Herbert T Brown

Current Air Base Ground Defense Doctrine: Are We Postured to Meet the Expectations of the Aef? Herbert T Brown

The United States Air Force has transitioned to a CONUS based expeditionary force to reduce PERSTEMPO and offer greater flexibility in force projection options. However, with the end of the Cold War, reductions to our forward-deployed forces, and the emergence of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) threats, the USAF is left with the problem of protecting the Aerospace Expeditionary Force (AEF) in a deployed environment. Air Base Ground Defense (ABGD) has always been a key mission for aerospace forces. Throughout the history of military aviation, airfields and bases have been threatened with enemy attack in one form or another. USAF efforts to create a viable ABGD system have been a sporadic combination of episodic buildups and subsequent drawdowns of security force personnel and equipment. In essence, the Air Force has struggled with the concept of how to defend it's air bases for decades, from World War I to OPERATION ALLIED FORCE.