The US Air Force celebrates its 60th anniversary in September 2007, but Air and Space Power Journal (ASPJ), the professional journal of the Air Force, is even older. Originally called Air University Quarterly Review, the Journal has built a reputation for publishing high-quality scholarship in multiple languages since the appearance of its inaugural issue in the spring of 1947.

 The Journal’s editorial focus and audience have expanded considerably over the decades. Initially dedicated to airpower alone, ASPJ later broadened its scope to encompass space power. Today, its range of interest reflects the Air Force’s extension into cyberspace. The growth in the number of readers has proven equally significant. Air University Quarterly Review, published in English, initially served officers attending Air University schools at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Far-sighted Air Force leaders soon decided to add independent Spanish and Portuguese editions, which appeared in 1949, as foreign-language and cultural-outreach initiatives to an international audience of military professionals. Renamed Airpower Journal in 1987, the periodical grew to serve the entire US Air Force as well as all the world’s Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking militaries. 

 In the 1990s, the Journal began a pioneering venture into online publication, magnifying the global reach of its traditional hard-copy issues. Arabic and French editions of ASPJ, added in 2005, represented the first professional journals in those languages published by the US Department of Defense and extended the Air Force’s outreach to dozens of Middle Eastern, European and African militaries. Now read in the native languages of over 90 countries, ASPJ has become a global forum for discussing national defense, available in both printed and electronic media. With an eye toward further expansion of its audience, ASPJ is adding a Chinese edition this year to support the Air Force’s language and cultural initiatives as well as foster international understanding on an even larger scale.

 As international military journals, all ASPJ editions provide forums for professional dialogue, but they do more than publish quality articles.  In order to truly understand and meet the needs of their readers, the editors build personal relationships with them and cover topics of regional social and historical interest.

 ASPJ-Spanish illustrates this point perfectly.  Throughout the years, the ASPJ-Spanish editor has traveled widely to consult senior Latin American military officials about the topics they wish to see covered in ASPJ, solicit articles from regional authors, and promote international goodwill. During the past few years, the editor, Lt Colonel Luis Fuentes, US Air Force, retired, has visited the Armed Forces of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. He has also sponsored numerous Latin American officers and their families attending Squadron Officer College, Air Command and Staff College and Air War College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Delegations from many Latin American countries have also visited him at Maxwell.

 These close personal contacts have revealed several trends. First, Latin American military leaderss are dedicated to professionally developing their personnel. Despite often facing serious resource shortages, they are inventive and eager to exchange professional-development ideas with their counterparts throughout the Americas. ASPJ-Spanish has devoted entire quarterly issues to three topics of regional interest: defeating guerrillas and narcotraffickers thru the implementation of Plan Colombia, bolstering the professionalism of noncommissioned officers, and integrating women into the military. Second, Latin American militaries perform a different mixture of functions than their US counterpart. The US military sees its primary roles as contributing to homeland defense and fighting foreign foes, but Latin American militaries rarely fight against other countries. Instead they focus on counterinsurgency and counterdrug operations, domestic economic development, disaster relief, environmental protection, peacekeeping, and safeguarding human rights. The US Air Force can profit from its regional partners’ familiarity with these missions. For example, the Fuerza Aérea Colombiana has decades of experience in counterinsurgency airpower and has achieved impressive results on a shoestring budget. It enjoys even greater success in partnership with the United States. In turn, the US Air Force benefits by applying the Fuerza Aérea Colombiana’s counterinsurgency concepts and experiences in the global war on terror. Finally, democracy has swept Latin America, and regional militaries support this healthy trend. Many anticipate the day when the Cuban people liberate themselves from Communist oppression and join the community of democratic nations.  When that happens, ASPJ-Spanish will stand ready to support force development of the new Cuban air force.

To continue its long tradition of promoting international military dialogue, ASPJ seeks insightful articles and book reviews from anywhere in the world.  Materials about Latin American ­national-security topics are always welcome.  We offer both hard-copy and electronic-publication opportunities in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. To submit articles for the Spanish edition, please refer to the submission guidelines at http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/apjinternational/apj-s/4trimes97/escribir.htm. For the other languages, refer to http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/howto1.html#submissions.

Lt Col Paul D. Berg (USAFA; MA, University of North Dakota; MA, University of Alabama; PhD, Auburn University) is chief, Professional Journals Division at the College of Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education (CADRE). Previously, he served on the Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) faculty where he directed the Air and Space Power Studies course. Colonel Berg is a command pilot with over 5,800 flying hours, mostly in B-52 and RC-135 aircraft. He is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College resident program and the Air War College nonresident program.

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.