Paper Title
Directing Air Power At Operational Level: JFAC

Abstract
In today�s world, if war is inevitable, the use of air power is seen as the preferable means of conducting operations instead of financially burdensome land battles which are more likely to cause heavy loss of life. The use of Air Power has gained importance in NATO operations in the Post-Cold War era. For example, air power has undertaken a decisive role from the beginning to the end of the operation in Libya. Policy makers decide to use air power in any type of war, but the question is how to direct air power more effectively at operational level. In search of answers, NATO's Core JFAC (Joint Force Air Command/Component) was established in 2012 to control joint air power at operational level. US had experienced JFAC approach in the Operation Desert Storm in 1991. United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are also directing their air power from their JFAC structures. Joint air power can be directed from a single center at operational level by means of JFAC. In this article, directing air power more effectively at operational level has been studied in the framework of directing air power from a JFAC-like single center carried out by SWOT analysis technique. In order to make a comparison, JFAC-like structure is compared with de-centralized structure. As a result, it is assessed that directing air power at operational level from a single center would bring effectiveness to the air campaign. The study examines directing air power at operational level. Developments at political, strategic and tactical levels have been ignored. Keywords- Air Power, Command and Control, Operational Level, Air Campaign, Centralized Control, Decentralized Execution, JFAC.