Strategic Studies Quarterly ♦ Spring 2011
[ 8 ]
Gen John A. Shaud, PhD, USAF, retired, is director, Air Force Research Institute, Maxwell AFB, Alabama,
where he directs an 80-person organization charged with conducting independent research, outreach, and
engagement to enhance national security and assure the eectiveness of the US Air Force. He provides guid-
ance to a team of 15 operationally savvy researchers; the Air University Press, and Air University research and
conference support. General Shaud also supervises production of the Strategic Studies Quarterly and the Air
and Space Power Journals, the latter published quarterly in six languages and distributed worldwide.
Adam Lowther, PhD, is a faculty researcher and defense analyst at the Air Force Research Institute, Max-
well AFB. He is the author of Americans and Asymmetric Conict: Lebanon, Somalia, and Afghanistan (Praeger,
2007) and co-editor of Terrorism’s Unanswered Questions (Greenwood, 2009). Dr. Lowther served in the US
Navy from 1994 to 2001 aboard the USS Ramage (DDG-61) and at CINCUSNAVEUR, London.
An Air Force Strategic Vision for
2020–2030
John A. Shaud, General, USAF, Retired
Adam B. Lowther
T of continuous operations that began with Desert Shield/
Desert Storm (1990–91) and continued to the conicts in Afghanistan
and Iraq have resulted in Airmen engaged in responding to current opera-
tions, leaving little time to contemplate the longer-term strategic impera-
tives that will inuence the future force structure of the United States Air
Force. With Operation Iraqi Freedom recently coming to an end and
troop reductions in Afghanistan scheduled to begin this year, it is both timely
and appropriate to reinvigorate strategic thought within the Air Force. is
article seeks to stimulate a discussion concerning the Air Force’s future by
addressing a single question: What critical capabilities—through combat-
ant commanders’ lenses—will the nation require of the Air Force by 2030?
To answer this question, the Air Force Research Institute analyzed
national interests; economic, demographic, and technological trends;
defense scenarios spanning the strategic planning space; and Air Force
capabilities required to meet future strategic challenges.
1
Research was
conducted using futures analysis methods and the Delphi method. e
resulting analysis of these issues appears in Air Force Strategy Study
2020–2030. Its ndings suggest the Air Force should focus on ve critical
capabilities over the next two decades: (1) power projection, (2) freedom
of action in air, space, and cyberspace, (3) global situational awareness,
We encourage you to e-mail your comments to us at: strategicstudiesquarterly@maxwell.af.mil.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed or implied in the SSQ are those of the authors and should not be construed as carrying the official
sanction of the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense, Air Education and Training Command, Air University, or other
agencies or departments of the US government.
