The Afghan Air War
Abstract
The Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., changed forever the way Americans viewed national security. For the US Air Force and its partners in joint airpower the attacks and resulting Global War on Terrorism erased distinctions between fighting over there and the defense of the United States. American strategy will be affected for decades to come. The large-scale US response to an act of terrorism was a first for the American military. Operation Enduring Freedom, the US overseas response, was in its most intense phase in the period October 2001 through January 2002, but it was not a massive air war. The sortie count from its start on Oct. 7 through the final takeover of Afghan cities was half that of Operation Allied Force in 1999 and nowhere near the effort of the Gulf War in 1991. Air Force pilots flew some of the longest missions in history, but the success of the campaign was never seriously in question. What made Enduring Freedom unique was that, in a war unlike any other, joint airpower was able to respond on command in a harsh and politically complex environment. Airpower set the conditions for the coalition campaign and achieved success from the first night onward. Airmen took it all in stride. They conducted a campaign that, initially, filled the pundits with doubts, but they made it look routine, adapting to tactical constraints and bringing precise firepower to bear wherever needed, despite the obstacles. The overarching US Global War on Terrorism does not fit neatly into the cause-and-effect calculations of international politics. Military force mingles with diplomacy, international financial sanctions, cyber-defense, law enforcement, and many other forms of response. It is in part the by-product of several regional security policies, from the effort to contain Iraq to the US relationship with Israel. It is directly a product of the emergence of a non-national group-al Qaeda-ideologically bent on destruction.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA466792
Entities
People
- Rebecca Grant