Frank R. Pancake

  This article from 1948 reveals some interesting insights into the develpment of our Air Force following World War II. Lieutenant Colonel Pancake explains his views concerning the requirements for developing strategic airpower in the postwar years. (Read More)

  

Views

• Air-Mindedness
  The Core of Successful Air Enterprise Development
  Maj Christopher Wachter, USAF

  In order to establish strong and enduring airpower, society needed to become "air-minded," acknowledging the advances in transportation, communication, commerce, and governance the use of air could bring to the nation (Read More)

  

• Partnership between the US and Iraqi Air Forces
  One Airman's Perspective
  Lt Col Andy Hamann, USAF

  This article discusses some of the USAF's recent partnerships with the IqAF, addresses some challenges that the latter now faces, and speculates about the relationship between our air forces in the future. (Read More)

  

• Support the Combatant Commander, Develop the Force, or Roll the Dice?
  What the Air Force's Deployment Tasking Process Doesn't Do
  Lt Col Kevin J. Parker, USAF

  Most Airmen are well versed in the timing of their deployment cycle, but how an individual gets selected for a specific deployment tasking remains a mystery for most In some ways, the process is more akin to rolling dice than following a deliberate method. In truth, understanding the system may not be comforting. (Read More)

  

Selected Air University Research

• The Decline of the Military Ethos and Profession of Arms
  An Argument against Automomous Lethal Engagements
  Lt Col Michael R. Contratto, USAF

  While the exact year is still in doubt, the capability for robotic autonomous lethal engagements will eventually exist and possibly much sooner than many think. Placing worries of Skynet achieving consciousness and bands of Terminators running amok aside, as military science and sociology fuse, we truly find ourselves on the cusp of a "brave new (Read More)

  

• Principles of War for Cyberspace
  Lt Col Steven E. Cahanin, USAF

  As the United States Air Force develops doctrine, education, and organization for cyberspace, we need to consider the traditional principles of war and how/if they apply to cyberspace, and under what situations, so we can develop a conceptual foundation for effective cyberspace warfighting doctrine. Most importantly, we should understand the (Read More)

  

• Logistics Aloft
  Col Joel D. Jackson, USAF

  The Department of Defense (DoD) should assess potential future UAS missions by first determining what particular characteristics of the ISR and ISR/strike missions made them successful as UAS missions and then determining what other missions fit these same characteristics. Emergency and mission-critical, time-sensitive (MCTS), intra-theater (Read More)

  

Book Reviews

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  A History of Air Warfare
  John Andreas Olsen, Editor

  John Olsen's A History of Air Warfare is a must-read. The editor has brought together a stellar group of 15 leading airpower historians, at least half of whom are among the top 12 to 15 scholars in the field. The editor's stated goal is to produce an introductory text that provides an overview of air warfare. He delivers much more in this outstanding collection of high-quality essays that concisely cover airpower from World War I into the future.

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  Democracy and Deterrence: Foundations for an Enduring World Peace
  Dr. Walter Gary Sharp Sr.

  Democracy and Deterrence is an edited version of Dr. Sharp's dissertation in juridical science at the University of Virginia School of Law. Though organized in the style of a dissertation, the book is quite readable, even for a newcomer to the subject. In the initial chapters, the author reviews various theories on "democratic peace," notably those of Rudy Rummel, emeritus professor at the University of Hawaii and one of the earliest and most prolific authors on the subject, and of Sharp's own academic adviser, Prof. John Norton Moore, who developed the incentive theory of war avoidance, which underpins Sharp's own inquiry into "war avoidance through incentives and deterrence" (p. 83).

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  Empire by Default: The Spanish-American War and the Dawn of the American Century
  Ivan Musicant

  While pondering the current debate over the American predilection for empire in modern times, one would do well to consider the period in history when the United States actually did assume the mantle of an imperial nation. With the closing of the frontier in the late nineteenth century, individuals convinced of the exceptional nature of American society looked beyond their shores to fulfill their Manifest Destiny. The decline of Spain as a world power offered the United States the opportunity to replace the Spaniards' despotic rule of their colonies with the benefits of enlightened American governance.

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  The Imperial Moment
  Kimberly Kagan, Editor

  The Imperial Moment is an anthology written by senior professors for senior professors. It is a response to much current literature relating to whether or not the United States has become an empire or simply remains a very powerful state. The thrust of the book is that history does not repeat itself but consists of continuity and change. In any event, as the editor recognizes, six case studies do not constitute a sufficient sample for the foundation of any axiomatic ideas. The notions offered include the idea that it is wrong to assume the inevitability of moving from a very powerful state to an empire; the decision of leaders makes a difference; it takes time to migrate from a very powerful state to an empire; and, unlike a very powerful state, an empire can issue orders to lesser states and expect obedience-often in response to a perceived military threat.