Rhino
12-07-2006, 01:57 PM
By Robert S. Dudney, Editor in Chief
A Force For the Long Run
Some new emphasis on irregular threats was warranted, but overcorrection can be dangerous.
The political ghost of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who resigned under fire on Nov. 8, will haunt the Pentagon for some time. He has put a deep imprint on the place. For the Air Force, that legacy is not altogether positive.
His thinking was evident in the Pentagon’s latest Quadrennial Defense Review, unveiled this year. Rumsfeld, greatly influenced by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, shifted DOD emphasis away from “traditional” conflict—that is, against nation-states—toward war with “irregular” forces such as terrorists, insurgents, and guerrillas.
Low-intensity conflict, the QDR said, is now the “dominant form of warfare.” Fighters and other advanced weapons were of relatively less value. The services would have to adjust accordingly.
Every transition is also an opportunity. With Rumsfeld’s power now at an end, his successor may want to reconsider that QDR decision, at least as it pertains to the Air Force. The question is this: Has DOD overemphasized irregular warfare?
One who thinks a great deal about that issue is Gen. Ronald E. Keys, head of USAF’s Air Combat Command at Langley AFB, Va. As the ACC boss, he’s in charge of some 1,100 aircraft, 25 wings, 15 bases, and 105,000 troops and civilians. He has no choice but to take the long view, and thus his words have special weight.
“I think there is a danger, and we worry about that,” Keys told the Defense Writers Group, a gathering of Pentagon reporters, on Nov. 9 in Washington, D.C. “Across the Air Force—particularly in Air Combat Command—I had better be able to fight tonight, and I’ve got to be able to fight 30 years from now, too.”
Iraq and Afghanistan aren’t the only wars to consider. “You’ve got to be able to fight in North Korea,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to defend in the China-Taiwan Strait. You’ve got to be able to go to Iran.” Such scenarios would entail high-intensity clashes with large national forces. Those nations could be defeated only by a technologically advanced “conventional” military......http://www.afa.org/magazine/dec2006/1206edit.asp
A Force For the Long Run
Some new emphasis on irregular threats was warranted, but overcorrection can be dangerous.
The political ghost of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who resigned under fire on Nov. 8, will haunt the Pentagon for some time. He has put a deep imprint on the place. For the Air Force, that legacy is not altogether positive.
His thinking was evident in the Pentagon’s latest Quadrennial Defense Review, unveiled this year. Rumsfeld, greatly influenced by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, shifted DOD emphasis away from “traditional” conflict—that is, against nation-states—toward war with “irregular” forces such as terrorists, insurgents, and guerrillas.
Low-intensity conflict, the QDR said, is now the “dominant form of warfare.” Fighters and other advanced weapons were of relatively less value. The services would have to adjust accordingly.
Every transition is also an opportunity. With Rumsfeld’s power now at an end, his successor may want to reconsider that QDR decision, at least as it pertains to the Air Force. The question is this: Has DOD overemphasized irregular warfare?
One who thinks a great deal about that issue is Gen. Ronald E. Keys, head of USAF’s Air Combat Command at Langley AFB, Va. As the ACC boss, he’s in charge of some 1,100 aircraft, 25 wings, 15 bases, and 105,000 troops and civilians. He has no choice but to take the long view, and thus his words have special weight.
“I think there is a danger, and we worry about that,” Keys told the Defense Writers Group, a gathering of Pentagon reporters, on Nov. 9 in Washington, D.C. “Across the Air Force—particularly in Air Combat Command—I had better be able to fight tonight, and I’ve got to be able to fight 30 years from now, too.”
Iraq and Afghanistan aren’t the only wars to consider. “You’ve got to be able to fight in North Korea,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to defend in the China-Taiwan Strait. You’ve got to be able to go to Iran.” Such scenarios would entail high-intensity clashes with large national forces. Those nations could be defeated only by a technologically advanced “conventional” military......http://www.afa.org/magazine/dec2006/1206edit.asp