Foreword

Air & Space Power Journal, Winter, 2004 by John P. Jumper, Jock Stirrup

Last year the RAF and the US Air Force were once again side by side over the skies of Iraq. During 21 days of combat, we demonstrated the power of organized and integrated air and space forces in joint and coalition warfare. We did not do it alone, but we contributed more than our fair share to enable the rapid success of ground forces. At the same time, we were able to join with our special operations forces--air and land--to keep activity in western Iraq from interfering with the main effort. In close coordination with ground forces, airpower prevented enemy attempts to mount coordinated or coherent resistance. These efforts on the part of coalition Airmen were largely outside the media spotlight and beyond public recognition. But make no mistake; our Airmen were key to the swift and overwhelming military victory.

What made it work, and what must we do to get better? We can point to three major leveraging capabilities. First, we must make integration work. Integration is more than being "net-centric" or a "common operating picture" or "information sharing." It's about the ability of machines to direct the activities of other machines to produce rapid target location and identification. We are far from having this right, but we did make tremendous progress during the dust storm in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where traditional stand-alone platforms--manned, unmanned, and space--were lashed together in a real-time network that located and destroyed Iraqi forces moving to reinforce depleted Republican Guard divisions. Second is our growing ability to predict and persist. We are at the infant stages of prediction, but better tools will produce the "battlefield forensics" for us to analyze patterns and draw logical conclusions about enemy options. Persistence is a tremendous leveraging capability. The evolution of remotely piloted and unmanned vehicles will give us 24-hour persistence to stare at an area and study patterns of activity, as well as deliver precise target location and identification to manned aircraft. Our third competitive advantage is our people and our training. Fifty years of NATO interoperability and bilateral advanced training have allowed us to minimize the nagging barriers to communications, terminology, and basic airmanship. Fourteen years of contingency operations have kept our skills fresh, our tactics current, and our mutual respect strong.

Bonds between the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force have never been stronger. Especially in the past 14 years, we have shared the skies during all major contingency operations. Practice and hard work have built this partnership, and we require more practice and hard work to keep it strong.

You will note that the current editions of both RAF Air Power Review and Air and Space Power Journal contain the same lead articles. These articles are meant to stimulate our thinking, encourage frank dialogue, and make us all better. Airmen have always accepted the realities of changing conditions with adaptable tactics and flexible doctrine. In our ever increasingly complex and dynamic world, we will rely on agile thinking more than ever. With that in mind, we commend this publication to you.

Gen John P. Jumper

Chief of Staff

Unite States Air Force

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup

Chief of the Air Staff

Royal Air Force