We are now transitioning from an air force into an air and space force on an evolutionary path to a space and air force'. 1 Less than two years after announcing this latest vision, the Air Force changed the terminology from 'air and space' to 'aerospace'. The vision is certainly plausible, but there is a tremendous difference between adopting a particularly appealing bumper sticker slogan and implementing a real plan to accomplish the transition to an aerospace force. This project looks to the history of US naval aviation to determine if the effort to integrate aviation into the Navy from 1921 to 1941 provides a suitable framework for the Air Force to emulate as it integrates space into Air Force operations. The intent of this comparison is to measure the progress of space integration into the Air Force against this historical precedent, to identify areas suggested that would benefit from increased attention, and to recommend improvements that could facilitate the integration of space power into the Air Force. Global Engagements call to integrate space into the Air Force is the third such initiative since 1989.2 That the Air Force began such a course of action again in 1997 implies that it did not fully integrate space during the previous two attempts. Remarks from the most senior levels of the Air Force suggest that the latest integration program is off to a slow start. Early in his tenure as chief of staff of the Air Force, Gen Michael E. Ryan said the concept of becoming a space and air force is a good road map, a good glide path for us. It's now up to us to go out and execute it. '3 Gen Howell M. Estes III, former commander of Air Force Space Command, said, 'I would have to say that the Air Force still has a long way to go in becoming an air and space force, much less a space and air force, and that's not a surprise to anybody.
THE CADRE PAPERS: Toward an Air and Space Force. Naval Aviation and the Implications for Space Power
1999
88 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
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