Air Combat Command boss Gen. Mike Hostage on Monday released “Securing the High Ground: Dominant Combat Airpower for America,” the command’s 2012 strategic plan. The document stresses four priorities for the combat air forces leadership: balance recapitalization and modernization within given resources; develop, retain, and care for innovative, motivated, combat-focused airmen and their families; focus organizations, training, and education to improve combat capability across the entire spectrum of conflict; and improve operational effectiveness and increase integration of Air Force, joint, allied, and coalition capabilities in advanced threat environments. “The men and women of Air Combat Command are the most sophisticated and precious resource we possess,” said Hostage in a release unveiling the plan. He added, “Our sacred bond to our airmen is ensuring they are provided the proper equipment, training, and skills required to achieve success in the missions our nation has asked them to accomplish.” (ACC’s 2012 strategic plan; caution, large-sized file.)
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…