MASTER STUDIES LISTTHIRD EDITION

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ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE

AIR FORCE MASTER STUDIES LIST THIRD EDITION

FOREWORD

The Royal Australian Air Force defines professional mastery as ‘the sum of an individual’s depth and breadth of knowledge and understanding of the profession of Air Power, combined judiciously with the ability to apply it through the lens of personal experience and intellect’. Professional mastery provides the means for members of the Air Force to apply their technical mastery in the employment of air power, enables the optimal employment of air power within a joint campaign in support of national interests, and facilitates cogent and relevant internal and public debate on air power issues of importance.

The intent of the Chief of Air Force and the Senior Leadership Team is Air Force continues evolving from an organisation of ‘stove-piped’ capabilities into a truly integrated, networked Fifth Generation force — delivering precise effects across the spectrum of operations within any potential operational environment.

Professional mastery encourages critical evaluation of past and present activities and is essential in developing and testing new concepts for both existing and emerging capabilities. The ability to develop new concepts and doctrine is critical, with Air Force in the process of inducting a significant range of systems and capabilities, some transformational, within the next ten years. Traditional workforce constructs must also be challenged and a full analysis of the core roles and skills required for our future force must be undertaken. This major recapitalisation of Air Force

systems will require an equally significant amount of intellectual effort to ensure that the new acquisitions realise their full potential.

This effort is recognised in key documents and significant CAF-directed activities such as Air Force Strategy 2017-2027 and Plan JERICHO, and is a key focus of Air Force and the Air Power Development Centre as the new capabilities are brought into service.

Air Force seeks to attain a high level of individual and collective professional mastery within its ranks, primarily through the formal professional development continuum. Air Force members are encouraged to supplement their formal professional development program with informal activities that will enhance their knowledge and understanding of not only air power doctrine and capabilities, but also in key areas that support the effective, precise, discriminate and appropriate application of air power. These may include studying national security issues at the strategic level; developing an understanding of other services, government and non-government agencies both in Australia and overseas; examining significant regional issues; looking to the future; and, studying the past.

The Air Force Master Studies List has been developed to assist Air Force members seeking topics for research or discussion during formal or informal professional development activities.

The Air Force Master Studies List provides themes and questions that have been identified by Chief of Air Force as important to the future successful development of the Air Force. The themes and topics are suitable for research and analysis in the following contexts:

a. Chief of Air Force Essay Competitions;

b. Chief of Defence Force and Chief of Air Force Fellowship papers;

c. Essays on the Australian Command and Staff Course and Defence Strategic Studies Courses, and their overseas equivalents;

d. Papers submitted in Air Force Professional Military Education and Training; and

e. Study in relevant tertiary degree and post-graduate courses.

Whilst the topics in the Air Force Master Studies List have been endorsed by CAF, the List is designed for guidance only and does not seek to capture all existing and future Air Force issues. Users of the list

may wish to adapt the themes or questions to meet individual course or submission requirements. The Air Force Master Studies List is administered by the Air Power Development Centre and will be updated periodically. The Air Force Master Studies List complements and supports both Air Force Strategy 2017-2027, Beyond the Planned Air Force, Plan JERICHO and air force professional development, and should be used in conjunction with policy guidance documents where available.

This third edition of the Air Force Master Studies List has seven themes: National Security and Air Power, Air Power in an Integrated Force, The People Dimension of Air Power, Air Power Generation and Sustainment, Air Power and the Strategy of Influence and Shaping, a 5th Generation Air Force and Beyond, and Air Power History and Lessons Learnt.

Suggestions and recommendations for future Air Force Master Studies Lists should be forwarded to the Air Power Development Centre.

Group Captain Andrew Gilbert, Director Air Power Development Centre

Critical to the successful application of air power is an understanding of national security at the strategic level. Air power is one of a number of elements of national power that contribute to the security of Australia and its interests, and it is essential that air power professionals develop an understanding of not only the contribution air power makes, but also how it can best be synchronised with the other military, information, diplomatic and economic elements that Australia can employ.

Additionally, the benefits of technical mastery and tactical or operational success are lost if the

strategic objectives of a campaign are not achieved. Examining these objectives in context is an essential field of study, particularly for Air Force members undertaking postgraduate or command and staff development activities. The air power questions in this section are designed to encourage Air Force members to challenge existing frameworks and perceptions, and question their relevance in the future, as well as to promote the development of new ideas and concepts that will better suit future strategic requirements and operating environments.

1-1. How might future Government expectations of Air Force differ from the present?

1-2. Will the planned future force deliver strategic air power effects to meet Government objectives and expectations in the future operating environment?

1-3. Is the current Air Force an Air Force of strategic influence?

