The US has been involved in several wars since Vietnam. However, the characteristics of warfare have varied each time. Airpower continues to play a vital role in all of them, and technology and experience have allowed airpower to establish itself as a cornerstone capability of modern warfare. Operations Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom provide two excellent, but fundamentally different examples of how airpower provided a distinctive and overwhelming capability advantage to the US war fighting effort. Airpower has become more effective at achieving the strategic aims of defeating America’s enemies and minimizing civilian casualties by expanding the core mentality of strategic bombing alone, to a more flexible application where the type of war …show more content…
Where Rolling Thunder emphasized a gradual escalation strategy, Instant Thunder’s was to be much more aggressive and deliberate. Instant Thunder followed the Five Rings strategy with a psychological operations focus for the population ring. This campaign, in addition to taking out Saddam Hussein’s regime was to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. Airpower achieved its objectives in historic fashion. Civilian and friendly military casualties were minimal, Saddam’s regime was destroyed, and the entire war lasted only 42 days. The results of Desert Storm reflected the technological advances in precision-guided munitions strategic bombing doctrine had foreshadowed decades earlier and demonstrated a significant increase in the effectiveness of airpower since Vietnam. Although Desert Storm clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of airpower in executing its core doctrinal philosophies, historically, airpower was still one-dimensional in its application. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) provides a great example of the evolution of airpower from its core doctrinal philosophies to its alternative applications, further cementing its value as a cornerstone of the US military …show more content…
It integrated inputs from Predator, RC-135, U-2, E-8, and other sensors around the clock. Leadership at higher levels often overshadowed the command and control capabilities of on-scene leadership. “Reduced to basics, the sensor-to-shooter cycle entailed finding, fixing, tracking, targeting, deciding, engaging, and assessing the results. Unlike Desert Storm, in OEF each of these functions required steadily less time, with the singular exception of deciding. That function grew substantially because of the nature of the war itself and of the target-approval process modern C4/ISR enabled. The bottom-line on ISR in OEF is that it was so robust; the level of comfort to make calls from eight time zones away was extremely high. This kind of first-world problem when properly managed was a welcomed burden from those benefiting from the capability on the
On July 30, 2008, a bloody battle involving Coalition forces took place in the mountainous eastern Afghan province of Nuristan. This was the Battle of Wanat and the devastating amount of Coalition casualties began a vigorous investigation by the United States Army. The village of Wanat, defended by Second Platoon, Chosen Company, Second Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team would fall victim to numerous bad decision made by higher command. Although the men of Chosen Company fought hard, they ended up surrounded, vastly outnumbered, and without any Battalion assets. This paper will argue the reasons for the disastrous outcome of the Battle of Wanat; examining the effective company leadership exploiting effective
“Precision Bombing Will Win the War” is one chapter from the book “Wartime” which was written by Paul Fussell in 1989. He said in his book that people always thought there was a panacea, and people believed that the technology would help them win the war. American government thought bomber was the weapon of ultimate victory, and they emphasized that “America cannot lose this war.” However, when the war went on, people realized that aerial bombing had many factors that would affect its function and only few hit targets. There were many accidental attacks by aerial bombing, and what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki indicated that intensification exceeded scruples.
General Petraeus and his Leadership Approach to Mosul A Leaders Restoration of a Nation Following the invasion of Coalition Forces into Iraq in March of 2003 the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, commanded by Major General David Petraeus, found itself in the Northern Iraqi city of Mosul (Lundberg, 2008). With the invasion complete and capturing of the capitol city of Baghdad accomplished, Major General Petraeus and staff began confronting the issues and concerns of what lay ahead for the duration of the unit’s deployment (Lundberg, 2008). The development and implementation of Major General David Petraeus’ strategy to bring stability to Mosul, Iraq and surrounding areas following the 2003 invasion provides insight into his leadership approach
Air Force was officially established in 1947. The United States Air Force has been given the primary responsibility of the defense and protection of American air space in the U.S. and beyond. The United States Air Force has participated in air power to defend the The U.S. and other nations in wars and battles, and has contributed to the protection and well-being of others during humanitarian efforts. Thesis Re-statement
Book Review 2: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Cold War Crises by Richard Betts Summary: Betts starts off his book by recognizing the ambiguity around the advocacy of the use of force in a crisis by military leaders even though there is a prevalent assumption that military professionals are more aggressive than diplomats and politicians. He states he writes the book in order to provide a comprehensive survey of the postwar role of American military men in decisions on their most essential function, their use of force in combat. Betts acknowledges the vast availability of literature on military participation in decisions on defense budgets and weapons procurement, but feels there is a void when looking at decision-making from the perspective of military leadership versus civilian leadership.
