The U.S. Air Force and stability operations transformation

Joint Force Quarterly, Dec, 2007 by Oliver Fritz, Gregory A. Hermsmeyer

The Air Force is also expanding the language and cultural training Airmen need to succeed in a fluid, complex environment. In February 2006, General Michael Moseley, Air Force Chief of Staff, announced that Airmen would receive expanded language training. While the language requirement is still being developed, the initial program, already in place at the Air Command and Staff College, will stress cultural awareness and introductory language skills. (24) A broader PME program will eventually include basic language proficiency for new officers, a supplementary track for already serving officers, and similar courses at the Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy. (25) Officers with requisite language and cultural skills will now be tracked as international affairs specialists and deliberately assigned to diffuse this expertise across a broad spectrum of billets and to enhance USAF effectiveness in population-focused operations.

The Air Force is adapting operational training to reflect the new realities of stability operations as well. Among these initiatives, Exercise Eagle Flag, run by the Air Mobility Warfare Center, has become the primary exercise training Airmen to open and operate expeditionary bases. Using a disaster response script, one recent Eagle Flag scenario included intense interaction with local populations hit by a tsunami. (26) Green Flag, a defunct electronic warfare exercise, has been brought back as the "Air Force's premier pre-deployment exercise for ... close-air support and precision-guided munitions delivery." (27) Green Flag will replace the Air Warrior exercise series and provide a training environment complete with additional urban operations scenarios and the coordination challenges inherent to air support for ground forces. (28) Realistic training in urban environments will instill the importance of minimizing risk to affected populations and damage to civilian infrastructure. With this crucial change, the USAF has taken another major step toward institutionalizing stability operations in the AEF rotational training regime.

Building on this momentum, the Air Force should consider additional training and education enhancements. For instance, it should target core stability operations cadre, including CRG, medical, and security forces personnel, with more tailored language and culture training as well as formal education in stability operations and civil-military coordination. The USAF also needs to expand the stability operations content of its PME programs. While a growing number of electives in counterinsurgency and stability operations have been added to Air University programs, additional coursework should be fully integrated into the core PME curriculum so all Airmen receive a baseline of instruction in these areas.

The USAF should also consider revamping the internal lessons learned process and improve connectivity among Service, joint, and interagency centers for lessons learned. The Army in particular has a well-honed process for embedding observers across exercises and contingencies, rapidly compiling and evaluating lessons from the field, and then distributing these findings to units in the field or preparing to deploy. Beyond a more robust internal lessons learned process, the USAF also should leverage the experience of the ground components to improve the effectiveness and utility of air- and space power in joint stability operations.