Recapitalizing the Air Force Intellect Recapitalizing the Air Force Recapitalizing the Air Force Intellect Essays on War, Airpower, and Military Education Dennis M. Drew Colonel, USAF, Retired Drew ISBN 978-1-58566-179-4 ISSN 1528-2325 Prints Pantone 497 Final trim size 9.5"X6.75" Bleeds on all 4 sides MUIR S. FAIRCHILD RESEARCH INFORMATION CENTER Recapitalizing the Air Force Intellect Essays on War, Airpower, and Military Education DENNIS M. DREW Colonel, USAF, Retired Fairchild Paper Air University Press Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama 36112-5962 May 2008 00-frontmatter.indd 1 4/16/08 1:51:28 PM Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center Cataloging Data Disclaimer Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Air University, the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense, or any other US government agency. Cleared for public release: distribution unlimited. This Fairchild Paper and others in the series are avail- able electronically at the AU Press Web site http:// aupress.maxwell.af.mil and the Air University Research Web site http://research.maxwell.af.mil. ii 00-frontmatter.indd 2 4/16/08 1:51:29 PM Dedicated To Muir S. Fairchild (1894 –1950), the first commander of Air University and the university’s conceptual father. General Fairchild was part visionary, part keen taskmaster, and “Air Force to the core.” His legacy is one of confidence about the future of the Air Force and the central role of Air University in that future. 00-frontmatter.indd 3 4/16/08 1:51:29 PM 00-frontmatter.indd 4 4/16/08 1:51:29 PM Contents Page DISCLAIMER . ii DEDICATION . iii FOREWORD . ix PREFACE . xi INTRODUCTION . xiii PART 1 Considering the Past—Contemplating the Future OVERVIEW . 3 WAR, POLITICS, AND HOSTILE WILL . 5 Notes . 14 MILITARY ART AND THE AMERICAN TRADITION: THE VIETNAM PARADOX REVISITED . 15 A MATTER OF PRINCIPLES: EXPANDING HORIZONS BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELD . 21 TWO DECADES IN THE AIRPOWER WILDERNESS: DO WE KNOW WHERE WE ARE? . 31 Notes . 41 TECHNOLOGY AND THE AMERICAN WAY OF WAR: WORSHIPING A FALSE IDOL? . 43 PART 2 The End of the Cold War OVERVIEW . 55 THE AMERICAN AIRPOWER DOCTRINE DILEMMA . 57 Notes . 69 v 00-frontmatter.indd 5 4/16/08 1:51:30 PM CONTENTS Page THE AIRPOWER IMPERATIVE: HARD TRUTHS FOR AN UNCERTAIN WORLD . 73 Notes . 84 NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR A NEW AIR FORCE . 87 AIRPOWER IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER . 95 Notes . 110 RECASTING THE FLAWED DOWNSIZING DEBATE: A NEW APPROACH FOR THE NEW WORLD ORDER . 113 Notes . 124 GLOBAL REACH AND THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN AIRPOWER . 127 PART 3 The Nature and Impact of Airpower OVERVIEW . 135 JOINT OPERATIONS: THE WORLD LOOKS DIFFERENT FROM 10,000 FEET . 137 Notes . 148 WE ARE AN AEROSPACE NATION . 151 Note . 158 DESERT STORM AS A SYMBOL: IMPLICATIONS OF THE AIR WAR IN THE DESERT . 159 Notes . 168 THE ESSENCE OF AEROSPACE POWER: A NEW PERSPECTIVE FROM A CENTURY OF EXPERIENCE . 171 Notes . 188 100 YEARS OF AIRPOWER: THREE GREAT LESSONS AND ONE CONTINUING DILEMMA . 191 Notes . 204 vi 00-frontmatter.indd 6 4/16/08 1:51:30 PM CONTENTS PART 4 Educating Airmen Page OVERVIEW . 209 EDUCATING AIR FORCE OFFICERS: OBSERVATIONS AFTER 20 YEARS AT AIR UNIVERSITY . 211 Notes . 220 THE THREE PILLARS OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE: IMPERATIVES FOR AIRPOWER LEADERS . 223 Notes . 238 CRITICAL THINKING AND LEADERSHIP . 241 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS . 245 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 247 INDEX . .255 vii 00-frontmatter.indd 7 4/16/08 1:51:30 PM 00-frontmatter.indd 8 4/16/08 1:51:30 PM Foreword This anthology provides a fitting capstone to the remarkable career of a most unusual Airman. Dennis Drew came to Air University as a student at the Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) in 1977. He was a veteran of the war in Vietnam, an experienced Cold Warrior from the missile silos of the Strategic Air Command, and already designated as an officer with bright, if conventional, career prospects. As it turned out, there was to be nothing conventional about his career or his enormous im- pact on Air University and the entire US Air Force. After graduating from ACSC with honors, he remained on the faculty for five years teaching in the classroom and later develop- ing curriculum. He garnered considerable attention by writing and publishing his first three articles in the Air University Review— one of which is included in this anthology. As a result, the Air University commander selected him to direct the newly formed Airpower Research Institute, where he remained for eight very productive years directing important research efforts and building his portfolio of published