Welcome back to the LeMay Centers
doctrine education series . This video
will look at some of the key points
within Air Force Doctor note 1-21 Agile
combat Employment Ace
is a proactive and reactive operational
scheme of maneuver executed within
threat timelines to increase
survivability while generating combat
power , Ace complicates the enemy's
targeting process , creates political
and operational dilemmas for the enemy
and creates flexibility for friendly
forces . But the character of
warfare has changed and the and the
changes that we've departed from doing
these things over the last 20 years , I
call it the wars of our generation .
You know , the last 20 years we've
engaged in the land center campaign
where we've had air supremacy . We've
owned the air and and we've just been
relegated as a kind of most Aristotle
as a support service . And so the
difference though is that now the
national defense strategy and and just
the demands of the world around us
force us to change the character of
warfare and what we prepare for . To
warfare with a state actor with another ,
with a peer competitor . And when you
fight a peer competitor , you have to
change how you command and control .
Because just like we can threaten many ,
many targets within an adversary nation ,
they can threaten us . The US may face
adversaries capable of wielding a
disruptive and dangerous operational
reach with mass precision and speed in
all domains . Adversaries can
challenge our ability to project power
from our enduring locations which are
often large and centralized structures
with unprotected infrastructure to
address this threat . A shift
operations from centralized physical
infrastructures to a network of smaller
dispersed locations That can complicate
adversary planning and provide more
options for Joint force commanders .
Let's say you're a wing that generates
air power , you're flying airplanes ,
you're you're , you're out there with
the mission every day uh and you're cut
off from a higher headquarters . Is
there some aspect of the mission you
could still pursue ? You know ? Well
you can , because if you have mission
type orders , if you have general
guidelines of what you need to do , you
can get out there , you can generate
aircraft , you can load them with
appropriate ordinance and you can send
them out there on a mission at certain
times with an understanding of that
greater purpose that you have and that
can be done even in the absence of
connection with that commander that may
be sitting in that big headquarters
somewhere , freedom of action and
decision advantage can be achieved by
forcing complex target situations to
create multiple adversary dilemmas .
This deters aggression and enables the
US to defend and win in a conflict .
Ace achieves this through the following
enablers , expeditionary and multi
capable airmen mission command and
taylor abril force packages . But the
one thing for certain that we have in
the United States Air Force are most
competitive advantage . Our our airmen
so we've got to empower them and we've
got to cut them loose so that they can
be that creative um and unique
advantage that no other competitor has .
The Air force must refocus on the
expeditionary skills necessary to
operate outside our enduring locations .
Many airmen must develop diverse
foundational skills that enable them to
operate in a contested , degraded and
operationally limited environment with
minimal support . Leaders mitigate risk
to the force by training airmen to
execute distributed operations that
increase survivability while generating
combat power . Ace teams consist of
unit assigned multi capable airmen .
These teams are tailored portions of
force package is able to provide
mission generation , command and
control and base operating support . As
the mission dictates functional
communities must identify how to
minimize equipment and personnel
footprints . To increase dispersal
capabilities and complicate adversary
targeting . The use of multi capable
airmen can reduce the number of people
who must be put in harm's way to
generate air power relative to
traditional manning models . We're here
at spangdahlem Air base Germany in the
middle of a academy and what Ace
Academy is is the agile combat
employment and that is taking airmen
from five different groups , Med Group
Ops , group Maintenance Group Mission
Support as well as the wing Staff
Agency and teaching them how to do
other a feces . In 2021 the U . S . Air
Force identified mission command is a
key tenant of airpower mission Command
is an approach to command and control
that empowers subordinate decision
making for flexibility , initiative and
responsiveness in the accomplishment of
the commander's intent . Be sure to
check out our video on mission command
for more information on this topic .
And the key part is , you know ,
because of a commander , if he goes ,
hey , subordinates , you know , you
have a lot of leeway that's risk to the
commander . Okay ? So it's very
important that the commander articulate
his mission orders the mission intent
very clearly so that there are limits
on what the subordinates actually are
unable to do , so that we don't stumble
into something that we hadn't planned
or exceed some political boundary or
some strategic uh boundary that we
don't want to . So it's almost like we
think of it like this , There's risk in
in this , in this mission command
approach , in this empowerment approach ,
there's risk , but there's a lot more
risk if we don't do it . If we don't do
it . If if an airman goes , hey , I'm
not gonna pick up that wrench because I
don't know if they want me to fix this
airplane or not , that's a problem .
Yes , we want you to fix that airplane
even though I'm not telling you , I
want you to fix every airplane out
there . I want you to look if there's
no absence of any of any guidance . I
want you to gas them all up . I want
you to fix them . I want you to put
this ordinance on them and I want you
to keep them ready , okay ? And safe so
we can use it . We're not , we don't
know what's gonna happen . but we want
you to do this you're empowered to do
it okay and that I think people want to
operate in that kind of environment and
so the risk of not of not embracing
mission command . The risk of not using
centralized command , distributed
control and decentralized execution far
exceeds the risk of actually doing it
to meet theater requirements . Ace
requires taylor Herbal force packages
with the ability to execute across a
range of operating locations . Force
structure and designs must be designed
to enhance agility while also balancing
risk . Commission and force functional
communities work with commanders to
find a Space force packages that will
be reflected in existing new or updated
organizational structures . Ace
requires a revolutionary change in how
the Air Force thinks about and conducts
operations within the modern
operational environment as A C .
Continues to mature through operations
and exercises feedback and lessons
learned will continue to feed the
evolution of this emerging doctrine
concept . Thanks for watching . We hope
this video helped you to better
understand the concepts of agile combat
employment and what it requires for
success . When confronting a near peer
adversary , please be sure to check out
our website for all our doctrine
publications , Doctor notes ,
additional videos and our new podcast
series