With the development of the "long war," the U.S. military's focus has shifted dramatically from its traditional emphasis on conventional operations to irregular and indirect approaches to safeguard America's vital interests. One of the least...
Since its inception in 1990, Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) has struggled to balance its roles as both a Major Command in the US Air Force (USAF) and the air component of US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). US Code, Title 10,...
This study researched the possible roles and missions conducted by the United States Special Operation Aviation (SOA) community, particularly rotary-wing, fix-wing, unmanned aerial vehicles’ roles, as well as SOA’s role in Foreign Internal...
A special tactics (ST) project officer for the Joint Special Operations Air Component during two separate deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, US Air Force Major Jerry Kung, in this interview, discusses the purpose and organization...
Since 2001, U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft have flown combat sorties with abnormally high flight durations while participating in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. These longer sortie durations have added previously unanticipated...
This study examines the potential for improving success in Military Operations Other Than War (MOOTW) by assigning proponency (doctrine, training, institutional expertise) for MOOTW to the United States Special Operations Command. The thesis uses...
This publication describes the concept and procedures for conducting C3CM strategy to gain a combat advantage by protecting friendly command, control, and communications (C3) while at the same time destroying or degrading the enemy's C3 system.
The end of communism changed the global strategic environment marked by a bipolar world and replaced it with uncertainty and a readily defined threat. Over a relatively short period of time, a multipolar world began to emerge while academia and...
This monograph examines USAF fighter doctrine as is applies to contingency operations. The monograph briefly analyzes joint doctrine to describe a model of the operational continuum. This provides a basis to study doctrine covering military...
For US Air Force Major Christine Locke and her fellow members of the 4411th Rescue Squadron, the Global War on Terrorism began not on September 11, 2001, but on June 25, 1996, when terrorists detonated a bomb at the Khobar Towers housing complex in...
This monograph examines the use of Foreign Internal Defense (FID) and Unconventional Warfare (UW) as the primary means of preventing global insurgency. The paper is broken into four sections. The History section gives a basic background of Special...
Our National Military Strategy is based on rapid introduction of overwhelming combat power to achieve decisive results with minimum casualties. Air power is a key component of this strategy. To effectively employ air power requires an inherent...
The purpose of this research was to identify the SOF unique educational requirements for SF Officers attending CGSC's ILE. This question came to the forefront at the Command and General Staff College when the United States Army Special Operations...
The United States Air Force (USAF) faces a fiscally constrained environment today and will likely become even more constrained in the near future. With a reduced budget and important programs and critical functions that require funding, the USAF...
The purpose of this monograph is to ascertain what organizational changes within SOF would enhance unified direction in the Global War on Terrorism? In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the United States Government began developing its...
In this first of three interviews, Major Kenneth McAdams of the US Air Force talks about his deployment to Al Udeid Airbase, Qatar, as a planner and liaison officer for the joint special operations air component (JSOAC) from March through June 2003...
Presently, evidence shows that Special Operations Forces may not be fully utilized in the joint targeting process. I believe that Special Operations Forces can be employed in new and improved ways in order to better facilitate the Joint Force...
This study investigates whether the armed forces of the United States need joint doctrine for nonlethal weapons. The U.S. Department of Defense is gradually increasing its commitment of fiscal and manpower resources to the development of nonlethal...
The national security and national military strategies describe the objectives (ends) of U.S. national security policy. Special operations provide ways to achieve these ends, to include direct action. The tools for direct action include small teams...