The key to success in a coalition air campaign is unity of effort. That’s the message Richard Hallion, former chief Air Force historian and now Alfred Verville Fellow of the National Air and Space Museum, had for attendees at AFA’s Air & Space Conference yesterday afternoon. In presenting the strengths and weaknesses of about a dozen air campaign case studies since World War I—including the “opening salvo” to the Cold War, the Berlin Airlift—Hallion emphasized the need for personal relationships aimed at partnership building, airman to airman interchanges, Global Air Chiefs forums and exchanges, air power study centers, and professional symposia. Various case studies have shown, said Hallion, that mutual trust and communication and strong interpersonal relationships are critical components for the fight. And, he added, “You need to have an air boss.”
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
