On 12 Sep 2007, the Air University commander tasked the Air Force Research Institute to provide an "outside-the-beltway" look at what the United States Air Force (USAF) should be about in the future, specifically what the service should look like 10-15 years from now. This timeframe was far enough outside the Fiscal Year Defense Plan to avoid some current programmatic boundaries, but not so far out as to be immune to current trends. Additionally, constraining the "future" to 15 years limits the rather miraculous invention of extraordinary weapons found in some war games and other future studies - for example, rods from space-and similarly bounds the geo-political landscape. The goal of this study is to identify the enduring attributes of our nation's air, space, and cyberspace force in context of major transitions. The tasking construct identified that the study should avoid a focus on hardware and resourcing, and implied the focus should be on roles, missions, and functions "such as the transition from the Cold War to Long War-or whatever it is to be called-era." Finally, the tasking identified the study's target audience as the presidential transition teams, with a delivery date "prior to the next election."

"January 2009." Includes " American airpower strategic thought timeline" overview from the Air Force Research Institute on one folded sheet, tipped in.

Executive summary -- The USAF today -- Framing the question -- The current fight -- Recasting the future (2018-23) -- The future fight: maintaining USAF technological superiority -- Summary of recommendations -- Appendix A: Title 10 -- Appendix B: Funding lines -- Appendix C: United States Air Force history -- Appendix D: Quick look [background] papers -- Appendix E: Interview questions -- Appendix F: Personnel interviewed -- Appendix G: A timeline of USAF strategic thought.