Impact of Foreign Ownership on the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) - Augmenting Military Airlift by Commercial Air Carriers in Emergencies, Criticality, USTRANSCOM Requirements, Restrictions, Concerns

This report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. The United States Air Force vision of "Global Vigilance, Reach, and Power" is undoubtedly one of the most powerful statements in the world today. What makes these five words so powerful? Many would argue their strength resonates in the underlying distinctive capability of "Rapid Global Mobility," the true means to fulfill America's global engagement strategy. Without the ability to rapidly deploy and sustain our forces, the foundation of our global engagement strategy is jeopardized. As such, a robust strategic airlift force capable of global power projection is a critical prerequisite. Besides our military airlift assets, the US commercial air carriers provide a unique and critical enabler that helps us meet our mobility requirements in the form of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF).
Since 1951, the CRAF has augmented military airlift by providing passenger, cargo, and aeromedical airlift capabilities during times of national emergency. For the past 57 years, the CRAF has not only proven its capability, but currently is responsible for approximately one-third of the Department of Defense (DOD) wartime airlift requirements. As the United States continues its "global engagement" strategy and the world becomes more interdependent, the DOD and US commercial air carriers are each beginning to face dramatic changes. While the DOD is currently strained from over 17 years of uninterrupted engagement, shrinking defense budgets, decreasing overseas infrastructure, and shortfalls in manpower and aircraft, the US commercial air carriers continue to struggle financially, never fully recovering from 9/11 or the recent skyrocketing fuel prices. The financial insecurity of the US air carriers coupled with a healthy global market has generated a push to change the current laws, allowing increased investment opportunities for foreign companies/investors into US commercial air carriers.
Colonel Schauber contends that changes allowing increased foreign ownership or control opportunities would threaten our national security by jeopardizing the DOD's accessibility to CRAF assets. Although the CRAF has formally been utilized only twice, its importance and our reliance on it cannot be overstated. This research is very timely given that the US military has been running on a wartime surge since 9/11, many of our current military airlift platforms are struggling with poor mission capability rates, and these resources continue to be utilized in multinational and humanitarian operations. These recent proposals to relax foreign ownership of US airlines are a serious concern, and the DOD, Department of Transportation, and civilian air carriers must work together to find a balance between economic stability and national security.