Who Pushes the Pickle Button? The Frontline Aviator's Moral or Lawful Responsibilities for Weapon Launching and Bombing, Rules of Engagement, CFACC Involvement, Remote Technology, Doctrine

This excellent report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. Tension has risen on the frontline battlefields in the air between the aviators executing their missions and their command and control. This tension has resulted in many aviators asking the question "Who is pushing the pickle button?" Tension has grown along with the increase of technology in the aircraft those frontline aviators are flying. Just because technology has given the ability to reach into the cockpit of the frontline aviators doesn't mean this should necessarily be done. Present ROE (Rules of Engagement) and technology do not alleviate the frontline aviator of his moral or lawful responsibilities. Where did this trend start and how has it manifested itself throughout the past decade of aerial warfare? What can a CFACC (Combined Forces Air Component Commander) do to alleviate this tension? More importantly, what can the CFACC do to ensure that the JFC's (Joint Force Commander) campaign plan is being executed in the manner in which he intends and with the highest level of success?

There are many factors to be considered on both sides of the issue pertinent to this discussion. First the issues of morality, law, and doctrine will be discussed. Second, how this trend was nurtured throughout our operations over the past decade will be tracked and discussed. Finally, several recommendations for today's CFACC will be outlined that best alleviate this tension. This will ultimately result in the CFACC being able to prosecute aerial warfare with the highest level of effectiveness and efficiency, which will be crucial to future warfare.

There are a multitude of both cited and anonymous sources for this paper. Officers interviewed from the ranks of Lieutenant to General and in all four services have been extremely forthright in their responses to the questions posed to them. Airmen both inside CAOCs (combined air operations center) and on the frontlines in a myriad of fighter aircraft spanning all conflicts the United States has been involved in over the past 20 years have given firsthand testimony to air warfare as they experienced it. To be true to the spirit in which they have given their stories and viewpoints, some will not be found with direct references. Please take the testimonies of those who are not cited as seriously as those that are.

Since 1943, with rare exception of limited duration in Korea and Vietnam, the United States military has generally found itself in a position of a preponderance of forces in the air. That reality has quite often led to an inefficient application of air power. Due to past successes, the United States increasingly presumes access, and air superiority and relies upon it. If an enemy could deny either of these, the landscape of battle would change drastically. The motive behind this paper is simply to make a USAF that can best defend and support the Constitution of the United States through the most effective and efficient use of air and space power. It is to the men and women who have, are, and will put their lives on the line that this paper is so dedicated.

Dettagli