I’m taking a COIN class here on The Hill, which didn’t really focus on airpower, but the more strategic level–a lot of “get to know the culture!” and “stop killing good guys!” Nothing I haven’t read on Abu Muquwama, although we did read some good books–and I got to write a fun paper that I may be fleshing out more later.

The final project for this class was a debate over this resolution: Airpower plays and will continue to play primarily a supporting role in counterinsurgency, due to the nature of insurgencies.

I was the affirmative. I wish I had seen this article before the debate finished up. Colin Clark has a very interesting piece on how aerial surveillance provided the slam dunk when it came to confirming the Cuban Missile Crisis–but it was really an alley oop. It was HUMINT resources on the ground that gathered the information, gave the spy planes a place to look, and provided the bedrock of the intelligence.

No, Cuba wasn’t COIN, but it was just one more example of how the true effort is–and must be–joint.

So says this blue-suiter, anyway.

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