1-4. Is Air Force correctly postured to operate successfully at the strategic level in the joint, combined and multi-agency contexts?

THEME 1: NATIONAL SECURITY AND AIR POWER

The Australian Approach to War requires ADF capabilities to be integrated through coordinated joint operations across all domains, and to be able to operate in coalitions to increase force effectiveness, contribute to a particular cause or lend support to a nation according to Australia’s international policy objectives. This theme includes the requirements reflected in the air force strategic vector of Joint

Warfighting Capability. While integration in both equipment and doctrine is critical to the realisation of joint and combined operations, many questions need to be answered on how a practical level of integration can be achieved and maintained, taking cognisance of domestic and global developments and resource constraints.

2-1. How can Air Force transform to operate seamlessly with the other Services and/or allies and partners in the future joint and combined operating environment?

2-2. How can Air Force operate more effectively in a multi-agency environment, interacting with other Australian and overseas government departments and non-government organisations?

2-3. How can the application of a gender lens increase Air Force’s effectiveness in planning and conducting joint and multi-agency operations?

2-4. How can Air Force best contribute to future operating concepts in supporting the Australian Maritime Strategy?

2-5. How well does the ADF and Air Force ensure joint and combined interoperability?

2-6. How best can Air Force contribute to multi-domain integration?

2-7. How will non-kinetic capabilities impact the planning and conduct of ADF and Air Force operations?

2-8. How the Human Domain can be used as a force enabler in a multi-domain approach to operations?

THEME 2: AIR POWER IN AN INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENT

Our people make the difference in how we use our platforms. “Air Force must place greater emphasis on ensuring our people are able to exploit the full potential of our future platforms and systems.”1 This theme clearly aligns with the air force strategic

vector of people capability. The topics range from recruiting, professional development and how we employ our people in the networked 5th Generation force.

3-1. How can Air Force best attract, recruit, train, educate and retain a workforce of the best available talent ?

3-2. How will Air Force best develop the skilled and balanced workforce needed to optimally employ future systems:

• the physical domain, including emerging technologies such as unmanned and non-kinetic systems,

• the cognitive domain, including command, leadership, culture and decision-making, and

• the information domain, including the processing, exploitation and dissemination of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information.

3-3. What steps should Air Force undertake to create a Professional Development continuum to develop a workforce for the 5th Generation Air Force? How can this be made flexible, portable and on demand?

3-4. Plan Jericho identifies the requirement for our workforce to evolve to become more skilled, innovative and agile in order to provide the fundamental inputs to capability required to meet the technical expertise and skills of our emerging technology requirements. What historical minds-sets about what Air Force work and careers look like will need to change in order to provide a good framework for future success?

3-5. The Air Force, as a military organisation, espouses traditional, linear career patterns that are based status/rank, promotion, pay and authority; yet is trying to attract and retain a future workforce that will demand greater agility, flexibility and collaboration. How can Air Force redefine is systems, structures and leadership model to accommodate this juxtaposition?

3-6. How can Air Force capitalise on the opportunity to use our advanced technology and potential for innovation as an attraction tool for future STEM graduates?

1 Air Force Strategy 2017-2027, p.4.

THEME 3: THE PEOPLE DIMENSION OF AIR POWER

It takes a lot to keep our modern platforms prepared and ready for conflict and these challenges continue to increase with our 5th Generation capability. The

two air force strategic vectors of Communications and Information Systems, and Infrastructure are addressed by topics in this theme.

4-1. How can we ensure Air Force communication and information systems are technologically robust and interoperable across the ADF and wider coalition partners?

4-2. What can Air Force do to ensure it is capable of operating our integrated communications and information systems in contested and degraded electronic environment?

4-3. Improvements to Tactical Data Links make the transfer of information between individual aircraft and command and control nodes faster and more seamless. What are the doctrinal implications of these improvements to command and control of air power?

4-4. The quantity of data generated by modern platforms creates a range of challenges in transferring, analysing and disseminating this information. How can these challenges be addressed to maximise Air Force capability?

4-5. Air Force’s current base disposition has been influenced by technological developments, strategic circumstances and political influence. How will these and other factors influence our future basing and infrastructure decisions?

4-6. Unit and Air Base disposition can have a significant impact on personnel satisfaction and retention. How can this relationship be exploited to maximise Air Force capability?

4-7. How can Air Force achieve mobile and agile basing to support joint and coalition operations?

4-8. How can Air Force achieve hardened, resilient flexible and readily adaptable infrastructure necessary to generate 5th Generation air power?

4-9. Many newer Air Force platforms are part of global logistics support arrangements. Analyse how these arrangements can have both positive and negative effects on Air Force’s ability to operate and identify what can be done to mitigate any negative impacts?

