Out of the Web and into the Revolution: A Perspective of Strategic Airpower in the Information Age.
Abstract
This monograph explores the validity of Colonel John A. Warden III's strategic airpower theory as various nations, including the U.S., enter a Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) based on the rapid advancements in information technologies, and the operational and organizational concepts which exploit these technologies. Warden's theory is based on modeling an enemy as a system of five rings representing leadership, organic essentials, infrastructure, population, and fielded military forces. The method of attack in his theory is that of parallel warfare, striking nearly simultaneously across aspects of the system critical to the leadership ring in order to induce strategic paralysis. The monograph traces the evolution of strategic airpower theory since 1917 with an emphasis on the post World War I period, World War II, Vietnam, and Operation Desert Storm. Additional discussion focuses on the nature of societal shifts toward the information age, and the potential character of the associated RMA. It then analyzes the Warden theory as used by an informational age U.S. military against a variety of adversaries including an advanced peer competitor. This monograph concludes that the Warden model is valid for such scenarios if modified to specifically include the element of information. It is only valid, however, if one properly identifies the nature of the enemy and character of the war one is fighting-a task that is becoming increasingly difficult as the world's societies trisect into agrarian, industrial, and informational levels. While the model remains valid, lethal airpower in many cases is not the appropriate tool to implement the theory.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 19, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA301122
Entities
People
- James Riggins
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College