Arlington, VA, September
14, 1999 — In its 1999-2000 Statement of Policy, the Air
Force Association says that “the US armed forces do not
have the resources to execute a two-war strategy.”
The solution: larger armed
forces and more money. According to the statement,
“Resources are short on all fronts. The emphasis on
current operations has crowded out force modernization
and other priorities in the budget — and current
operations are underfunded themselves. Force structure
is inadequate. Readiness is deteriorating. Mission
capable rates are down. Crises that do not end quickly
pose a problem in sustainability.”
The association believes
that valid military requirements should not be played
off against each other because of budget ceilings that
are artificially set and arbitrarily imposed. “The
services are forced to choose between readiness and
modernization, as if either of them were expendable.
This is a dangerous practice and contrary to the
nation’s interests.”
The statement also noted
that “the scope and pace of emerging threats are
consistently underestimated,” from ballistic missile
capabilities in North Korea to the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction. It also stated that
“conflicts occur in unpredictable places at
unpredictable times.”
AFA points out that, for
the Air Force, the operation in Kosovo was the rough
equivalent of a major theater conflict. But by the end
of the first month, the Air Force was running short of
preferred munitions and had stripped stateside bases of
spare parts and experienced air crews. When the
operation ended, the Air Force needed a period of
reconstitution in order to recover.
“As impressive as the US
Air Force was in Kosovo, it was stretched by a 78-day
operation that also demonstrated the limited
sustainability of the force in extended conflict,” the
statement says.
AFA recognized the
excellent performance in Operation Allied Force of all
of the NATO crews and support forces, especially the men
and women of the United States Air Force. But the
association was critical of the overall strategy.
“Aerospace power ultimately succeeded — despite an
ill-conceived strategy, political micromanagement, the
needless concession of initiatives, and the incremental
use of force — in making the Serbian regime yield to
NATO’s terms.” According to AFA, Operation Allied Force
“was not the prototype for an air operation.”
According to the statement,
“Aerospace power, the hardest-hitting, longest reaching,
and most versatile force that the nation possesses, has
assumed a larger role in the conduct of military
affairs. It will be used, one way or another, when we
are confronted with a crisis abroad.”
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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Stephen P. Aubin, Director of Policy and Communications
(202) 745-2121 [Sept. 14-15]; (703) 247-5850 [after
Sept. 15]
E-mail: saubin@afa.org
The Air Force Association is an independent,
nonprofit, civilian aerospace organization whose
objective is to promote greater understanding of the
role aerospace power plays in national defense. AFA is a
grass-roots organization with a membership of 150,000.
The Air Force Association was incorporated in the
District of Columbia on February 4, 1946.
