Air Force Annex 4-0 Combat Support January 2020

U.S. Air Force Doctrine Annex 4-0 Combat Support January 2020 guides us to effectively organize and employ through the complexities of counterinsurgency and steady-state operations, and help us re-learn the lessons of large-scale peer and near-peer conflict in contested environments. As we continuously improve our airpower capabilities and capacities in air, space, and cyberspace, our ability to revolutionize CS operations and incorporate new concepts and technologies will identify the new best practices that shape future CS doctrine. Joint military operations across the competition continuum is always a consideration when determining the best practices for our Air Force; consideration of peer and near-peer competition is a continuing necessity for doctrine as the Air Force supports the joint fight. Every Airman is an innovator and is integral to this continuous development process – we must all connect, share, and learn together to succeed. The Air Force defines CS as the foundational and crosscutting capability to field, base, protect, support, and sustain Air Force forces during military operations across the competition continuum. This definition meets the Service’s needs for an overarching doctrinal perspective on CS. The nation’s ability to project and sustain airpower depends on effective CS. CS enables airpower through the integration of its functional communities to provide the core effects, core processes, and core capabilities required to execute the Air Force mission. The integration of these functional communities ensures Air Force forces are ready, postured, equipped, employed, and sustained at the right place and time to support the joint force. Future CS operations in a contested environment against a peer or near-peer adversary will require the air component to be more adaptive, resilient, and agile in its deployment and employment plans and leadership philosophies. The Air Force should be ready to provide resilient and redundant combat support capabilities in an environment of peer competition.