Editorial

“He who has not first laid his foundations may be able with great ability to lay them afterwards, but they will be laid with trouble to the architect and danger to the building.”

Nicolo Machiavelli 1469–1527

“It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.”

Nicolo Machiavelli 1469–1527

“The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the time does not.”

Nicolo Machiavelli 1469–1527

I offer you 3 quotes in this editorial in an attempt to capture the impact of change, the need to be prepared for it and the inevitable difficulties of its implementation. Moreover, whilst these words were crafted half a millennium ago, they still encapsulate the essence of the issue.

They also nicely complement the JAPCC’s working theme this year – NATO at 60: Future Challenges for Air and Space Power – which will also be the title of our Annual Conference in October. We intend to address such challenges in 4 areas: training and exercising; common air and space assets; assuring the air domain; and, separately, assuring our access to space. This Journal is geared to address the first two and Edition 10 the latter.

With that in mind, I am grateful to colleagues from the military, academia and industry, who have contributed to this edition, and hope you the reader will find articles that both challenge traditional thinking and confront us all to assure we are preparing for both current and future operations in an appropriate manner.

DCOM CC-Air Ramstein kicks the journal off by reminding us that opportunities to harness the collective power of our Air and Space assets are only limited by our imagination and energy. Other potential areas of common endeavour, from small satellites to air transport, are also placed in the spotlight. Elsewhere, we look at training and exercising from collective basic training opportunities through to emerging initiatives in the Live, Virtual and Constructive domains, which have the potential to change how we prepare from the unit/individual level to the highest reaches of command.

All in all, then, an extensive range of topics, which I hope will whet your appetite for our Annual Conference, details of which are also included herein.

Garfield Porter
Air Commodore, UK AF
Assistant Director Transformation, JAPCC