Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert attempted to break down the AirSea Battle initiative during a joint discussion at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., May 16. AirSea Battle is more of a mindset really intended to guide the Air Force and Navy to “unprecedented” levels of collaboration and cooperation that will preserve US access to air and maritime commons, they said. “We’re not thinking about things in the ‘airman’ and ‘sailor’ stovepipes anymore,” said Schwartz. Furthermore, attempts by many to connect the concept strictly to China’s growing military prowess are misguided at best, he added. “This solution should not be hijacked by any particular scenario,” said Schwartz. Greenert said limiting the concept to a particular region would be “short-sighted” and a “mistake.” “We would like to make this cross-domain operation more of an assumption for the future,” he said. One example of such collaboration, said Greenert, could include using a submarine to defeat an enemy’s air defenses, either kinetically or through electronic countermeasures. “The idea is to broaden the aperture and make that the standard approach,” said Greenert. (Schwartz’s prepared remarks) (Brookings webpage with event audio)
Retired Col. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, known for introducing the "tap code" by which American POWs in North Vietnam could surreptitiously communicate with one another, died July 6. Harris was brutalized by the North Vietnamese over almost eight years of captivity.