Posted on May 28, 2015
COL Charles Williams
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I thought we already knew air power alone can't get the job done?

We have seen/found/learned... time and time again... that air power alone will not get it done.

In the end, it requires boots on the ground, securing, holding, and restoring order, and a genuine long term commitment; with an end state (no date) determined only by reaching well established and discernible goals...

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/05/27/analysis-against-is-airstrikes-may-not-suffice/28035009/
Posted in these groups: 8ac37231 Strategic PlannerStrategy globe 1cfii4y Strategy
Edited 9 y ago
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Responses: 27
LTC Paul Labrador
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Sir, airpower is not employed today because of it's effectiveness (or lack of it). Airpower is employed because it's politically expedient and relatively low risk. It's much easier and less risky (both in safety to the SM and politically to the politician) to drop a bomb on a tent and say "look, I'm doing something!" than to deploy a company of Soldiers or Marines to assault that tent and say "look, I'm doing something!"
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SN Greg Wright
SN Greg Wright
7 y
Hey! Did you just retire, Colonel? I could have sworn you were AD. Edit: Doh, 2-year old thread.
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LTC Paul Labrador
LTC Paul Labrador
7 y
SN Greg Wright - Yup. I became a member of the Blue ID club back in November....... ;o)
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SN Greg Wright
SN Greg Wright
7 y
LTC Paul Labrador - Congrats. Any plans for your dotage? :)
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LTC Paul Labrador
LTC Paul Labrador
7 y
SN Greg Wright - Moved to Las Vegas. Doing some bedside clinical stuff for play money. Staying well away from being management ever again..... :o)
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Capt Mark Strobl
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If we want to win their hearts, we must first grab 'em by the ****s! It's rather difficult to make that reach from 10,000' above the ground.
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LTC Terrence Farrier, PhD
LTC Terrence Farrier, PhD
7 y
Agreed! Some require a rattle before a walk. We must remember how we walk afterwards, with a strategic pattern in mind.
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CPT Assistant Operations Officer (S3)
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Edited 9 y ago
I think we thought our air power and their soldiers would be enough to fight and win. But their, Iraqi, forces can't take advantage of the success of the air strikes. The Iraqi Army expect the air strikes to kill all of the enemy. That isn't going to happen. You aren't going to show up after the fight is over and came victory. I just think we didn't think they were that much of cowards as they are.
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COL Charles Williams
COL Charles Williams
9 y
We often think air power, generally limited in scale, will work... CPT (Join to see)
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CPT Assistant Operations Officer (S3)
CPT (Join to see)
9 y
COL Charles Williams I was reading today how the pilots are saying they can't get targets cleared to be attack when they find them. It just seems we aren't really using our air power well enough. I wouldn't have thought ISIS would still be operating freely as they are when we are committing our air assets.
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COL Charles Williams
COL Charles Williams
9 y
Sounds like Vietnam.... eerily like Vietnam... CPT (Join to see)
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LTC Terrence Farrier, PhD
LTC Terrence Farrier, PhD
7 y
Any force, regardless of makeup, requires resolve. For us, we should get as clear intel as we can then once the intel is credible we should not hesitate. Will civilians be killed...yes sometimes. No one likes it, but it is inevitable when there is faulty intel or protectionism from groups or families.
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