The United States Air Force’s foundational tenet for command and control of air and space forces is “centralized control and decentralized execution” executed by a Joint Forces Air Component Commander through an Air Operations Center. Centralized control and decentralized execution is the fundamental organizing principle for the United States Air Force and affects everything from presentation of forces to weapon systems to doctrine to professional military education. This long seated tenet evolved through peace and war to have air minded leadership of airpower and ensure commanders understood and appropriately employed the unique characteristics of airpower rather than diluting the tactical, operational, and strategic effects of airpower. Limited by the state of technology during the evolution from World War One through World War Two, air forces were centrally managed by a theater level air commander and missions were executed by subordinate air …show more content…
The Air Force executes mission command through its tenet of “centralized control and decentralized execution.” Air Force Doctrine Document 1-1 states that centralized control and decentralized execution of air and space power are absolutely critical to ensuring the operational and tactical flexibility to meet combatant command-wide objectives. They also allow a single air commander to apply the other tenets of air power which are: flexibility and versatility, synergistic effects, a unique form of persistence, concentration of purpose, prioritization, and balance. But what is centralized control and decentralized