Belote, Lieutenant Colonel Usaf, Howard

Once in a Blue Moon: Airmen in Theater Command: Lauris Norstad, Albrecht Kesselring, and Their Relevance to the Twenty-first Century Air Fo Belote, Lieutenant Colonel Usaf, Howard

Publisher Marketing: In the 53-year history of the United States Air Force (USAF), only two airmen have risen to serve as regional commanders in chief (CINC). During the same period, 74 soldiers, sailors, and Marines were selected for geographic CINC billets. In "Once in a Blue Moon: Airmen in Theater Command," Lt. Col. Howard D. Belote examines the reasons for this disparity and suggests how airmen might improve their prospects for becoming future regional commanders. Colonel Belote employs historical analysis to identify the personal and professional qualities airmen should seek as prospective war-fighting CINCs. To establish a baseline for that analysis, he begins by studying the careers of two early regionals CINCs, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gen. Jacob L. Devers. Relying heavily on primary sources in the Air Force Historical Research Agency, the author then offers tow detailed biographical case studies. The first is of Gen. Lauris Norstad, until this year the only USAF officer to have served as a regional CINC. The second case study considers the career of German Field Marshal Albrecht Kesselring, one of only two airmen ever to have commanded a theater in wartime. Belote complements his historical inquiry with findings based on interviews with senior Department of Defense officials coupled to an analysis of the recent literature on joint command. These varied sources agree on one very significant point: to perform effectively as war-fighting CINCs, airmen - indeed, all officers - must possess comprehensive joint military proficiency, an incisive geostrategic-political-military vision, and strong - but nuanced and deft - skills in leadership and interpersonal relations. One other major finding deserves mention up front. Without exception, the senior officials interviewed by the author agreed that as would-be CINCs, airmen are handicapped by a distinctive characteristic of Air Force culture. As members of a technical service that places a high premium on Air Force-specific skills, most airmen fail to acquire the wide-ranging joint and political-military experience expected of potential regionals CINCs. To help remedy that problem, the author proposes creation of a new and intentionally broad-gauged "joint warfighter" career track. Contributor Bio:  Air University Press Walter Gary Sharp Sr. serves as a senior associate deputy general counsel for intelligence at the US Department of Defense, where he advises on legal issues related to intelligence, covert action, intelligence and counterintelligence policy, intelligence oversight, information security, information sharing, security classification policy, information operations, and computer network operations. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Sharp served as an associate deputy general counsel for international affairs at the Department of Defense; the director of legal research for international, comparative, and foreign law at the Law Library of Congress; the director of global and functional affairs within the Bureau of Legislative Affairs at the State Department; and a principal information security engineer at The MITRE Corporation. A veteran with 25 years of service, Dr. Sharp retired as a decorated US Marine Corps lieutenant colonel with prior enlisted service. His military assignments include commanding officer of a field artillery battery, senior prosecutor, deputy legal counsel to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and international law adviser for the commanding general of the Unified Task Force in Somalia during Operation Restore Hope. Dr. Sharp's military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, and his many awards for writing excellence and academic achievement include the Judge Advocate General's School Alumni Association Annual Professional Writing Award and an American Bar Association Award for Professional Merit. Dr. Sharp is the author of numerous articles and three books: UN Peace Operations (1995), CyberSpace and the Use of Force (1999), and Jus Paciarii (1999). He serves as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center where he currently teaches a counterterrorism course, The Law of 24. He has also taught graduate-level seminars on United Nations peace operations and international peace and security. He lectures internationally in universities and other diverse public forums on wide-ranging topics of international law and national security law, such as international peace and security, conflict management, and peacekeeping operations.