AS100 Midterm - Spring
What is the 3rd enduring truth of war?
War is a clash of opposing wills
What is the 2nd enduring truth of war?
War is a complex and chaotic human endeavor
What is the 1st enduring truth of war?
War is an instrument of national policy
What are traditional forms of warfare?
force military ops between nation states or state coalition
What is the mission of the USAF?
"To fly, fight, and win in air, space, and cyber space" OR "Kill people and break things"
What Acts helped form the USAF?
- Army Reorganization Act: recognizes the Air Service as a combatant arm of the army vs. a separate service - Army Air Corps Act: created an additional Assistant Secretary of War to "help foster military aeronautics", and established an air section in each division of the General Staff for a period of three years - National Security Act: established the USAF as one of the three coequal services
What developments led to the formation of the AF?
- Civil War Ballons and Pre WWI Dirigibles - B-17 Flying Fortress: capable of 2,260 miles, 250 miles, 2,500 lbs - P-51 Mustang - WASPS: Women's Air Force Service Pilots - Tuskegee airmen
list the USAF organizational structure from the president to the flight level
- Executive Branch POTUS - Department of Defense - Secretary of the AF - Chief of Staff of the AF - HQ USAF - DRU, FOA, MAJCOMs - numbered air forces - wings - groups - squadrons - flights
What is the grading criteria?
- Mid Term Exam (20 pts) - Briefings (15 pts) - Bullet background paper (15 pts) - Talking paper (15 pts) - Class Participation (10 pts) - Final exam (25 pts) - Total score (100 pts)
Recall the evolution of strategic bombing
- When US enters WWI, it had NO combat-capable aircrafts - In 9 months of combat service in WWI, the Air Service conducts 150 bombing attacks dropping 138 tons of bombs - Early success of B-17 in WWII leads to the start of the Combined Bomber Offensive with RAF - D-Day was achieved by air superiority - Lt Col James Doolittle launches 16 B-25 from the USS Hornet to raid Japanese mainland - Maj Gen LeMay leads the B-29 Super fortresses firebombing raids Tokyo - Aug 6, 1945 Enola Gay dropped first atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima - Aug 9, "Fat Man" dropped on Nagasaki
What are the course objectives?
- examine aspects of the Department of the AF, AF leadership, and the benefits and opportunities for AF officers - understand the employment of Air and Space power from an institutional, doctrinal, and historical perspective
What are key elements within and related to a typical AF Wing structure?
- generates and employs combat capability - specific missions under one responsible Commander - fully staffed and only command echelon that can deploy and sustain itself indefinitely - typically 4 groups in a wing
What is the Just War Theory?
- killing is morally unacceptable - determine when war is morally justified and define actions are permissible - focus on: protection of non-combatants and wage war by clearly defined rules - bottom line: fight for a just cause and employ just means
What is Pacifism?
- opposes war as a mean of settling disputes and advocates use of arbitration, surrender, or even migration - spectrum ranges: avoidance of war at all costs and war only as last resort
What are Numbered Air Forces?
- senior war fighting echelon - structured to perform operational leadership for war fighting - not management HQ/incomplete functional staffs
What are Squadrons?
- the basic AF Unit that conducts the day to day mission - lowest echelon of formal command
What are the basic themes of war?
- war is a last resort of policy - when military engages, the political process doesn't stop - success in war can only be measured by whether political objective is achieved - achieve a better state of peace by leaving the combat zone better than when we entered it - war waged in a civilized manner - failure leads to unstable peace
What is Realism?
- wars are clashes of power and interest - moral constraints should never be put above a nation's self interest - focuses on military necessity, where all methods can or should be used to achieve victory
What is Holy War?
- wars aren't merely human affairs: divine instruments of judgment, authorized by God, God responsible for outcome - cosmic battle between good and evil
What are the 3 factors that dominate war?
1. fog 2. friction 3. chance
What are the priorities of the USAF?
1. restore readiness, to win any fight, any time 2. cost-effectively modernize, to increase the lethality of the force 3. drive innovation, to secure our future 4. develop exceptional leaders, to lead the world's most powerful teams **(ROTC Mission)*** 5. strengthen our alliances because we are stronger together
What is the penalty for makeup assignments?
20%
What is the required attendance percentage?
80% (12 of 14)
What is the excused absence policy?
Memo for Record (Tongue and Quill)
When is the USAF birthday?
September 18th, 1947
What is the function of the Secretary of the Air Force?
administration
What is the function of the Air Force Chief of Staff?
operational readiness
What is the function of the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force?
utilization
What are irregular forms of warfare?
violence between state and non-state actors
