Colonel Usaf David a Moore

The Art of Aerial Warfare: Fairchild Paper Colonel Usaf David a Moore

Publisher Marketing: The author presents a stimulating paper about conducting aerial warfare, defined as the use of "the destructive instrument of airpower applied against an enemy in time of war." He challenges Airmen to acquire mental agility commensurate with the unprecedented flexibility of their instruments. The author fills a critical gap in aerial warfare literature. Most works focus on the technical or tactical aspects of the profession and medium, but stop short of discussions of the broader nature of war itself. Consideration of war in that larger sense is essential for those who seek to understand and especially apply air and space power in combat. The author beings with the Clausewitzian assumption, easily accepted in theory but difficult to maintain during combat, that was has the purpose of achieving political goals and that almost any reason for fighting a war has or soon acquires a political dimension. As he points out, the most difficult cases arise when the political objectives are difficult to reconcile with the reality of warfare: violence and casualties. His discussion of the many obstacles to achieving military and political aims raises many issues facing Airmen today and does not hesitate to take unequivocal positions. His clear and compelling examination of the changing context of warfare makes a strong case that the enemy's fielded forces are still the best targets of airpower. His consideration of the tension between the "seductiveness" of the incremental approach and legitimate need for political authorities to modulate the use of airpower is stimulating and forceful. His discussion of Douhet and the enduring fascination with "strategic attack" merits the consideration of those who plan modern aerial campaign. Contributor Bio:  Air University Press Walter Gary Sharp Sr. serves as a senior associate deputy general counsel for intelligence at the US Department of Defense, where he advises on legal issues related to intelligence, covert action, intelligence and counterintelligence policy, intelligence oversight, information security, information sharing, security classification policy, information operations, and computer network operations. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Sharp served as an associate deputy general counsel for international affairs at the Department of Defense; the director of legal research for international, comparative, and foreign law at the Law Library of Congress; the director of global and functional affairs within the Bureau of Legislative Affairs at the State Department; and a principal information security engineer at The MITRE Corporation. A veteran with 25 years of service, Dr. Sharp retired as a decorated US Marine Corps lieutenant colonel with prior enlisted service. His military assignments include commanding officer of a field artillery battery, senior prosecutor, deputy legal counsel to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and international law adviser for the commanding general of the Unified Task Force in Somalia during Operation Restore Hope. Dr. Sharp's military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, and his many awards for writing excellence and academic achievement include the Judge Advocate General's School Alumni Association Annual Professional Writing Award and an American Bar Association Award for Professional Merit. Dr. Sharp is the author of numerous articles and three books: UN Peace Operations (1995), CyberSpace and the Use of Force (1999), and Jus Paciarii (1999). He serves as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center where he currently teaches a counterterrorism course, The Law of 24. He has also taught graduate-level seminars on United Nations peace operations and international peace and security. He lectures internationally in universities and other diverse public forums on wide-ranging topics of international law and national security law, such as international peace and security, conflict management, and peacekeeping operations.