THEME 4: AIR POWER GENERATION AND SUSTAINMENT

The capabilities of Air Power to rapidly and effectively contribute to most scenarios means potentially all air power actions can be influential in the region and more broadly. A better understanding of the influence air power can have will help air force to synchronise its actions with broader policy objectives. This theme includes topics related to the air force strategic vector of International Engagement.

The last three decades have seen profound and significant changes to Australia’s region. Of these, Asia’s economic transformation, and the resulting change in strategic balance and rate of military modernisation has had widespread effects on Air Force. While the United States remains Australia’s most important military partner, regional developments will continue to shape the role air power, and Air Force, will play in the region and Air Force’s relationship with regional forces.

5-1. How can Air Force maximise the benefit of international training and exercises?

5-2. What future regional developments will most influence the employment of air power in the Australian context?

5-3. How should Australia, the ADF and Air Force respond to regional military modernisation plans?

5-4. What is Australia’s role as a regional power? How can Air Force best contribute to Australia’s role in the broader context of regional security?

5-5. How can the integration of a gender perspective in the planning and conduct of Air Force and joint operations contribute to regional engagement and stability?

5-6. Are the Five Power Defence Arrangements and HQ Integrated Area Defence System still relevant now and into the future?

5-7. How can Australia and regional countries make optimum use of combined capabilities such as air mobility for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief?

5-8. What role should Air Force play in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica in the future?

5-9. Will the greater deployments of US Forces into Australia have any effects on Air Force’s relationships in the region? If so, how best can these effects be managed?

THEME 5: AIR POWER AND THE STRATEGY OF INFLUENCE AND SHAPING

The application of air power is not only affected by developments in technology, but also influenced by changes in the political, social, economic and physical environments. The human dimension in future operations must also be considered, not only in friendly forces, but also in potential adversaries or in any population or group involved, including local populations or international actors. Air Force must develop an understanding of the nature and impact of these developments to ensure it can anticipate and respond to them, either through the development of new capabilities and doctrine, or the adaptation of existing ones, to meet the demands of the future. As identified in Beyond the Planned Air Force, flawlessly accurate prediction of the future remains an impossible task, identifying and responding

to warnings and indicators, as well as developing adaptive cultures and frameworks, remain critical tasks for Air Force.

Of particular importance to the future Air Force is the ability to integrate air systems across both air and joint elements within and across domains. This will enable decision superiority and optimal use of physical assets, human resources and information—a key theme of Plan JERICHO. The questions in this section encourage Air Force members to examine the future through multiple lenses so that opportunities and threats can be anticipated and either exploited or managed, thereby developing an adaptive and responsive culture to support the introduction of new (some transformational) capabilities.

6-1. Does Air Force need to transform its Command and Control, logistics and engineering capabilities and processes to best support the future force? If so, how?

6-2. What key technological developments can be best exploited by Air Force to deliver air power effects in the future?

6-3. What key technological developments will disrupt the way air power is employed in the future battlespace?

6-4. What key emerging concepts and doctrinal innovations can be best exploited by the Air Force in the future?

6-5. What is the best framework (including but not limited to organisation, personnel and procedures) for managing Air Force modernisation?

6-6. What will be the impact of non-kinetic capabilities of air power in the future?

6-7. How can Air Force best exploit live, virtual and constructive (LVC) training to maximise future air power capabilities?

6-8. How will the Air Force’s future operating environment differ from the past and the present?

6-9. What strategic air power effects will Air Force be required to deliver in the future? How can Air Force’s emerging capabilities be best employed to deliver these effects?

6-10. What changes in Air Force organisation, doctrine, command and control and culture will be required to enable the optimum use of emerging capabilities?

THEME 6: A 5TH GENERATION AIR FORCE AND BEYOND

The concept of understanding the experience of our past in order to gain from that knowledge lies at the heart of applied history. Through applied history, the Air Force gains access to a virtual laboratory of

Air Force lessons learned—in our history we find an opportunity to shape our thinking, experiment with options and to test our ideas.

7-1. What experiences and lessons from past air campaigns and operations can best inform Air Force’s journey to transform to a 5th Generation Air Force?

7-2. What examples of air power successes in past conflict best illustrate the importance of adaption, innovation, integration and/or cultural change?

7-3. How can Air Force effectively apply lessons learnt from past exercises and operations into future operations?

7-4. What are the similarities and differences in air operations from 1991 Gulf war air campaign to the present day?

7-5. What air power lessons from the pre-jet era are still appropriate to today?

THEME 7: AIR POWER HISTORY AND LESSONS LEARNT