Historiographical Essay on the Non Kinetic Role of Airpower in Small Wars

Abstract

Overcoming homegrown insurgencies requires a much more creative and broad use of airpower than just dropping bombs and strafing ground targets. The non-kinetic roles of airpower play a significant and sometimes decisive role in winning over the population and overcoming insurgencies. These effects range from air mobility, to psychological operations (psyops); to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). Even further, these effects can include leadership skills and relationship building, as emphasized in the case of Ed Lansdale. This historiographical essay will focus on three books that provide historical evidence that supports the use of non-kinetic roles of airpower. In addition, two of the works chronicle specific Air Force officers, Heini Aderholt and Edward Lansdale, that in the face of a service stuck in the mindset of dropping bombs and firing bullets, had the vision and imagination to see other more important roles for the Air Force.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2012
Accession Number
AD1022086

Entities

People

  • John M. Harrison

Organizations

  • Air Command and Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Aircrafts
  • Counterinsurgency
  • Governments
  • Human Intelligence
  • Insurgency
  • Lessons Learned
  • Military History
  • Military Organizations
  • Psychological Operations
  • Second World War
  • South Vietnam
  • Terrorists
  • Unconventional Warfare
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Military History
  • Strategic Security Studies