The Faith of the Force: The Strategic Implications of Religion in the United States Air Force

This study examines the strategic implications of religion in the United States Air Force. While religion in the Air Force is often cast purely as a matter of personnel policy, this paper attempts to examine the implications of religion as they relate to strategy. The examination discusses the historical roots of religion in the United States and identifies current rates of religious affiliation in the nation as a whole, which are then compared to those within the military at large and within the Air Force specifically. With this historical and demographic foundation set, the author moves on to analyze the role of religion at the various levels of war strategic, operational, and tactical. In the end, the author concludes that religious affiliations in the Air Force have very little strategic implications, but instead, lie mostly at the tactical level. The author concludes by making a number of observations and recommendations concerning the organizational and legal implications of religion at the tactical level.