Air Force Culture and Cohesion: Building an Air and Space Force for the Twenty-First Century

THE US AIR FORCE has a co­ he sion problem. Dr. Donald B. Rice, former secre tary of the Air Force, complained that offi cers identi fied with their weapon systems, not with the Air Force or any concept of service mission or doctrine. Carl Builder agrees. To Builder, the Air Force has no strong, unify ing mission or vi­ sion, so loyalty has devolved to functions, tech nolo gies, and occu pa tions.2 Franklin Mar gi otta states that in his expe ri ence, he served in 30–40 dif fer ent “air forces” that had in common only a single-colored uniform and a univer sal belief that each member and fac tion was serving the cause of national de­ fense. He too sees technol ogy as the or gan iza­ tional essence of the Air Force.3 Frank Wood ob serves that the empha sis of today’s Air Force on high technol ogy makes it most sus­ cep ti ble to speciali za tion and occu pa tional at tach ments, particu larly when those Air Force special ties have civil ian air and space equiva lents.4 Indeed, our service has a cohe­ sion problem, and it is firmly rooted in the cul ture, techni cal special ties, and organ iza-