The A-10: Air Force's Inventory

The Soldiers of Alpha Battery, 80th AAA Battalion adapted to their constant environment and altered their specialty. Once they arrived in Ardennes, the unit’s mission changed from Anti-Aircraft, to supporting ground units with 57mm anti-tank gun. These Soldiers were Anti-Aircraft by trade, but adapted their skills to make an impact where they were the most needed. Modern day Air Defense Artillery adapts much in the same way. The ever changing world calls for new systems, different training, and a higher operational tempo. The Air Defense Artillery branch is always changing and adapting to modern military operations. The 21st of December proved how vital Anti-Aircraft Soldiers were to large combat operations. Their training allowed them to operate the 57mm anti-tank guns which turned out to be vital to stopping the German advance and eventually securing victory in Europe. In today’s military operations the Air Defense Artillery protects vital areas from aerial attack allowing Operation Commanders a location to land troops and supplies. Every battle and war is dependent on a supply route and without a secured supply route, no combat element can secure a victory. The 80th AAA Battalion proved how their adaptability and their support of large combat

The Marine Corps ability to execute in such an environment hinges on the MAGTF’s center of gravity, the Aviation Combat Element (ACE), and specifically its ‘game-changer’, the MV-22 Osprey. The unique capabilities of this aircraft, especially when coupled with the refueling capability of the C-130, truly provide a unique and efficient method to flow forces over distances inconceivable merely a generation ago. In this instance, the aircraft is the innovation: determining to apply a unique capability in regions of instability is simply logical. However, the semantics of what qualifies innovation is inconsequential. Marines, deployed as a self-contained package, with all of their associated things, can rapidly respond to crisis, bridge gaps between

In conclusion, the history of Air Defense is a broad and cultured history spanning from the early 1800’s to present day. Our proud branch has fought in many wars like the Korean War, Vietnam War, WWI and WWII, Desert Storm, and of course Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The contribution ADA has given to OIF and OEF has not only evolved the way we combat aerially but has changed the dynamic of which we fight our wars

The United States Air Force has been able to carry on a great tradition of air supremacy and advanced technology. They were born in September 1947, when they separated from the Army Air Core, and became their own unit (www.peterson.af.mil). Providing for the troops that serve always has been a top priority of the Air Force. The Air Force is run in management form, just like any large organization, or small business. It has a rank structure, where tasks are delegated down from the ranking Officers through the Enlisted Core. After significant evaluation, I have researched and identified the following six categories necessary for the Air Force to preserve

The Warthog plane has a gun that can fire 4,100 rounds every minute. And let's not forget that it can carry up to 16,000 pounds of other deadly weaponry.

Moreover, the fleet is getting old and all the extra support required in the current global environment is adding extra wear and tear on the aircraft. Struggling, at a high cost to maintain the aircraft at a minimum of “81% mission capable.” Even, with the newly acquired KC-46, the Air Force will fall short with an acquisition of “179 compared to the 415 KC-135’s” being utilized with a need for more.

This, in fact, could prove to be very limiting for its use in military operations outside of the U.S. Navy. At one point during the development of the MQ-8 series, the U.S. Army briefly tested a four bladed version of the MQ-8A, but quickly halted testing concluding that the smaller and cheaper Raven could provide the same capabilities (CITE). Although the MQ-8C has improved lifting capacity, the Army has not shown renewed interest in the new platform. The Avenger on the other hand has a massively configurable weapons delivery system. Capable of carrying weapons as large as 2,000 pounds, such as hellfire missiles, and a variety of smaller weapons, the Avenger stores its weapons payload inside a bay in its fuselage. This highly configurable bay allows up to seven different kinds of weapons to be easily reconfigured in order to support a wide variety of hunter-killer type missions (CITE). In addition, the weapons package can be completely swapped out for a sensors package, furthering its already superior ISR

General William “Billy” Mitchell of the U.S. Army – Air Corp was a forward thinking officer who saw a need for the military to create an Air Force as a separate branch within the military structure. General Mitchell could foresee that technological advances would make air warfare an integral part of combat power in future operations. The military heirarchy, however, did not agree with his assessment. The heirarchy of the military put limitations on his abilities to prove his ideas. They did this by not providing proper funding to keep the aircraft they had in working order, and setting General Mitchell up for failure with testing standards in which they set the requirements.

