Meeting the Needs of the Future Force: Transforming Air Support for the Unit of Action

Abstract

The Army is in the midst of a significant transformation into the Future Force. The purpose of this transformation is to provide the right kind of forces for the needs of the future. By the year 2010, the current Army organizational structure will be transformed into Units of Employment and Units of Action. The purpose of this monograph was to test the hypothesis that the current air support system will meet the needs of the Future Force's Unit of Action. The monograph compares the current air support system to the requirements of the Unit of Action to ascertain a satisfactory level of performance based on the criteria of suitable, feasible, and acceptable. To compare the current air support system to the Unit of Action requirements, three functional categories were established: battle command, fire support, and airspace command and control. These functional categories allowed for an objective comparison of two dissimilar systems. The analysis invalidated the hypothesis: the current air support system was shown not to be capable of satisfactorily supporting the Unit of Action's requirements. In the process of completing the analysis, three shortfalls and one concern were identified. The three shortfalls were as follows: (1) the need for a physical location for the Air Liaison Officer (ALO) within the design of the Unit of Action's Mobile Command Group or Tactical Command Post; (2) the ALO's need to be able to collaboratively plan with interagency or multinational organizations; and (3) the transient need for the Tactical Air Control Party to assume the duties of an Air Support Operations Center under certain situations. The one concern was that the Networked Fires concept was inadequately defined in Unit of Action documents. Specifically, the two issues requiring further analysis were what tactical echelon man-in-the-loop procedures were required, and what were the man-in-the-loop specific procedures? (21 refs.)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 26, 2004
Accession Number
ADA429322

Entities

People

  • Lee H. Marsh Jr.

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • C4I
  • Counter WMD
  • Electronic Warfare
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Defense
  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Airspace Control
  • Combat Operations
  • Command And Control
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Control Systems
  • Employment
  • Fire Support
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Organizational Structure
  • Tactical Air Support
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
  • Space