Edward B Schmidt

Targeting Organizations: Centralized or Decentralized? Edward B Schmidt

Publisher Marketing: This study analyzes the evolution of targeting organizations to identify their strengths and evaluate their impact on future organizations. While both strategic and tactical targeting are discussed, the primary emphasis is on the former. On the eve of its entry to World War II, the Army Air Corps did not even have an intelligence organization. The air forces had to learn how to get passed bureaucratic infighting to ensure dissemination of targeting information to all applicable agencies. As the war drew to a close, Air Force planners saw the necessity of unified effort and attempted to centralize the targeting function. The Korean War brought more problems to the surface for targeteers. Should the commander-in-chief's staff direct the targeting of air forces or should the air component commander handle it? The creation of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff in 1960 brought all strategic nuclear targeting under one roof and apparently worked well. Now the question is whether we should bring non-nuclear strategic targeting into a centralized organization. Desert Storm showed the potential for centralized targeting from the United States due to modern communications and cooperation among the Services. Therefore, this study proposes creation of a centralized targeting organization in order to be prepared for rapid execution of strategic aerial warfare against any number of potential adversaries.