In the next few decades the Air Force played larger roles in the Vietnam, Korean, and, current day, Afghanistan war in collecting data and dealing devastating blows. Some might say that the Air Force is inferior to the Army and Navy and its independence is unnecessary; however, the Air Force has been a beneficial factor in all military actions which include scouting terrain and dealing quick and undetected strikes. Each section of the military specializes in a different field of combat and the Air Force specializes in its own field and provides benefits accordingly.

Air defense artillery is our first and final line of defense against aerial attack. Since World War I. Before air defense was established men and women faced an airborne threat in a technology driven ever changing world. This forced progression of military power brought a then need for air defense artillery, which will come to be its own branch in later years. The need for our branch to combat a constant threat is met by American soldiers that have been trained proficiently in their duties. This branch has evolved to face every problem that has risen up to cause harm. Ranging from propelled projectiles like mortars to fast movers. Air defense has answered with swift and deadly solutions. Evolving with our enemy's motives, going from the 75-90mm

way the air force can mobilize, implement, and attack enemy forces in short time as well in full spectrum of the theater of operations. This is huge distinctive compares with other armed services in using of airpower and destroys the enemy country or alliance. As we know, the war is a continue of politics by other means which means that the political leadership is involved in war objectives. Especially in the air force warfare, political objectives must be clear before starting to employ the aerial offensive. The political leadership should be very careful in using them, and getting a positive result in ends. The human minds are obsessed with the offensive operation, and in this way air force is the best choice to respond their ambition.

BRAC, or Base Realignment and Closure, is a real factor for a lot of Guard and Reserve units nationwide. Some wings have never experienced it, but it is the systematic closure and realignment of Air Force assets, in this case in the Guard. Budget cuts and aging ANG, Air National Guard, fleets have made this unwanted change an everyday reality. These changes may include a different air frame, moving the wing from one place to another, completely closing of a wing or a combination of all of these options. The remainder of this paper will focus on the 2005 BRAC of the Oklahoma Air National Guard at Oklahoma City and how leadership proved their

The United States Air Force has secured our country in the air, as well as space through the skills and talents of the brave Airmen of American. During the Cold War Era, the United States Air Force assumed control of the Strategic Air Command(SAC), which controlled America’s airborne strategic forces which were the B-29 bomber (Martin, 2015). During 1940, 1950 and,1960 the Bomber Mafia generals gave way to the Fighter Mafia of the 1970’s and the 1980’s that had a different mindset that had infiltrated the United States Air Force (Martin, 2015). The United Air Force had to be ready at any given moment to use its nuclear arsenal power, due to the events that were taking place in Europe, due to the Soviet Union and, the Middle East (Martin, 2015). Also, SAC had to be ready to respond to the actions of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics (USSR) overseas as well, due the Soviet Union becoming the second nuclear power in the world (Martin, 2015).

"Without the B-17, we might have lost the war." - General Carl Spaatz, Commander, US Air Force, 1944. In WWII the B-17 was a very popular plane and was one of the trademarks of Boeing Aircraft Company. It was one of Boeing’s most successful plane’s. The B-17 was also one of the most used bombers in war; it was a fortress of firepower and defense of all of the war planes it is surely one that will be remembered.

United States Defense Department continues to develop and acquire systems which provide the required capabilities to the war-fighters. B-2 stealth bomber has unique wing configuration and stealth technology. The structure of B-2 is similar to B-35 which was developed in 1940 ‘s by Northrop. The first B-2 was displayed publicly on November 22, 1988. Its flight was on July 17, 1989. This aircraft got its full operational capability in Dec., 2003. The main contractor which is responsible for its system integration and design is Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems. Development of B-2 was started in 1981. Air-Force was given approval for the procurement of 132 operational B-2 aircrafts in 1987, mainly for strategic bombing missions. The purpose of development of B-2 was changed to regular operations after the demise of the Soviet Union. So, the order was reduced to 20 operational aircrafts and one test aircraft.