The Air Force Warrior

<p>The Air Force continues to transition to an enhanced capability for remote war driving the operator farther and farther from the battlefield thereby greatly reducing exposure to physical danger. Concurrently this movement to remote applications of force also affects the perception of who is a warrior both within the Air Force and among sister services who continue to face danger on the battlefield. Unlike the sister services particularly the Army and the Marines in which a majority of the force trains for the specific task or purpose of physically engaging with the enemy the majority of the Air Force is trained for the task or purpose of providing support to a relatively small number of combat Airmen. How Airmen perceive themselves and the Air Force directly affects the Air Force as an institution. If the perception within the Air Force is dramatically skewed from the perception outside the Air Force credibility and influence diminish. Only by honestly assessing service capabilities attitudes and personnel requirements to accomplish the mission can the Air Force ensure that institutional rhetoric matches modern day reality. Defining the warrior and articulating a warrior ethos for a service as technologically adept as the Air Force is a daunting challenge. The current institutional description of the Air Force warrior is an all-inclusive every Airman is a warrior and an Airman is issued warrior credentials by simply reciting either the oath of enlistment or the oath of office. This notion that every Airman is a warrior is further codified in the Airman's Creed. One cannot deny all Airmen are essential for the Air Force to perform its wartime tasks but does this qualify every Airman as a warrior?</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>