Victory From Above. Air Power Theory and the Conduct of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm
Abstract
Desert Shield and Desert Storm were remarkably successful military operations. As such, they will be studied for years by professional military officers and civilian analysts. This study seeks to analyze a narrow portion of the Desert Shield--Desert Storm material with the objective of gaining increased understanding of the core elements of air power theory and of the basic employment concepts of modern air power. It follows a chronological pattern, beginning with surveys of air power theory and background information on the crisis. The Desert Shield phase, the planning of the air campaign, and the execution of the theater campaign for the liberation of Kuwait follows. Although this format provides a survey of military planning and operations, the central objective is to create an understanding of air power and its theoretical foundations. The term 'air power' is used in its broadest sense to describe the national military capability to operate in the third dimension. Since 1959, the USAF lexicon has described this as using the aerospace environment. Air operations exploit the inherent advantages of speed, range, and flexibility to concentrate firepower on specific targets or to perform other critical missions such as transport or reconnaissance. This broad definition incorporates the aerospace assets and capabilities of all of the armed services, national industrial design and production, and civil aviation. Within this broad definition, the discussion of air power in this study focuses primarily on USAF. The study of air power, or any military topic, involves a special vocabulary with terms and phrases designed to communicate specific meanings.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA283460
Entities
People
- Jerome V. Martin
Organizations
- Air University