Airpower and Psychological Denial
Abstract
According to RAND researcher Stephen Hosmer, the promise of airpower resides in "air operations against enemy deployed forces, the demoralization of which might cause enemy cohesion to disintegrate and battlefield resistance to collapse"--a concept here termed psychological denial. While airpower enthusiasts have advocated psychological effects since the days of Giulio Douhet, these effects have usually been seen in terms of targeting the public's will and then the leadership's ability to continue the fight. Airpower could thus enable strategists to leapfrog fielded forces and strike at the heart of the enemy. But that did not happen in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Carl Conetta states that the operation was the first example of airpower used to effect psychological denial. Is it true Iraqi Freedom was a unique use of joint and combined airpower, and did this strategy work?
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA522873
Entities
People
- Wesley P. Hallman
Organizations
- National Defense University