From Strategic to Tactical and Nowhere in Between: The USAF at the Operational Level
Abstract
In 2001, based on the lessons from Operations Desert Storm and Allied Force, then Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen John Jumper directed the United States Air Force to develop a new Component Command structure. The goal of the new Concept was to provide the Unified Combatant Commands dedicated, timely, operational-level air and space support across the full range of military operations. Over the next seven years, the United States Air Force worked through the Air Force Forces Command and Control Enabling Concept, creating six different documents. Throughout the development, the teams focused on three central elements: a standardized organizational structure, manned with a cross-functionally balance staff to support the full range of military operations, and able to seamlessly transition from day-to-day operations to contingency operations in a timely fashion. In 2010, the Air Force put the results to the test when Twelfth Air Force (Air Forces Southern) responded to the Haiti earthquake. Based on the inefficiencies with the Twelfth Air Force (Air Forces Southern) response, it is clear the United States Air Force and the Concept failed to fix the operational-level command and control issues identified ten years prior.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- AD1019409
Entities
People
- Joseph M. Vanoni
Organizations
- Air University