United States Strategic Doctrine and the Evolution of Military Airlift

Abstract

The purpose of airlift has been to support the deployment of Army combat forces. Therefore, a major allocation of Air Force resources to airlift actually would serve the purposes of the Army deployment mission rather than the traditional Air Force missions of strategic bombardment and air superiority. Morton Halperin, Priscilla Clapp and Arnold Kanter claim that the part of the Air force that has been least effective in challenging the dominant role of SAC is AMC, charged with movement of men and material primarily for the Army. This phenomenon recently received official acknowledgment in a staff report to the United States Committee on Armed Services entitled Defense Organization: The Need For Change, which stated functions (i.e. airlift) which are not central to a Service's own definition of its mission tend to be neglected.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1987
Accession Number
ADA196194

Entities

People

  • John D. Harrington

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Air Transportation
  • Aircraft Industry
  • Airframes
  • Airlift Operations
  • Combat Areas
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Military Force Levels
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Transport Aircraft
  • Treaties
  • United States Transportation Command
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.