Jet aircraft do not typically come to mind when the subject of military operations other than war (MOOTW) is discussed. Instead, images of Marines slogging through tropical rice paddies or soldiers patrolling Mogadishu's dusty backstreets better exemplify small-scale conflict for most people. These popular images notwithstanding, the USAF and its predecessors have been heavily involved in MOOTW for 80 years, flying in over 800 such operations since 1916.2 From the Berlin Airlift to more-recent operations such as Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia, the USAF has been deeply involved in all types of lesser conflicts and noncombat operations. In particular, recent peace operations have dramatically increased the 'peacetime' demands on the USAF. Most USAF MOOTW have been relatively short-lived, small-scale disaster-relief or humanitarian-aid missions that do not significantly increase the peacetime operations tempo. Since 1990, however, peace operations have proved to be more of a problem, owing to their larger size, longer duration, overlapping nature, and the demands they place on specialized assets (e.g., Airborne Warning and Control System AWACS, intelligence platforms, and Special Operations Forces SOF aircraft), as well as on the fighter force. Indeed, although they represent only 9 percent of USAF MOOTW since 1989, peace operations account for 90 percent of the USAF sorties flown in MOOTW since 1990.


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    Title :

    Preparing the U.S. Air Force for Military Operations other than War


    Contributors:
    A. Vick (author) / D. T. Orletsky (author) / A. N. Shulsky (author) / J. Stillion (author)

    Publication date :

    1996


    Size :

    220 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English