為對應中國，美國空軍重組其組織架構 Air Force To Totally Revamp Its Structure To Compete With China (Updated) The War Zone 20240209 / Taimocracy翻譯

為對應中國，美國空軍重組其組織架構 Air Force To Totally Revamp Its Structure To Compete With China (Updated)    The War Zone 20240209 / Taimocracy翻譯

The Air Force is set to unveil a major structural shakeup at the Air & Space Forces Warfare Symposium on Monday.

To counter the growing threat especially from China, the Air Force is undergoing major changes in how it operates and is organized. Dubbed “Reopitmization for Great Power Competition,” details of the initiative will be unveiled Monday at the Air and Space Forces Warfare Symposium in Denver by Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and other senior leaders, an Air Force official told The War Zone.

The changes will run the gamut from how the Air Force organizes its operational units to how it acquires new weapons systems, Andrew Hunter, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, suggested on Friday.

“We're driving towards…the ability to do integration across our organizational stovepipes in the acquisition community but also on the operational community across the department to a much higher degree,” said Hunter, speaking at an Atlantic Council event.  （「我們正朝著......能夠在採購範圍中跨我們的組織架構進行整合，同時也能夠在整個部門的戰術範圍中進行更高程度的整合，」）

“Optimizing for great power competition goes beyond just looking at modernization… beyond just looking at acquisition programs, and really looks at the entire Department of the Air Force enterprise...to ask the question, ‘is the structure that we have today fit for purpose, for the missions assigned to the Department of the Air Force? Or are they still in a structure or in a shape or burdened by the legacy of previous strategies - previous national defense security focuses?’”（「針對大國競爭進行優化不僅僅是著眼於現代化......不僅僅是看採購計劃，而是正視整個空軍部組織......提出一個問題：『我們今天擁有的結構是否適合指派給空軍的目標？或者，它們是否仍然處於一種受到過時戰略遺產——過時的國防安全焦點——的結構、形式或負擔？』」）

What worked during 20-plus years of counter-insurgency fighting against enemies with limited weaponry won’t in a fight against China or Russia, Hunter noted.

“In order to be successful, we were able to leverage that tremendous investment over the last 20-plus years to do very high-precision, highly effective and highly impactful things like airstrikes around the world, but on a very modest scale,” said Hunter. “What we're looking at in terms of strategic competition is the necessity to do that same thing, but at a pace and a scale completely unlike anything we've done before.”（「為了求得勝利，我們能夠利用過去20多年的巨額投資來進行非常高精度、高效和極具衝擊性的事，比如對世界各地的空襲，但規模非常小，我們在戰略競爭方面看到的是此舉的必要性，但進展和規模與我們以前做過的任何事情都完全不同。」）

Last week, Politico offered a glimpse at what some of the specific changes might look like from major commands (MAJCOM) level down to the wing level.

“Within the next few weeks, the service will announce it is consolidating some of its major three- and four-star commands, integrating fighter jets and bomber aircraft into single units, and beefing up its budget and planning shop, according to six people familiar with the plans,” the publication reported. （據六位知情人士透露，「在未來幾周內，該軍種將宣佈正在整合其一些主要的三星級和四星級司令部，將戰鬥機和轟炸機整合為一個單位，並加強其預算和規劃部門。）

The Air Force has nine MAJCOMs. Some, like Air Mobility Command (AMC) are functional, providing lift and refueling capabilities across the services. Air Combat Command (ACC) provides air combat forces while Global Strike Command provides combat-ready forces to conduct strategic nuclear deterrence and global strike operation. Others, like U.S. Air Forces In Europe and U.S. Air Forces Africa (USAFE) cover regional Air Force responsibilities.

Some of those MAJCOMs could be merged, Politico suggested.

At the operational unit level, the Air Force is considering a "composite wing" concept, where aircraft capable of taking out enemy air defenses, participate in air-to-air combat, and refuel all operate under one command structure instead of several.（在作戰單位層面，空軍正在考慮「混合聯隊」概念，其中能夠摧毀敵方防空系統、參與空對空戰鬥和加油的飛機都在同一個指揮結構下運作，而不是幾個指揮結構。）

"Crews for the different aircraft would regularly train together, making coordination easier and less time-consuming, the thinking goes.”（不同飛機的機組人員將定期一起訓練，使協調更容易，更省時。）

That's not a totally new concept. The Air Force tried that in 1991, spurred by then Air Force Chief of Staff Merill McPeak. The 366th Wing at Mountain Home AFB became the flying guinea pig for what was then called the Air Intervention Wing organization. However, for several reasons, the concept was eventually scrapped.

