Transitioning to a Space & Air Force: Moving Beyond Rhetoric?

Abstract

Efforts within the Air Force to integrate its two primary components, air and space, have yielded at best slow and dubious results. Many space advocates and analysts assumed that the vital role space played in the Gulf War would result in space being recognized as warranting an equal position with the air component of the Air Force, if not the creation of a separate service. Although rhetoric has seemed to support those assumptions, actual progress has remained slow. In this paper, the role played by organizational culture and an indicator of organizational commitment, is also considered. The trials of teaching and integrating space into an already existing structure at the senior Air Force Professional Military Education (PME) institution, the Air War College, is examined as illustrative. The conclusion reached is that the current environment is not conducive to integration, and that rhetoric will likely continue to outpace substantive progress, with potentially negative result.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1998
Accession Number
ADA367211

Entities

People

  • Joan Johnson-freese

Organizations

  • United States Air Force Academy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Aircrafts
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Military Education
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Organizational Structure
  • Psychology
  • Space Force
  • Space Systems
  • Students
  • Training
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Space