Air Force Total Air Force Task Force – A MISO Model

In a way I have always admired the Air Force. They always seem to have the best bases and they never seem run out of money. The Air Force has also seemed to have the inside track when it came to IT and Cyber. The notion of a high level, impartial task force to sort things out makes so much obvious sense to the outsider, but not necessarily to those on the inside.

The rivalry between components (Active, Reserve and Guard) is  constant and perhaps like the rivalries between sports teams, only reaches a crescendo when something important is at stake like a championship. The troubled history of the MISO Army Reserve Force is a case in point.

The time would be ripe for such a move for MISO because just as a playoff will heighten the rivalries between sports teams, budget shrinkage and lack of active conflicts has the same effect as a playoff with the various teams vying for a better position over the others. The conflict centers on who can get more funding, not on how the job can be done better.

The Air Force approach, while still needing to prove itself, seems to be a more effective way to sculpt an effective force and optimize budgeting across that force than does the conflict over MISO that exists among SOCOM, Active and Army Reserve Components. If we throw in the fact that MISO resources are found in other services and that MISO needs to be coordinated across other Cabinet Departments such as the Department of State, it seems that a Task Force Approach might be the right answer.

This task force should actually start with a top down look at the “Influence” components across government and create the first Influence Strategy which could then be implemented across governmental resources.

See: http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140116/DEFREG02/301160039/USAF-Creates-Office-Guide-Integration-Active-Reserve-Units which is also the photo source.