Command and Control Air Battle Management: The Air Layer Still Matters — Ep. 282

Command and Control Air Battle Management: The Air Layer Still Matters — Ep. 282

From The Aerospace Advantage by The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

March 21, 2026 · 60 min · Season 6 · Episode 282

About this episode

The episode discusses the importance of command-and-control air battle management in the U.S. military's strategy to maintain a tactical decision advantage in a dangerous threat environment.

Episode Summary: As the United States military works to ensure its forces can effectively employ military power in an increasingly dangerous threat environment, it is imperative that its command-and-control air battle management (C2ABM) enterprise is postured for success. The ability to ensure forces are positioned at the right time and place to best secure the desired effects, while avoiding undue risk, is crucial and will make the difference between winning and losing in future conflicts. Current C2ABM capabilities are too old, are increasingly fragile, lack sufficient capacity, and are too vulnerable. Heather “Lucky” Penney and Doug Birkey explore this topic with air battle managers Lt. Col. Alex “Big Bobby” Wallis and Lt. Col. Grant “SWAT” Georgulis . The time for change is now. U.S. forces must always retain a tactical decision advantage. Credits: Host: Heather "Lucky" Penney, Director of Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Producer: Shane Thin Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey Guest: Doug Birkey, Executive Director, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Guest: Lt. Col. Alex "Big Bobby" Wallis, Air Force Strategic Policy Fellow Alumni Guest: Lt…

People in this episode

Host: Heather "Lucky" Penney

Guests: Doug Birkey, Lt. Col. Alex "Big Bobby" Wallis, Lt. Col. Grant "SWAT" Georgulis

Topics covered

  • command and control
  • air battle management
  • military strategy
  • tactical decision advantage
  • U.S. military
  • threat environment

Keywords

  • C2ABM
  • military power
  • air battle managers
  • tactical advantage
  • future conflicts
  • U.S. forces

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, c2coord.com, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook

More episodes of The Aerospace Advantage

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Aerospace Advantage podcast page.