Force Protection of Strategic Airlift Forces in the Operations Other Than War Environment.

Abstract

This monograph examines the U. S. military capability to defend strategic airlift aircraft against current and projected threats in an humanitarian assistance operations. The size of the Joint Task Force (JTF) is frequently restricted by political, material, and environmental considerations. Consequently, the JTF commander must consider developing a Time Phased Force Deployment Data List that provides force protection for the airlift force that meets the possible threats and responds to mission constraints. Recent studies suggest two trends: (1) the military airlift aircraft are not equipped to handle the threat, and (2) the JTF must also provide protection to those aircraft flown by Non-Governmental Relief Organizations (NGOs) and the CRAF. This monograph is divided into five sections. Section one, the introduction, establishes the purpose of the study and the significance of the research question to the US military: Are planned air defense measures adequate to defend airlift forces against hostile threats during OOTW? Section two examines the present threat to strategic airlift aircraft in the OOTW environment and concludes that the man-portable surface-to-air missile is the ideal weapon to attack the airlift bridge at the airfields. Section three analyzes current National, Service and Joint doctrines for their force protection requirements and responsibilities of the airlift force in the humanitarian assistance environment. Doctrine recognizes the importance of airlift, but does not provide air defense to the entire airlift force, civilian aircraft are not included in this protection. Section four reviews recent military experiences during Operations RESTORE HOPE, in Somalia, and SUPPORT HOPE, in Rwanda. The force protection lessons learned during Somalia were ignored in Rwanda.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 14, 1995
Accession Number
ADA309934

Entities

People

  • James N. Hanley

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Defense
  • Aircrafts
  • Deployment
  • Doctrine
  • Environment
  • Force Protection
  • Humanitarian Assistance
  • Landing Fields
  • Lessons Learned
  • Manportable Equipment
  • Materials
  • Military Capabilities
  • Task Forces

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.