Command and Control of U.S. Air Force Combat Support in a High-End Fight
Abstract
This report proposes new concepts for the command and control of combat support to address the stresses presented by a high-end fight, specifically moving the location of the ground support for air operations to secure positional advantage against an adversary, which we refer to as maneuver, and operations while under persistent multi-domain attack. We do not assess whether maneuver is operationally effective or executable. We argue that these stressors present the following overall demands on combat support command and control: 1. decisionmaking and logistics direction that are timely and distributed when data, communications, or both are degraded. 2. situational awareness that is timely and sufficiently comprehensive. 3. coordination between combat support and operational activities that is timely and integrated. 4. systems and processes for command and control that, when attacked across domains, are robust and resilient. We compared the current joint and U.S. Air Force doctrine, policies, and recent deployment practices with these demands to reveal areas for improvements and recommendations to address these deficiencies. We found that for decision making: Combat support has no unified command and control mechanisms at the operational level. The speed of combat support for maneuver is slowed down by the need for the coordinated actions of many actors, both within and outside the theater, including service, joint, and agency actors. When issuing joint orders for the maneuver of air forces to new operating locations, the U.S. Air Force is hampered by its reliance on the air tasking order (ATO) for issuing orders. The ability to adjust command and control of logistics when under persistent multi-domain attack is impeded by the lack of doctrine, policy, planning, and procedures for distributed command and control and for push logistics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1125203
Entities
People
- Colby P. Steiner
- Don A. Snyder
- John G. Drew
- Kristin F. Lynch
- Miriam E. Marlier
- Myron Hura
- Theo Milonopoulos
Organizations
- RAND Corporation