2009 CSAF Reading List update Published May 8, 2009 By Gen. Norman Schwartz Chief of Staff of the Air Force Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. -- Fellow Airmen Dominating the air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace guarantees the security of our Nation. As adaptive warfighters and global thinkers on the Joint team, we must continually look for ways to expand our horizons. One way to do this is by reflecting on the lessons of history. With this in mind, I recommend three books from the 2009 Reading List for your professional development. The first book, The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power, by Max Boot, is a remarkable book about US military participation in small wars around the world throughout our Nation's history. This work tells of the heroic tradition of Americans called upon to perform in non-traditional ways around the world. Airmen will benefit from an understanding of this rich military history as we focus on applying innovative air, space and cyber capabilities in Irregular Warfare (IW). The book explains how American military professionals innovated to bravely meet IW and Building Partnership Capacity (BPC) challenges in the past with varying degrees of success. While this book is not necessarily centered on Airpower, the lessons and examples illuminate current and future challenges with regard to how Airpower can be applied in small wars and BPC. Another work of historical relevance is Thinking about America's Defense: An Analytical Memoir, by Glenn A. Kent. This memoir describes what he has learned about analysis and defense policymaking and how we can apply those lessons to today. General (ret) Kent shares his account of the most significant issues with which he was involved over the course of his career--how he saw each issue and its significance, how he conceptualized and addressed the central analytical problems associated with the issue, and how his work affected policy. General (ret) Kent offers to the reader an insider's history of key aspects of the Cold War and post-Cold War defense strategies of the United States. Finally, Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda, by Sean Naylor, reveals how close American forces came to disaster in Afghanistan against Al Qaida after easily defeating the Taliban that had sheltered the terrorist organization behind the 9/11 attacks. Opinions vary on the lessons of Operation Anaconda, and this book articulates a point of view all Airmen should understand and consider. This book also provides lessons learned in operational arenas such as Joint command and control, mission execution, and personnel recovery.