Air Force Strategic Planning: Past, Present, and Future
Abstract
For a relatively young service, the U.S. Air Force has a remarkably rich intellectual history. Even before the Air Forces official formation, the development of airpower has been dotted with such visionaries as Billy Mitchell and Henry Hap Arnold. The trend continued after the service's formation with such airmen as John Boyd, Richard Moody Suter, and John Warden, who were years, if not decades, ahead of their time. At the same time, however, the Air Forces long-term plans have not always proved particularly farsighted or even notable. Indeed, many of the Air Force's senior leaders are skeptical of long-term strategic planning, and some even doubt its utility altogether. The general dissatisfaction with the state of Air Force strategic planning comes at a time when the Air Forcelike its sister servicesfaces congressional pressure to dramatically reduce its headquarters staff. Given the time and energy required to produce these documents, it raises the question: Is strategic planning worth the effort? After laying out a methodology to answer both questions, this report tells the history of the Air Forces relationship with strategic plans, particularly those produced in the postCold War years. It describes how different Air Force leaders have used these strategic plans to define the services identity, protect the service's budgets on Capitol Hill, carve out new roles and missions, and shape the services future. More importantly, it accounts for how different Air Force leaders developed, packaged, and sold these documentswith varying degrees of success. Ultimately, this report argues that, indeed, the Air Force still needs strategic planning but perhaps not in its current form. Throughout its history, the Air Force has successfully used strategic planning to accomplish four basic tasks: allocate and justify resources; structure the force; define and shape the services mission and even identity.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1028529
Entities
People
- Raphael S. Cohen
Organizations
- RAND Corporation