No One Left Out

All the services have a role to play in the AirSea Battle concept, said Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey. Speaking at AFA’s Air & Space Conference outside Washington, D.C., on Sept. 19, Dempsey, an Army general, said he thinks of ASB as “a multi-service approach to joint operational access.” Air Force and Navy leaders developed ASB to address the need for a long-range air- and maritime-centric approach to dealing with threats such as China and Iran, both of which represent heavy anti-access, area-denial challenges that demand action without a forward land-based staging area. Since word of ASB first started to come out, the Army has worked to involve itself in overcoming A2/AD through new joint doctrine. Dempsey said: “I think we have work to do to make sure we are thinking about it the right way.”