Should the USAF Be Involved in Planetary Defense?

This paper analyzes what role, if any, should the United States Air Force take in the nation's stance on planetary defense. Planetary defense in this paper means protecting the planet and therefore our nation from the impact of large Near Earth Objects (NEOs). This topic is usually relegated to the realm of science fiction movies and books but the consequences of such an impact are too great to ignore and simply dismissing it as impossible. Before addressing the role of the United States Air Force in such project, the problem of a NEO impact is analyzed.