McGillicutty
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2006
- Posts
- 151
Admittedly I stole this from the Baseops.net forum but it's a fun read no less...
OPINION: Who Should Rule the USAF
At one time USAF leadership was dominated by the iron fist of the bombers of Strategic Air Command only to be eclipsed until the present by the “fighter mafia.” As the Air Force gets increasingly technical, un-manned in its aircraft, cyber-centric, and joint, who shall we pick to lead us in the future, who will we claim as one of our own?
In the age of UAV’s, who do you groom for future command, and to whom do you entrust the direction of the entire Air Force? Who will have the right background to understand the key issues facing the USAF and create internal and external unity?
As I thought through these questions, I came to a single answer: Gunship Commanders, AC-130 Spectre Pilots. That may seem like an odd recommendation, especially coming from someone completely outside the AFSOC community, but follow my reasoning:
Our future CSAF must command the respect of our members, congress, and our sister services. That requires they be a warrior and combat veteran. A Gunship Commander is a combat pilot who has led in combat. He has piloted a slow moving airplane in dangerous airspace. More than likely he has taken fire. And he has pulled the trigger. Not from 30K and 400 knots, but probably 10K or lower and under 200 knots; not just on some distant FLIR image of a building or tank, but on what he clearly could see were living and moving human beings. He understands war, not as some mano-a-mano duel between individuals, or some abstracted videogame, but as calculated predation of real human beings where your own crew is at risk. He will command respect internally and externally, and will make his recommendations cognizant of the real costs and risks of war.
A Gunship commander also offers unique opportunities for unity. They straddle the line between the MAF, CAF, and SOF, bringing experience and vocabulary from all three. They’ve had some really lousy duty, and slept in some really ugly places. They are known to be the scrappy, red-headed stepchild of the USAF rather than a member of the resented, privileged few. They can command sacrifice without hypocrisy.
They also (and this is not to be minimized), have grown up in a crew airplane. They fundamentally understand Crew Resource Management (CRM), team situational awareness, and dependence on different specialties as a philosophy. They have been socialized in a different environment with respect to competency, position, and enlisted rank. A gunship captain, far from being a zipper-suited sun-god, is a crew dog.
Their unglamorous and ignored status probably means they will enter the position with all the energy of an underdog, and all the can-do attitude we’ve come to expect of AFSOC.
They come to us inherently ‘joint’ and interoperable. They understand both the traditional and the irregular war—this war, that will likely be with us for decades. They understand the ground war. They understand and are sympathetic to the Army and Marines, but at the same time willing and able to stand up for the USAF needs as they constantly must in USSOCOM.
They also understand the Air War and the importance of Air Superiority, as they are a chief customer of that service. They have had to operate as local air controllers, orchestrating efforts and de-conflicting airspace, and they understand both the use, and danger of UAV’s, and the importance of coordinating UAV’s to prevent mishaps, and the importance of the human in combat.
They understand the problem of fratricide and the importance of proper datalinks and real time ISR—who better to guide the data-links and interoperability to ensure we have a common air-ground picture useful to all relevant customers?
They also viscerally understand the reality of an aging aircraft fleet and the need for the USAF to re-capitalize, and the importance of survivability of aircraft in the current and future environment. They understand joint training and they understand through experience the importance of international engagement.
All in all, gunship commanders bring the best overall understanding of airpower, of lift, of munitions, of recapitalization. We could expect them to bring a can do attitude and gain the respect of the Army, Navy, and our own USAF. It is time to start grooming gunship commanders for future command of the USAF
OPINION: Who Should Rule the USAF
At one time USAF leadership was dominated by the iron fist of the bombers of Strategic Air Command only to be eclipsed until the present by the “fighter mafia.” As the Air Force gets increasingly technical, un-manned in its aircraft, cyber-centric, and joint, who shall we pick to lead us in the future, who will we claim as one of our own?
In the age of UAV’s, who do you groom for future command, and to whom do you entrust the direction of the entire Air Force? Who will have the right background to understand the key issues facing the USAF and create internal and external unity?
As I thought through these questions, I came to a single answer: Gunship Commanders, AC-130 Spectre Pilots. That may seem like an odd recommendation, especially coming from someone completely outside the AFSOC community, but follow my reasoning:
Our future CSAF must command the respect of our members, congress, and our sister services. That requires they be a warrior and combat veteran. A Gunship Commander is a combat pilot who has led in combat. He has piloted a slow moving airplane in dangerous airspace. More than likely he has taken fire. And he has pulled the trigger. Not from 30K and 400 knots, but probably 10K or lower and under 200 knots; not just on some distant FLIR image of a building or tank, but on what he clearly could see were living and moving human beings. He understands war, not as some mano-a-mano duel between individuals, or some abstracted videogame, but as calculated predation of real human beings where your own crew is at risk. He will command respect internally and externally, and will make his recommendations cognizant of the real costs and risks of war.
A Gunship commander also offers unique opportunities for unity. They straddle the line between the MAF, CAF, and SOF, bringing experience and vocabulary from all three. They’ve had some really lousy duty, and slept in some really ugly places. They are known to be the scrappy, red-headed stepchild of the USAF rather than a member of the resented, privileged few. They can command sacrifice without hypocrisy.
They also (and this is not to be minimized), have grown up in a crew airplane. They fundamentally understand Crew Resource Management (CRM), team situational awareness, and dependence on different specialties as a philosophy. They have been socialized in a different environment with respect to competency, position, and enlisted rank. A gunship captain, far from being a zipper-suited sun-god, is a crew dog.
Their unglamorous and ignored status probably means they will enter the position with all the energy of an underdog, and all the can-do attitude we’ve come to expect of AFSOC.
They come to us inherently ‘joint’ and interoperable. They understand both the traditional and the irregular war—this war, that will likely be with us for decades. They understand the ground war. They understand and are sympathetic to the Army and Marines, but at the same time willing and able to stand up for the USAF needs as they constantly must in USSOCOM.
They also understand the Air War and the importance of Air Superiority, as they are a chief customer of that service. They have had to operate as local air controllers, orchestrating efforts and de-conflicting airspace, and they understand both the use, and danger of UAV’s, and the importance of coordinating UAV’s to prevent mishaps, and the importance of the human in combat.
They understand the problem of fratricide and the importance of proper datalinks and real time ISR—who better to guide the data-links and interoperability to ensure we have a common air-ground picture useful to all relevant customers?
They also viscerally understand the reality of an aging aircraft fleet and the need for the USAF to re-capitalize, and the importance of survivability of aircraft in the current and future environment. They understand joint training and they understand through experience the importance of international engagement.
All in all, gunship commanders bring the best overall understanding of airpower, of lift, of munitions, of recapitalization. We could expect them to bring a can do attitude and gain the respect of the Army, Navy, and our own USAF. It is time to start grooming gunship commanders for future command of the USAF