journal articles, research papers, and his first three books. In 1991 yet another Air University commander selected him to become the dean of the newly formed School of Advanced Airpower Studies, now the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS). Caught in the post–Cold War military down- sizing, he retired from active duty in 1992 as a full colonel and was immediately hired back as the civilian associate dean of SAASS. During the following 16 years at SAASS, his writing and lecturing continued apace as the school grew, prospered, and established itself as an outstanding academic institution. His second retirement in 2008 was marked by this anthology containing some of his most memorable and influential articles and speeches from the previous three decades. His career path has been unusual, but what sets him apart are his unique accomplishments over his 30 years at Air Univer- sity. He authored, coauthored, and edited six books and several book chapters and monographs. Additionally, he authored nu- merous articles published in the leading professional journals both in the United States and abroad, many more newspaper articles, plus the usual book reviews expected from an academic. ix 00-frontmatter.indd 9 4/16/08 1:51:30 PM FOREWORD He is one of the most published and quoted faculty members in the history of Air University. He has also been a lecturer in great and consistent demand both at Air University and overseas. He has lectured to well over 100,000 students at Air University, a record that is likely never to be surpassed. His academic accomplishments as well as his leadership did not go unrewarded. In 1989 he was promoted to the academic rank of full professor, an honor made even more remarkable by the fact that he did not have a PhD. Although no records on this statistic are kept, we believe he is the first person without the capstone degree to be so honored in the history of Air University. In 2003 Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands bestowed royal honors by making him a Knight in the Order Orange-Nassau for his work with the Royal Netherlands Air Force and its professional educa- tion program. The essays and speeches in this volume are some of his best and most important. They reflect the struggle over the past 30 years to relate classical military theory to modern airpower, the difficulties of dealing with the new realities of the post–Cold War era, the struggle to understand the true nature of airpower and put it into perspective, and finally the importance of educat- ing Airmen and raising their thinking above the tactical level. This book has been 30 years in the making. My prediction is that it will be of significant value for more than 30 years into the future. STEPHEN R. LORENZ Lieutenant General, USAF Commander, Air University March 2008 x 00-frontmatter.indd 10 4/16/08 1:51:34 PM Preface Thirty-one years ago I had the great good fortune to be selected to attend ACSC at Air University. Many of my contemporaries who were also selected to attend the staff college believed that the real prize was being selected to at- tend and that actually attending was an unfortunate 10-month hiatus in their fast-moving careers. For those classmates (and there were many), the staff-college experience probably was little more than 10 months of marking Dennis M. Drew time. Those same 10 months totally changed the direction and focus of my Air Force career. For all of its faults (and there were many), I learned a great deal at the staff college, including how important professional education (vice training) should be to the Air Force. The challenge of improving the Air Force’s professional military education and the prospect of helping to make Air University the intellectual centerpiece of the Air Force were intriguing. The ultimate goal would be to make the real prize actually attending Air University because of the quality of the professional education students would receive. The new vector was set by volunteering to remain at the staff college as a member of the faculty. No one suspected that Air University’s academic circle would be my professional home for the next 30 years, first completing a career in uniform and then staying on as a civilian scholar to retire yet again. Although teach- ing and lecturing at Air University and at similar institutions around the world was great fun and very rewarding, it was even more important that the years at Air University allowed me to think, write, and publish. This look back is meant to provide you, the reader, with the unusual genesis for this anthology of articles published and speeches delivered over the past 30 years. The articles and speeches in this anthology were chosen be- cause of their continuing relevance despite the passage of time and the changing of circumstances.