Global Access Strategy

This paper addresses changes SOCOM and the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) need to make in forward basing their aircraft to support the Long War on global terrorism. It pieces together the ideas of the Department of Defense’s Overseas Basing Realignment Strategy, the RAND corporation’s study on how to gain access to basing around the world, Thomas Barnett’s The Pentagon’s New Map, postulating where the US will be involved in the Long War, and SOCOM’s plan for reorganizing AFSOC overseas groups. Three threads weave throughout this study. First, is the need for new AFSOC forward bases around the world that are close to the areas of perceived threat in the Long War. The need for forward basing is driven by the operational need to get as close to the threat as possible in order to provide the quickest, most efficient responses possible. Second, is a need for AFSOC organizational change to meet the new basing requirements. All overseas AFSOC units will return to the US and be reorganized into expeditionary AFSOC groups specifically tailored to each overseas mission. Third, are the criteria that should be considered when determining where to send these newly organized AFSOC groups. Operations, geopolitics, logistics, and cost are the criteria that provide a logical way to examine potential forward bases. A matrix is presented in the chapter five that combines the critical criteria into a visual graph and provides an example of how to weigh each criteria to make crucial forward basing decisions.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.