Air Ground Integration and the Brigade Combat Team
Abstract
Over the last 12 years of combat many hard lessons were learned on the importance of integrating air and ground operations. The U.S. Army Brigade Combat Team became the principal fighting formation with the responsibility of conducting operations in a nonlinear battlefield with limited resources to integrate air and ground forces to achieve the commander's intent for operations. As the number of airspace users increased with the proliferation of unmanned aerial systems and increased reliance on fixed-wing and rotary-wing air support, synchronizing operations and controlling airspace became extremely complex. In response to the challenges of conducting air ground integration, the U.S. military developed new doctrine, adopted new organizations, and updated command and control systems to facilitate efficient air ground integration from the Joint Forces Command down to the Brigade Combat Team. This thesis examines current U.S. Joint and Army doctrine, the organization of the Armored Brigade Combat Team, and the current materiel systems used to conduct air ground integration in order to determine if the Brigade Combat Team can conduct efficient air ground integration.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 13, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA591220
Entities
People
- Aaron M. Thomas
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College