Air Force war lessons will not be 'shelved'.

• Author: Fein, Geoff S.
• Position: Washington Pulse

The Air Force intends to take immediate action to determine whether the lessons learned from the conflict in Iraq should lead to near-term changes in the service's budget, said Gen. T. Michael Moseley, Air Force vice chief of staff.

This marks a different approach from how the Air Force managed its conclusions from Operation Desert Storm, in 1991, he told a gathering of defense industry officials, in Washington, D.C. After that conflict ended, the Air Force Staff spent a year compiling lessons learned, but the results ultimately were shipped to the Air War College and the Command and Staff College, for academic analysis.

Now, the plan is to "capture" the experiences from the war and establish if and how they should influence "corporate investments," such as current and future procurement programs, said Moseley.

"We will look at what lessons should be funded," he said.

In the past, "lessons were put on the shelf," said Moseley. His boss, Gen. John Jumper, specifically directed his staff to not let that happen again. It is important to take action while there is still "momentum" for change, he said. Otherwise, the natural tendency is to let things go back to the way they were.

Moseley became vice chief in September. He previously was the commander of U.S. Central Command Air Force, and directed the air war in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He stressed the "joint" nature of the Iraqi conflict, and predicted that it is unlikely and unadvisable for any future war to be fought by a...