Re-casting the FAC Net: People, Platforms, and Policy in Forward Air Control
Abstract
This paper seeks to answer the question: does the United States Air Force still need to execute the forward air controller (FAC) mission from the air? Since World War II, air and ground FACs have acted as communication links to connect air and ground forces and to coordinate air strikes within close proximity of ground forces. Three tasks have comprised the primary role of the FAC: finding a target, communicating the target location to supporting fighters, and clearing fighters to release weapons on the target. To accomplish these tasks in conflicts subsequent to World War II, FACs adapted technology and training to meet ground commanders requirements and to address military, political, and environmental limitations. In Korea and Vietnam, FACs evolved from the ground to aerial platforms to execute the three FAC tasks effectively. After Vietnam, the inclusion of enlisted FACs led to an air-and-ground FAC team, which dominated the battlefield during Desert Storm. After Desert Storm, technological advances, such as satellite communications and the global positioning system (GPS), provided the architecture to distribute the functions of a controller to entities other than the actual FAC. While FACs in previous conflicts executed the three tasks mostly on their own, FACs in Afghanistan acted as information gatekeepers and coordinated the actions of dislocated actors specializing in specific FAC-related functions. For example, remotely piloted vehicles gathered visual intelligence but did not attempt to coordinate that intelligence to supporting fighters without a FAC directing them to do so. FACs returned from the air back to ground during the conflict in Afghanistan as coalition forces employed a FAC-net to find, fix, and destroy targets in coordination with the position, movement, and purpose of ground forces. The FAC-net was highly effective but also highly reliant upon air superiority, a robust communications and intelligence infrastructure, and GPS.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1019453
Entities
People
- Craig L. Morash
Organizations
- Air University