Adapting to Shorter Time Cycles in the United States Air Force

The Air Force Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a three-part workshop series to investigate the changing paradigm of time and knowledge in modern-day warfare. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, three 2-day workshops were held virtually on September 16-17, 2020, September 23-24, 2020, and October 1-2, 2020. The objective of the first workshop was to explore the ways in which the U.S. Air Force (USAF) has adjusted its capabilities in response to past shifts in operational timing. In consideration of these past shifts, the second workshop aimed to consider when there could be an advantage to synchronize or desynchronize rates of change with adversaries. Participants had the opportunity to discuss lessons learned and possible changes for USAF Doctrine and future operations. The goal of the third workshop was to examine the implications to doctrine, concepts of operations, and command and control from the recent acceleration of battlespace operations, arising from wide-scale digitization, large-scale sensing, and faster technologies. In all three workshops, speakers explored the broader issues surrounding changing environments, and participants discussed ways to adapt to fundamental changes in the time constants of conflict. This proceedings is a factual summary of what occurred during the workshop series.

Table of Contents

• Front Matter
• Introduction
• 1 Workshop One, Part One
• 2 Workshop One, Part Two
• 3 Workshop Two, Part One
• 4 Workshop Two, Part Two
• 5 Workshop Three, Part One
• 6 Workshop Three, Part Two
• Appendixes
• Appendix A: Statement of Task
• Appendix B: Workshop Agendas
• Appendix C: Biographical Information for Planning Committee Members
• Appendix D: Uncertainty, Stability, Instability, Military Affairs, and Time: Some Thoughts and Conjectures
• Appendix E: Thoughts and Reactions to Planning Committee Discussions
• Appendix F: E-Mail Commentary on Workshops One and Two
• Appendix G: Workshop Series Recap Meeting
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