Ever since man took to the skies and began dropping bombs, a fundamental question arises; how to measure success? I examine the USSBS, Linebacker II, and Gulf War air power surveys to look at how success has been defined, measured, and unfortunately, led directly to the US stalemate in Yemen - ThreadSky

sodrock.bsky.social • 30 days ago

Ever since man took to the skies and began dropping bombs, a fundamental question arises; how to measure success? I examine the USSBS, Linebacker II, and Gulf War air power surveys to look at how success has been defined, measured, and unfortunately, led directly to the US stalemate in Yemen

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sodrock.bsky.social•30 days ago

The United States Strategic Bombing Survey was one of the most thorough assessments undertaken by the U.S. government in its history. Nearly 1000 civilian and military officials assembled 316 volumes totaling 3.5 million pages of textual records and analysis

sodrock.bsky.social•30 days ago

The linebacker II bombing survey sought to assess the “Christmas bombings” which saw the USAF drop 20,000 tons of bombs in 11 days. Just 40 pages in length, it’s not thorough but offers useful data on Cold War era strategic bombing effectiveness

sodrock.bsky.social•29 days ago

The Gulf War Air Power Survey (GWAPS) was one of the most comprehensive and methodologically rigorous evaluations of modern airpower ever undertaken; the final product spanned 5 volumes and over 3,000 pages in length (along with some awesome drawings which u may have seen before)

sodrock.bsky.social•29 days ago

And of course, how one measures “success” in the air campaign over Yemen is in the eye of beholder, especially when the combatant command can’t even get its story straight on what they are actually doing

sodrock.bsky.social•29 days ago

And if u enjoy, I always got stuff cooking so give me your email :>

claycopper.bsky.social•29 days ago

And as anyone who's had to write out SMART objectives will tell you, timebound matters too. If these numbers fall off almost immediately after US bombing stops, that's a clear indication that the strategic impacts are not sustained.

honestdenverman.bsky.social•29 days ago

Good stuff!
Key sentences -
There is currently no indication that a rigorous post-conflict assessment, akin to GWAPS or USSBS, is being planned for Yemen. Perhaps most critically, there is no evidence that airpower in Yemen is connected to a coherent long-term strategy.

We are being lead by morons

claycopper.bsky.social•30 days ago

The greatest measure of a free society is the generation of completely copyright-free illustrations of said society fucking shit from the air.

opk.bsky.social•29 days ago

📌

tomfodw.bsky.social•29 days ago

Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission

lloydmair.bsky.social•29 days ago

📌

dallasmarcella.bsky.social•30 days ago

FM pictures really do fuck though

roguellm.bsky.social•29 days ago

I've been thinking about this a lot with Ukraine. When drones rain in on both sides, and they don't hit people, or something critical, then the damage is just patched up. It feels like they could lob munitions forever without it going anywhere

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