The Quest for Relevant Air Power

POST–COLD WAR CHALLENGES │ 47
compasses classical military, air power, and space power theory
and history. During this intensive 48-week programme, weekly
reading loads average 1,200–1,500 pages. 215
Moreover, SAASS has actively published, thereby establishing a
linkage between air power education and the dissemination of air
power thought to a broader audience. Of particular interest was
the 1997 publication The Paths of Heaven, edited by the SAASS
commandant and with individual chapters written by members of
the SAASS faculty. It is considered to be the first definitive history
of the evolution of air power theory. 216 Furthermore, individual
SAASS faculty members have published books and have made
major contributions to the professional literature in various journals
on international security, strategy, and defence issues. 217
In the UK, a major reform in the education of selected mid career
officers developed in autumn 1997. Marshalling this change was,
first, a thrust towards jointness by collocating the three services’ advanced
command and staff courses at the RAF Staff College in
Bracknell and, second, the integration of academics from the newly
founded Department of Defence Studies, King’s College London,
into the delivery of air power teaching. Six weeks of the Advanced
Command and Staff Course were exclusively devoted to an air
power module encompassing air power history, theory, and campaign
planning. The module itself was divided into two parts. While
the academics focused upon air power history and theory, the military
teaching staff dealt with air power doctrine and campaign
planning—a fruitful military-academic symbiosis. In September
2000, new teaching facilities were provided at the newly established
Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC) in Shrivenham,
ushering in an ever greater thrust towards a joint curriculum. Since
late 2005, King’s College London has also been providing academic
education to initial officer training at the RAF College, and in 2009
staff based at the college developed a distance-learning master’s degree,
air power in the modern world. 218
The latest edition of AP 3000, British Air and Space Power Doctrine,
predominantly targets a military audience at the staff training
establishments. A link between doctrine and the teaching of
air power theory and concepts is clearly reflected. 219
With the setting up of the Air Power Studies Centre in August
1989, the RAAF embarked not only on an innovative approach to