The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies is pleased to announce its newest publication in its Forum paper series, Preserving Our C2 Edge: A Near Term Flight Plan for the Air Operations Center Weapon System, authored by Maj Gen Michael R. Boera, USAF (Ret.). The paper offers an assessment of one of the Air Force’s most sought after command and control capabilities, the Air Operations Center Weapon System (AOC-WS), and describes a proposed path to modernize and upgrade this critical aerospace power tool in the coming years, despite challenging budget realities.
Centralized command and control (C2) from an AOC with decentralized execution by Airmen in combat has served as the “cornerstone of a dominant Air Force for the past quarter of a century,” he writes. But significant manpower and operational needs continue to accumulate for USAF’s 13 AOCs. This drives a need to identify more effective ways of operating an AOC at a time when demand is increasing, and new capabilities such as non-kinetic effects are rising in importance.