Those involved with the Air Force-Navy AirSea Battle concept are trying to run a public relations campaign to educate the general public as well as the concept’s critics within the Pentagon on what the initiative is and isn’t, said senior representatives from both services at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday. “There has been a great deal of information and disinformation about this topic put out there,” said Lt. Gen. Burton Field, who oversees operations, plans, and requirements issues on the Air Staff, during the symposium’s AirSea Battle panel discussion. “This is not a strategy, it is not something that excludes the real world, or the [combatant commanders],” said Rear Adm. Bruce Grooms, assistant deputy chief of naval operations for operations, plans, and strategy. Rather than a “resource needs Christmas tree,” ASB seeks to better integrate the Navy and Air Force to respond to the challenges of war in this century, said Grooms. Those include overcoming anti-access environments and quickly projecting power over long distances.
The nominee to lead U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency touted the value of the organizations’ dual-hat command structure and urged caution toward creating a dedicated cyber military service in written testimony to Congress released Jan. 15.
