Command

CHAPTER FIVE
AIR FORCE FUNCTIONS
A modern, autonomous, and thoroughly trained Air
Force in being at all times will not alone be sufficient, but
without it there can be no national security.
— General H. H. “Hap” Arnold
In order to describe what airpower in general, and the Air Force in particular,
bring to the Nation, Airmen should first understand the distinctions among roles,
missions, and functions. Although these terms are frequently used interchangeably,
each has a specific meaning.
In brief, the primary function of the Services is to organize, train, equip and
administer military Service forces to perform a role—to be provided to and employed by
a CCDR in the accomplishment of a mission to achieve a specific effect. Based upon
the effect desired and the mission assigned, Airmen accomplish a series of discrete
tasks that cumulatively deliver the desired effects.
ROLES
Roles are the broad and enduring purposes for which the Services were
established by law. The role of the Air Force is to organize, train, and equip aviation
forces “primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations”
(National Security Act, 1947). This basic charter has essentially remained unchanged
to the present.
MISSIONS
Missions are the tasks assigned by the President or Secretary of Defense
(SecDef) to the CCDRs. CCDRs take these assigned tasks and develop mission
statements, operational objectives, and concepts of operations; they then in turn assign
specific tasks to subordinate commanders. By tailoring these tasks to meet the
commander’s guidance and desired objectives, Air Force component commanders in
turn develop component mission statements, objectives, and concepts of operations at
their level.
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