Katherine C Hastings

As Pacific Air Forces pursues evolving operational concepts of employment designed to improve operational resiliency, questions about the fragility of the combat support (CS) enterprise persist. This report presents a framework to assess necessary elements of the CS enterprise--including base, theater, and global resources--for operating in a hybrid push-pull system as a means to mitigate uncertainty and adversary actions.

The authors of this report explore a more expansive approach to readiness assessments--one that looks beyond the narrow lens of operational readiness more typical of readiness systems in use in the Department of Defense and considers a broader set of dimensions that could affect readiness outcomes. This more expansive perspective can lead to a better understanding of the root cause of readiness shortfalls.