Air Power Development Centre

Advance your air power knowledge

By WOFF Howden Farrar and WGCDR Bob Richardson

WHEN the Wright brothers took to the air in a heavier-thanair machine at Kittyhawk in December 1903, the use of aircraft as a weapon of war became inevitable.

Technologically sophisticated aircraft, weapons and systems now provide air power with capabilities that were hitherto unknown.

The limitation now seems to be only the knowledge of air power practitioners. Modern air forces are extremely complex and require its members to have a sound understanding of the theory and application of air power, if its characteristics are to be optimally employed.

The Air Power Development Centre is calling for nominations for the Advanced Air Power Course – From Kittyhawk to Kandahar.

The Centre will conduct the course online from March 14 to June 24.

The Centre offers an ideal opportunity for Defence members to learn more about air power, including how aircraft evolved in war, the theory and characteristics of air power and some principles of air operations.

The course is based on studying the writings of classic air power theorists and evaluating the extent to which their prophecy has been realised.

The course also reviews the development of air power from World War I through to the present conflicts in the Middle East.

Topics such as the Battle of Britain, Japanese air power in the Pacific War, the air war in Vietnam, and recent conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo are examined as examples of the application of air power, with discussion of each topic focussing on lessons. The broader dimensions of air power and its complexity are addressed in subjects such as the use of aircraft and the law of armed conflict.

Professor John McCarthy, a noted academic in the field of defence and air power, is responsible for the academic instruction at the centre, with the support of RAAF Historian Dr Chris Clark and other members of the centre’s staff.

The 15-week course consists of a 12-week online portion, in which students participate in a weekly email discussion, and concludes with a short essay on an air power topic of choice.

The Centre reviews the air power component of the various professional military education and training courses conducted throughout the Air Force, and your contributions during the course can help to shape future courses.

The Centre is reviewing Australian air and space doctrine leading up to the publication of edition five of the AAP 1000 Fundamentals of Australian Air and Space Power in 2006.

The course is an opportunity for you to contribute to the discussion over the future of our air and space doctrine.

The Advanced Air Power Course 01/05 is being advertised in base information bulletins and routine orders. Nominations will be accepted up to February 28 from interested officers up to Wing Commander (E).

The course gives you a greater insight to the evolution and employment of air power.

Your participation on the course will be reported in PMKeyS and participants will be given a number of interesting books on air power and a reading list.

For more information contact WOFF Howden Farrar on (02) 6266 1173 or email howden.farrar@defence.gov.au.

– WOFF Farrar and WGCDR Richardson are responsible for air power education at the Air Power Development Centre.

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