Learning Large Lessons: The Evolving Roles of Ground Power and Air Power in the Post-Cold War Era
Abstract
The roles of ground and air power have shifted in U.S. post-Cold War warfighting operations. Furthermore, the two services largely responsible for promulgating the relevant doctrines, creating effective organizations, and procuring equipment for the changing conflict environment in the domains of land and air -- the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force -- do not appear to be fully incorporating the lessons of post-Cold War operations. Indeed, the Army and the Air Force (and the other services) have tended to view the conflicts of the post-Cold War period through their specific institutional prisms. Additionally, all the U.S. military services have focused the vast majority of their attention on warfighting, to the exclusion of other types of military operations (e.g., Military Operations Other Than War (MOOTW)) that are increasingly central to achieving national security objectives. These mind-sets must change if the U.S. Armed Forces are to provide the capabilities most needed to protect and advance national interests in the future. Although the period since the end of the Cold War has witnessed a significant number of MOOTW, the "war" dimension of the range of military operations is where the Army and the Air Force have generally focused their institutional efforts, which are reflected in their doctrines, organizations, and equipment. Consequently, this study analyzed the following post-Cold War conflicts: Iraq (1991), Bosnia (1995), Kosovo (1999), Afghanistan (2001), and Iraq (2003). The analysis was limited to identifying the responses of the ground-centric and the air-centric communities to what happened in these wars and, where appropriate, a more integrated assessment of these wars.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA454776
Entities
People
- David E. Johnson
Organizations
- RAND Corporation