Page 59 - Lessons-Learned-at-Pax-River_Neat

road, the vehicles’ petrol tanks had to be filled up consecutively rather than simultaneously which
took much longer than the German method. (Ibid. 109-120)

Keeping the old tanker approach in place while you add the new aircraft undercuts the
ability of those aircraft to operate in a distributed approach. By moving the tanker line
back significantly, one can refuel almost like the German “fuel farm” and not expect the
tankers like the French trucks to come to them. Even the difference between simultane-
ous versus sequential attacks was underscored as crucial to the success of the Germans
and the negative impact on French morale.

As one French officer commented, “Simultaneous attacks would have been very diffi-
cult for us. But attacking in waves in this manner means they lose their courage after
seeing their burning comrades.” (Ibid.107)

In short, the core lesson to learn is to buy appropriate numbers of new equipment and
to adapt the operational culture, including the logistics systems, to allow the blue team
to exploit their advantages.

Unless one wants outcomes such as the French and British experienced in the forests of
Europe against the Germans, it is crucial to accelerate the shift to a new culture and ca-
pability built around distributed operations.

The old system of sequential air operations built around legacy aircraft, AWACS, and
multiple assets needs to be replaced in a timely manner by a well-resourced distributed
operations enterprise.

The current Deputy Commandant of Aviation, Lt. General Davis, when CG of
2nd MAW underscored how important he saw the F-35 as a tool in the hands of what he
called the I-Pad generation pilots.

I think it is going to be a fantastic blending of not only perspectives but also attitudes. And what
I really look forward to is not the old guys like me, but the very young guys who will fly this fan-
tastic new capability. The older generation may have a harder time unleashing the power and

Second Line of Defense Lessons Learned at Pax River
! !5 8