Understanding Airmen

[Dr Jack]

Strongly disagree about Warden's rings. The main reason the Civillian population is listed in ring 4 is to either be on a No Strike list or to be a psy op or I/O target. If you can ever get a copy of the country X study by the Air Force it explains that in some detail.

When I look at the explanation for the five rings in terms of "system attributes," it seems to be a systems construct that entails targeting the entire system and those entities that provide a source of power; any of the five attributes or rings can and should be targeted simultaneously for the greatest effect (by lethal or non-lethal means). Theoretically, there are no caveats on the type of targeting for any particular ring...

Colonel John Warden, “Air Theory for the Twenty-first Century,” in Battlefield of the Future: 21st Century Warfare Issues, revised edition, Barry R. Schneider and Lawrence E. Grinter, editors (Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.: Air University Press) 1998, page 107.