World War Two was a war very different from World War One; new technology developed during World War Two made the previous world war look ancient and primitive. With the start of World War Two, man-on-man combat was a thing of the past, as advanced technology such as airplanes became necessarily dominant. Countries were fighting to get ahead of each other in technology, as the more technologically advanced the opponent was, the greater the advantage they had. The development of technology grew exponentially, as any affluent country that even began to lag behind industrially was utterly demolished. Therefore, because the war was dependent on the use of highly-advanced machinery and devastating weapons, the development of technology was exceedingly
By definition, “mission command is the exercise of authority and direction by the commander using mission orders to enable disciplined initiative within the commander’s intent to empower agile and adaptive leaders in the conduct of unified land operations,” according to ADRP 5-0. Mission command is about knowing when to change the task to fit the purpose. This paper is intended to analyze the mission command of one side of the battle, focusing on the commander’s role in the operations process. The Battle of Bunker Hill was the most important battle of the American Revolution because of Colonel Prescott’s superior command and control.
Accessing Operation Anaconda Case Study Using Mission Command Principles Operation Anaconda was a very pivotal moment for the conflict in Afghanistan and how the American Military structured itself. In the process of learning lessons about the importance of using mission command principles when conducting large-scale operations, the American Military made significant changes to the way they conduct large-scale operations. The operation has several elements that are both good and bad for every Soldier to learn from and understand. Using the mission command principles commanders’ intent, mutual trust, and disciplined initiative. I will analyze what went right, wrong, and what could have been prevented in the 17-day operation.
and they didn’t use dummy bombs or unguided bombs they used missiles and laser guided bombs. This also shows that the old tactic still works even in the twenty first
When it comes to air power, the name William ‘Billy’ Mitchell brings to mind different images. Billy Mitchell had long understood the potential of air power before his contemporaries. Most people saw him as a hero who gave the United States strong advice that made them field the world’s largest air force to fight in World War II. On the other hand, other people saw him as an ambitious extremist and egocentric person who brutally punished anyone who opposed his views on air power. The barnstorming era of the 1920s was usually referred to as the Billy Mitchell era because he was the first to loudly proclaim the need for strong air defenses.
Joint Planning for Operation Anaconda SFC Spurlock, Matthew MLC Class 005-18 Joint Planning for Operation Anaconda Since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism, there have been numerous battles. One of the most important battles that shaped future joint planning of operations was Operation Anaconda. The outcome of this operation was ultimately successful, however, the original intent from the commanders were not met due to errors in the joint planning process. Joint planning during Operation Anaconda proved ineffective because of inaccurate intelligence about the terrain and weather, the exemption of Air Force and Navy during the initial planning phase, and false assumptions about the enemy. Intelligence Intelligence Preparation
Shortly following the conclusion of the United States’ conflict in Korea, the American military once again deployed its service members to Eastern Asia to combat and contain the spread of Communism; this time in the form of the Democratic Republic of North Vietnam. While the vast majority of the American populace recalls the Vietnam War as primarily an exercise of ground forces and maneuver, an often-overlooked aspect of the war is the significant contribution to strategy and successful adaptation to threats demonstrated by Air Defense Artillery Soldiers of the era. One of the more proud moments for the Air Defense Artillery Branch was their pivotal role in the Vietnam War. From the branch’s only Medal of Honor winner, to the Duster, and
The war against ISIS might not have the best outcome due to the increasing threat of the leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as well as the 13,000 soldiers in the terrorist group have much more elaborate tactics than Spain had. Yet, the American forces; military and weapons, has advanced over the span of nearly 120 years. Throughout the American existence, the transition from swords to muskets to countless models of assault weapons has made us [U.S.] virtually unstoppable. Our “technological innovations changed America and transformed the country into a modern state,” (The New Normal: Technological Advancement in the Civil War). With all the advancements occurring every year, every day for that matter, gives ISIS no chance of success on any grounds, whether its theirs, ours, or the
The US military plays a major role in the defense system of the world. Their role can be in the form of military aid, deployment of the military and deployment of the Coast Guards and the protection of people’s lives and freedom. The US is well known for providing military aid to many different countries. The aim of military aid is usually to help allies or poor countries to fight terrorism, counter-insurgencies or to help fight drug wars.
Therefore, the US planned a strategic operation called Plan Orange, an operation specifically addressing a conflict with Japan, which shaped the US navy’s force structure. At that time, the US military’s innovation was focused on developing weapons and capabilities that could neutralize or destroy the Japanese Navy. This resulted in a more complex and sophisticated naval force, as well as, Army’s long-range bombers, heavy coast artillery and tactical aviation. Since the Japanese navy only threatened the US’s interests in the Pacific region, the US did not invest much on its armored forces because this capability “appeared to have limited relevance to a war with Japan.” Hence, clearly identified threats drove innovation approaches, supports, and