Walker Papers

Walker Papers are selected and published from over 50 papers written by field grade officers participating in the Air Force Fellows program. Selected officers attend civilian universities and organizations for one year, studying national security strategy and serving as military ambassadors to prestigious institutions. The papers, named after Brig Gen Kenneth N. Walker, a former Air Corps Tactical School instructor and Medal of Honor recipient in the Pacific during World War II, are published annually.

Honest Brokers in the Gray Zone: Adapting the NSC for the Twenty-First Century

The National Security Council, enacted in 1947 by Truman, was originally intended to help presidential administrations facilitate information sharing and strategic planning. The authors discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each administration since its inception and discuss potential changes to
America’s Strategic Baggage in the Middle East: Is it Necessary and Sustainable

Published amid the ongoing debate over the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, Air Force Col Dan Magruder provides an examination of the strategic rationale that underpins that decision. Magruder, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and a veteran of that conflict, argues that the
The Credibility of America's Extended Nuclear Deterrent

As Iran moves ever closer to a nuclear weapons capability, will other area powers such as Turkey decide to acquire their own nuclear weapons and embark on a crash nuclear weapons program to provide their own deterrent? Or will Turkey’s leaders trust in the United States’ extended nuclear
The Machinery of Government Needs A Tune-Up

This study examines the history, likes and differences of the US National Security Council system and its organizational prototype, the pre-World War II British Committee of Imperial Defence, their structures, purposes, functions, leadership, and the significant changes each experienced their
Rethinking The QDR

P. Dean Patterson and Lenny J. Richoux offer a cogent argument for a Department of Defense quadrennial defense review (QDR). Having been established in 1997, the QDR is a relatively new process. It examines the budgetary process to ensure that taxpayers’ money is well spent. At the same time,
The “In Lieu Of” Myth

Lt Col Dave Marttala discusses the Air Force deployment of large numbers of Airmen to perform various combat support functions doctrinally assigned to the Army or Marine Corps. Known as “In Lieu Of” (ILO) deployment (since then the term has changed to “Joint Expeditionary
The GPS and Galileo

Lt Col Roftiel Constantine cogently outlines the competitive relationship between the Europe Union and the United States regarding satellite navigation. To buttress his thesis that Galileo, the European Union’s navigation satellite system, poses a veritable threat to the global position
A US Strategy for Iran

No contemporary foreign policy issues captures more headlines or elicits more debate than US relations with the largest country in the Middle East and potential nuclear power, the Islamic Republic of Iran. Colonels Douglass and Hays researched the history of the Persians and talked with noted
Department of Defense Energy Strategy

Colonel Lengyel addresses the need for a national energy policy to meet the United States’ insatiable thrust for energy, especially its implications for the Department of Defense. He argues cogently that the United States has created one of the mightiest militaries in the world but sadly has
The Limits of Friendship

This research paper explores the history of US security cooperation programs in Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, from 1993 to the present, identifying five distinct phases of development as those programs sought to achieve US objectives in
Recapitalizing Nuclear Weapons

More than six decades after Hiroshima and almost two since the end of the Cold War, the US nuclear weapons stockpile is undergoing an extensive and expensive life-extension program to ensure the continued safety, security, and reliability of the legacy weapons well into the future. The current
The Influence of Politics, Technology, and Asia on the Future of US Missile Defense

This work presents an overview of ballistic missile defense (BMD) initiatives and their attendant technologies with a careful analysis of their existing capabilities and potentialities to make recommendations as to the BMD initiatives that are most likely to provide realistic expectations of useful
Future of NATO-Russian Relations or How to Dance with a Bear and Not Get Mauled

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, NATO has enlarged its membership twice with countries formerly under Soviet influence and control and, as of this writing, is preparing to begin the process for a third expansion. Russia has watched the borders of NATO creep ever closer
Intelligence Reform

On 22 July 2004 the 9/11 Commission released its report on the events surrounding the attacks of 11 September 2001. The 9/11 Report renewed calls for reform of the intelligence community (IC), continuing a long series of intelligence reform efforts that began shortly after the National Security Act
Outsourcing the Air Force Mission

Colonel Palmby’s study not only serves as a primer for readers not intimately familiar with either outsourcing or the acquisition/manpower career fields, but also provides Air Force leadership and decision makers recommendations designed to help them resolve or prevent the numerous pitfalls
Developing Doctrine for the Future Joint Force

Colonel Brown argues that recent operations have highlighted seams and shortfalls in joint doctrine that need to be addressed in the shaping of a more effective future joint force. Using the current doctrine command and control tenets and Joint Operations Concept attributes as a framework, Colonel
The Revenge of Europe

The collapse of the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, and the emergence of the European Union (EU) have all raised questions regarding the United States’ transatlantic relationship and the subsequent role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The author takes a brief look
Transnational Crime and the Criminal-Terrorist Nexus

Addressing the convergence of organized crime, drug trafficking, and terrorism requires the new paradigm of strategic thinking ushered in by the war on terrorism. Such an effort cannot be seen through a diplomatic, military, law enforcement, financial, or intelligence lens alone. Rather, it demands

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Walker Papers

Honest Brokers in the Gray Zone: Adapting the NSC for the Twenty-First Century

America’s Strategic Baggage in the Middle East: Is it Necessary and Sustainable

The Credibility of America's Extended Nuclear Deterrent

The Machinery of Government Needs A Tune-Up

Rethinking The QDR

The “In Lieu Of” Myth

The GPS and Galileo

A US Strategy for Iran

Department of Defense Energy Strategy

The Limits of Friendship

Recapitalizing Nuclear Weapons

The Influence of Politics, Technology, and Asia on the Future of US Missile Defense

Future of NATO-Russian Relations or How to Dance with a Bear and Not Get Mauled

Intelligence Reform

Outsourcing the Air Force Mission

Developing Doctrine for the Future Joint Force

The Revenge of Europe

Transnational Crime and the Criminal-Terrorist Nexus

Orders and Copyright Notice