"Although the logic behind this concept was fairly clear, there certainly were drawbacks and roadblocks to executing it as originally envisioned. First off, basing five different aircraft types in operational units on a single base was grossly expensive. Each aircraft had its own infrastructure and logistical needs and with just one squadron of each type on strength, economies of scale were nowhere to be found."（雖然這個概念背後的邏輯相當清楚，但按照最初的設想執行它必定存在缺點和障礙。首先，將五種不同類型的飛機部署在一個基地上是非常昂貴的。每架飛機都有自己的基礎設施和後勤需求，每種類型的中隊都只有一個中隊，根本達不到規模經濟。）

"After years of real-world evidence, it became clear that replicating the intervention wing concept multiple times over would be near fiscally impossible in an era of declining force structure and budgets. The post-Cold War 'peace dividend' was going to be realized one way or another, and pumping huge sums of money into composite wings seemed to many like a lavish luxury with questionable utility." （經過多年的實際驗證，很明顯，在部隊結構和預算下降的時代，實施「干預聯隊概念」在財政上幾乎是不可能的。冷戰後的「和平紅利」將以某種方式實現。在許多人看來，將巨額資金注入「混合聯隊」似乎是一種奢侈的奢侈品，其效用值得懷疑。）

We don't know enough about how a similar concept could work under the new plan, but basing the units separately but having them train together regularly could be a hybrid model that is more achievable and scalable in the long run.

The current concept of changing the wing structure had not been briefed at the senior level, an Air Force official told Politico, which added that none of the suggested changes were set in stone. （我們對類似概念如何在新計劃下運作還不夠瞭解，但從長遠來看，將這些單位拆開，讓它們定期一起訓練可能是一種「混合模式」，這種模式更容易實現和可擴展。目前改變聯隊組織的概念尚未對高層進行簡報，任何建議的改變都不是一成不變的。）

Author's note: see the Air Force's response regarding Politico's report at the bottom of this story.

Kendall offered similar insights about how the flying branch will change to Air & Space Forces Magazine in an interview that published Jan. 26.

“...if we’re called upon to support an operation plan in the Pacific or in Europe, say, against a great power, we need ready deployable units, that can go do that job,” Kendall explained. “And that’s not what we have right now. … The units themselves have got to be structured to have all the capabilities they need when they go, and you want to have unity of command for those units. We don’t have that right now.“（...如果我們被要求支援太平洋或歐洲的行動計劃，比如說，針對一個大國，我們需要可完成這項工作的現成可部署部隊。這不是我們現在所擁有的。...這些單位在出發時，其本身的結構必須具備所需的所有能力，並且希望對這些單位進行統一指揮。而我們現在沒有此能力。）

Under the current structure, “when a new commander gets over there, his team does show up that day, and they just start to do what they’re doing,” Kendall posited. “And we’ve gotten used to that. It was an efficient way to do the kinds of things we’ve been doing for the last 20-odd years. But it’s not the way you want to go into a great power conflict.”（在目前結構下，「當一個新指揮官到達那裡時，他的團隊確實會在那天出現，他們開始做他們正在做的事情，我們已經習慣了。這是一種有效的方式來做我們過去 20 多年來一直在做的事情。但這不是想進入大國衝突的模式。」）

Kendall teased the need for these changes specifically to counter China back in September during the AFA's symposium at National Harbor, Maryland.

"China created two new military services, the Rocket Force and the Strategic Support Force, and it's substantially increased the capabilities of both the People's Liberation Army Air Force and the PLA Navy," he said at the time. "The Rocket Force is intended to attack America's high value assets, aircraft carriers, forward airfields, and key [command and control] and logistics nodes."（中國創建了兩個新的軍種，即火箭軍和戰略支援部隊，這大大提高了中國人民解放軍空軍和解放軍海軍的能力。火箭部隊旨在攻擊美國的高價值資產、航空母艦、前沿機場以及關鍵的[指揮和控制]和後勤節點。）

"The Strategic Support Forces are designed to achieve information dominance in the space and cyber domains, including by attacking our space-based capabilities," he continued. "China has been reoptimizing its forces for great power competition and to prevail against the U.S. and Western Pacific for over 20 years. We must do the same." （戰略支援部隊旨在實現太空和網路領域的資訊優勢，包括攻擊我們的太空能力。20多年來，中國一直在重新優化其力量，以應對大國競爭，並戰勝美國和西太平洋。我們也必須這樣做。）

The Air Force knows what it wants to do. How it will make that happen under the realities of budget constraints and competing interests across the services remains to be seen. （空軍知道自己想做什麼。但它如何在預算限制和各軍種間利益競爭的現實下實現這一目標，尚待觀察。）

Update: 4:42 PM Eastern Feb. 10 -

We received a statement from the Air Force

"The Politico article was inaccurate.  Department of the Air Force senior leaders will announce key decisions related to Great Power Competition at AFA."