Small Wars Journal Leverages Web 2.0 Trends

(click for magazine)

“The characteristics of Small Wars have evolved since the Banana Wars and Gunboat Diplomacy. War is never purely military, but today’s Small Wars are even less pure with the greater inter-connectedness of the 21st century. Their conduct typically involves the projection and employment of the full spectrum of national and coalition power by a broad community of practitioners. The military is still generally the biggest part of the pack, but there a lot of other wolves. The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.” — Small Wars Journal

Firms like Proctor & Gamble, Bank of America, and Boeing are leveraging the Web 2.0 trends described by business gurus like Don Tapscott [PPT format w. speaking notes] to improve information flow in their organizations. So is the General in charge of the USA’s nuclear deterrent. Armed Forces Journal praises the Small Wars Journal as another example that takes articles from field practitioners, and works to build an international body of counterinsurgency knowledge as fast or faster than civilization’s enemies can use the same technologies to build their movements. AFJ writes:

“The SWJ is one of the finest resources on the Internet for the student of counterinsurgency, and has attracted… a who’s who of the debate on counterinsurgency theory, including Kilcullen, Nagl, Frank Hoffman, Malcom Nance, Bing West and Lt. Col. Paul Yingling. The addition of SWJ contributors in recent months is especially impressive. For example, following his controversial May 2007 Armed Forces Journal essay, “A failure in general¬ship,” Yingling joined the SWJ blog as a contributor to address some of the response his article had received… The site also offers the digital SWJ Magazine, which principally pub¬lishes articles by the captains and majors who are fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and provides another excellent venue for expanding and enhancing the debate on the war. After so many articles about how the milblogging phenomenon has threatened chains of command, engendered violations of soldiers’ civil liberties and fueled a digital propaganda war, it is refreshing to note that the [digital medium] can also serve as a virtual graduate seminar for the practitioners of war.”

USAF Talking to Airbus About A380 Air Force 1, C-5 Replacement?

A380 super-jumbo

Flight International reports that the EADS has responded to 2 separate inquiries from USAF Air Mobility Command (AMC) about its A380 super-jumbo jet, which was delivered to Singapore Airlines on Oct 15/07 after a long delay that saw key customers defer or cancel their orders.

One request was part of a market survey for “VIP Large Aircraft Recapitalization.” AMC currently operates 2 aircraft of this type: the 2 VC-25 “Air Force One” 747-200 planes that transport the President, and can act as a flying briefing room and/or command post, and 4 more C-32 “Air Force Two” 757s that transport the Vice-President, cabinet members, and other figures…

F-22s to Become Part of Joint Simulated Training

F-15E, P-51, F-22A
…it’s real.

Oct 16/07: Boeing announces a $46 million contract from Lockheed Martin to integrate the F-22A Raptor the U.S. Air Force Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) training network, which will enable Raptor pilots to train with other aircrews flying different simulated aircraft at locations throughout the world. Once the contract is complete, Raptor pilots on the East Coast would be able to train with AWACS crews in the Midwest and F-15 pilots in Europe, as part of a joint synthetic battlespace made up of a combination of live, virtual, and programmed-in elements.

The contract allows for the design and test of new software and systems for the F-22 Full Mission Trainer (FMT), and the Boeing team will incorporate the enhanced FMTs into an F-22 Mission Training Center (MTC) that is scheduled to begin operations in 2009. Boeing has delivered and currently operates 5 F-15C MTCs around the globe and has the lead on F-15E and F-16 MTC contracts. The company also delivers DMO-capable systems for the Royal Saudi Air Force and the Finnish Air Force, and is building DMO components for Apache Longbow aircrew trainers for the United Kingdom.

Pam Valdez, director of F-22 Sustainment, says that “inserting the Raptor into the DMO network will act as a training force multiplier for the entire Air Force, helping it achieve its transformational goal of ‘train as you fight.'” The Boeing release adds that Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, GA facility recently delivered Raptor no. 103 to the Air Force.