Air Defense As An Organic Part of the Unit of Action
Abstract
Current deployments in support of OIF/OEF illustrate that soldiers today must be competent not only in their military occupational specialty (MOS), but also in basic infantry skills. Because of extended deployments and personnel shortages, many soldiers are performing force protection tasks such as manning traffic control points (TCPs) or conducting patrols regardless of their MOS. In garrison, units are steadily moving towards the Army's vision of brigade units of action (UAs) in which the brigade vice the division becomes the basic fighting force with its own organic combat arms, combat support, and combat service support. The problem, however, with the current UA plan is that it removes the short range air defense (SHORAD) capability from the divisional formation and places it at the corps level. This transference is problematic because the battlefield is still three dimensional. Divisional Air Defense Artillery (ADA) soldiers possess the basic infantry skills needed in current conflicts, and, regardless of the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, an air threat still exists in the world. Therefore, due to the increased necessity for a dedicated force protection element in a combat environment, the ever-present air threat, and the SHORAD soldier's capability to effectively perform both standard and nontraditional missions, SHORAD units would best serve the Army as an integrated element of the unit of action vice a corps asset.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 04, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA507312
Entities
People
- Sonny Thompson
Organizations
- Marine Corps University