Airpower, Chaos and Infrastructure

Lords of the Rings

von Edward J. Felker

46 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

This interesting study by Lt Col Edward J. Felker, US Air Force, describes a methodology to exploit airpower's capacities at the operational and strategic levels of war. It focuses on the third ring (infrastructure) of John A. Warden III's theory of five strategic rings, which the author argues is often neglected in the debate over the importance of leadership (first ring) versus fielded forces (fifth ring). The author emphasizes that lines of communications transmit all of society's military, economic, and political goods, services, and information. Infrastructure provides the framework that links the various elements of a nation's power. This infrastructure contains critical nodes that are vulnerable to airpower. By understanding this infrastructure, we better understand an adversary as a complex, adaptive, and open system. Colonel Felker's paper espouses a practical theory of airpower based on the synergistic relationship among societal structure and lines of communications that comprise infrastructure. Rather than isolating different elements of a society and their concomitant targets, the theory views targets in a more holistic way. Of note, the theory articulates a culturally based paradigm with airpower applied against the linkages within a society's system processes, rather than a "one-size-fits-all" target list that attacks form. The theory describes a way to think about airpower, not a way to execute its missions.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Reihe: BiblioScholar
• ISBN: 9781288306183
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 16.11.2012
• Größe: 234 x 156 mm
• Verlag: British Library, Historical Print Editions