Accession Number:

ADA561889

Title:

Reshaping USAF Culture and Strategy: Lasting Themes and Emerging Trends

Descriptive Note:

Research paper

Corporate Author:

ARMY WAR COLL CARLISLE BARRACKS PA

Personal Author(s):

• Flores, Peter J.

Report Date:

2011-12-12

Pagination or Media Count:

46.0

Abstract:

The Department of Defense DoD and the U.S. Air Force USAF are facing a tumultuous period of declining budgets and refocused strategic priorities. How the USAF reacts will be deeply rooted in the culture and history of the service. Uncovering the roots of USAF organizational culture can provide crucial context in explaining how and why the USAF will invest its increasingly scarce resources. This paper will first examine the foundations of organizational culture and how they apply to the USAF. Through examination of a series of historical themes it will propose that the USAF has demonstrated a remarkable consistency in terms of its core doctrine of strategic attack. The paper will then explore USAF technological innovation as a social construct. Finally, it will describe how transformative periods and emerging technologies have drawn emphasis in the past and how that emphasis can be expected to shift in the current strategic climate.

Descriptors:

• *AIR FORCE
• *AIR FORCE BUDGETS
• *CULTURE
• *INVESTMENTS
• *MILITARY HISTORY
• *REDUCTION
• *RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
• ADAPTATION
• AIR POWER
• MILITARY DOCTRINE
• RESPONSE
• TRANSFORMATIONS

Subject Categories:

• Humanities and History
• Military Forces and Organizations
• Military Operations, Strategy and Tactics

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE