Wald has the usual “right stuff” credentials. He did a tour in Vietnam, flying as a forward air controller out of Da Nang directing air strikes, then as an F-15 and F-16 pilot through a number of commands. But his real skill lies in the formerly unglamorous role of running day-to-day operations, or “ops,” the complex minuet of airplanes over the battlefield that is increasingly the key to victory in the modern age of air war.
The reason is something called “effects-based targeting.” That is military jargon for making it up as you go. For years, bombing campaigns had to be mapped out for days in advance. Planners would design grand blueprints and leave the tactical details to the ops people. But now, thanks to spy-in-the-sky satellites, planes with sophisticated downward-looking radar–and, especially, unmanned drones that can loiter over the battlefield–the Air Force can be much more flexible and nimble. Warplanes can be retargeted on short notice and even in “real time.” In Afghanistan, Predator drones worked brilliantly with Special Forces on the ground, spotting targets and “painting” them with laser beams for bombers flying high overhead. Precision smart bombs, much ballyhooed in the gulf war but in fact used less than 5 percent of the time, have now become standard ordnance.
Still, coordinating these strikes is an extremely tricky logistical and political exercise. During the Vietnam War, Lyndon Johnson picked targets from the White House basement. The military has vowed to get away from that unfortunate precedent, but in truth civilians are as involved as ever. During the Afghanistan conflict, Rumsfeld has been talking to Gen. Tommy Franks, the chief of Central Command, two or three times a day. With CNN and the politicians watching closely, the top brass is very sensitive to not inflicting too much “collateral damage,” i.e., killing civilians (though mistakes do happen). Pentagon insiders portray Wald as an exemplar of the politically attuned air warrior of the future: someone who deserves credit both for the relentless bombing that broke the Taliban’s back and for sensitivity toward civilian casualties.
Wald will need all his ops savvy and political skill as he digests the lessons of Afghanistan. For the Air Force, the toughest issue will likely be the future of tactical aircraft like the F-22; drones and high-flying heavy bombers loaded with precision ordnance are the wave of the future. Next, Wald must oversee contingency planning for difficult new fronts, including Iraq, where he’ll have to fend off all the old naysayers on the efficacy of air power. Wald is a hawk on Iraq. Toppling Saddam Hussein would still need large ground forces, he told an air-power symposium last year, but “we just have a helluva lot better [air] capability right now.” So, he concluded, “I think we could do it with half the sorties” flown in the gulf war. An ROTC graduate from South Dakota State back in 1971, Wald is not always popular among the colonels who work for him. He is said to ride hard on his subordinates. But he’s extremely efficient. With modern technology, hot-rod pilots who fly low and fast will still be important–but not as important as those who choreograph the intricate dance in the skies.
