Mitigating the Backlash: US Airpower as a Military Instrument of Policy
Abstract
In this paper I make the case for the United States' increasing need to use primarily airpower to fight its battles. The primary reason is that airpower is the form of US military might that is least likely to antagonize others when employed, while still retaining robust Combat capability. A secondary goal is to demonstrate that airpower has the capability to achieve a large measure of the policy objectives that are likely to be pursued through military means in the near term. The core of this thesis lies ill the proposition that by employing airpower as the military instrument of choice when armed force is called for, the US will arouse less negative reaction than would the large-scale deployment of ground forces. I begin by citing relevant hegemonic theory that provides substantiation for my assertion that America's actions on the world stage are responded to differently than if it were not a sole superpower. Next I make the case that airpower provokes the least negative reaction that can be expected in response to the use of military force. History demonstrates a distinction between world reactions to deployments of ground% forces versus deployments of air forces (land- or carrier-based) alone. Finally, I show that airpower, virtually alone, can achieve many policy objectives. Here again I examine the historical record to define the aims airpower has set out to achieve and the extent to which it was successful. I also make the case that the types of missions airpower has shown it can accomplish of late are likely to be similar to those the military will be called upon to undertake in the foreseeable future. Two final chapters are devoted to case studies of Operations Allied Force and Enduring Freedom. Herein the aforementioned three intertwined hypotheses further borne out.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA425582
Entities
People
- Suzanne C. Buono
Organizations
- Air University