(Air Force Times) Backtalk: 4-step plan for a more flexible, tech-savvy service

[unhappycamper]

4-step plan for a more flexible, tech-savvy service
By Michael C. McNerney

With a new administration coming to town, Air Force leaders should use the opportunity to push for some changes:

• First, the Air Force should make a concerted effort to hire more scientists and engineers. The Air Force is a technology-driven service, but the number of new airmen pursuing science-related careers is not where it should be. Concerns about the wars overseas and the promise of higher-paying jobs elsewhere are only part of the problem.

Many scientists and engineers no longer view the military as on the cutting edge of scientific progress. The Air Force must devise and advertise exciting programs to encourage young innovators to serve their country instead of ceding the talent recruitment battle to the private sector.

• On the war-fighting side, the Air Force desperately needs to improve its philosophy on fourth-generation warfare. Dropping a 2,000-pound bomb to kill a terrorist may be safe for American troops, but it creates a lot of collateral damage that can turn local populations against America, as has been observed in Afghanistan.

Islamic extremists are very adept at using the Internet and mass media to turn such events to their advantage. Their decentralized structure allows them to create and disseminate propaganda at a rate the bureaucratic Air Force is unable to counter. Any top-heavy communications regime will have a tough time competing against the speed and flexibility of our opponents.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/community/opinion/airforce_backtalk_plan_011909/%2e