The Air Force officially released the Air Force Future
Operating Concept Sept. 15, which is the latest in a series of strategic
documents designed to guide the organizing, training, and equipping of the
force over the coming decades. The document can be found at
http://www.af.mil/Portals/1/images/airpower/AFFOC.pdf.
The Air Force Future Operating Concept serves as a companion
document to America’s Air Force: A Call to the Future and the USAF Strategic
Master Plan and seeks to answer the question, “Where are we going?” It
describes an Air Force that is the product of two decades of implementation of
the strategic guidance in A Call to the Future through the USAF Strategic
Master Plan.
Primarily written for Air Force planners, the Air Force
Future Operating Concept explains how agility applies to Air Force warfighters,
illustrating application of operational agility through the Air Force’s five
core missions in 2035.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III introduced
the Future Operating Concept during his remarks at the Air Force Association
Air Force Update Sept. 15.
“This is an internal challenge document,” Welsh said. “It’s
intended to make Airmen think about where we should be 20 years from now and
not get comfortable with where we stand today.”
The Air Force Future Operating Concept broadly portrays how
the Air Force will perform evolved core missions twenty years into the future,
as part of a joint, interagency, or multinational force, or independently in
support of national security objectives, to provide responsive and effective
Global Vigilance-Global Reach-Global Power in light of a projected future
strategic and operational environment.
The Air Force Future Operating Concept provides a picture of
future operations, rather than identifying specific capabilities, programs, or
platforms, to provide context for future force development. The ideas in the
concept are subject to testing, experimentation, evaluation and assessment to
validate them and/or suggest better alternatives.
“The Air Force does not presume to forecast the future;
instead, we seek to develop the agility needed to succeed amidst uncertainty,”
said Maj. Gen. Jeff Newell, Air Force Strategy, Concepts and Assessments
director. “In this document we’ve included illustrative vignettes that serve to
stimulate the imagination and articulate the benefits of committing to a path
of operational agility.”
The document closes with a series of implications and direct
linkages to the goals and objectives of the U.S. Air Force Strategic Master
Plan.
“We invite you to read this concept and visualize how its
future forces will contribute to a strong National defense, support allies and
partners, and help ensure a free and stable world for all,” Newell said. “The
future will be rife with challenges and surprises, but the Air Force’s heritage
has demonstrated the indomitable spirit of the American Airman.”