English

DTIC ADA440396: On Target: Organizing and Executing the Strategic Air Campaign Against Iraq

The war in the Persian Gulf in 1991 capped an era of USAF modernization and enhanced readiness begun in the late 1970s and that continued through the 1980s. The USAF shouldered the bulk of the fighting for the first 39 of the conflict's 42 days. This volume covers the air offensive against strategic military and economic targets within the pre-August 1990 borders of Iraq. The offensive air plan once again displayed the ability of the U.S. military to turn the necessity of improvisation into a virtue when, in mid-August 1990, an element of the Air Staff in the Pentagon wrote the basis of the offensive plan in 10 days. The plan was founded upon the precepts of Col. John A. Warden III's air power theories: centers of gravity, shock effect, and the importance of leadership-related targets. Once the outline plan reached the arena of operations, the U.S. Central Air Forces, under the able leadership of Lt. Gen. Charles A. Horner, adopted the targeting philosophy of the plan and employed it with devastating effect. The author describes not only the outstanding performance of USAF men and machines but also the difficulties and complexities of coordinating the many elements of air and staff

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