The joint close air support (JCAS) community is struggling to determine future close air support (CAS) employment tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). Since 1996, the JCAS community, lead by an Office of the Secretary of Defense JCAS Joint...
Operation Anaconda, a subordinate operation to Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002, was notable for difficulties in integrating US air and ground forces in order to bring combat power to bear on a stronger than originally anticipated foe. In the...
This study investigates the viability of employing unmanned aerial vehicles in the close air support role on the future battlefield of 2010 and beyond. The concept of employing unmanned aerial vehicles in a strike role is currently in the advanced...
The evolution of the Armor and Infantry branches into a single functional branch is occurring due to several factors – business efficiencies, tactical integration of movement, maneuver, fires and engagement on the GWOT battlefields, formalization...
Lieutenant Commander Brandon Sellers served as a pilot for an F-18 Hornet in Carrier Air Wing Five onboard USS Kitty Hawk from March through May 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In this interview, he talks about being part of the Navy's...
This study examines the ability of the upgraded A-10 to effectively support the Army’s interim force in the year 2010. The A-10A Thunderbolt II is the first and only USAF aircraft specifically designed to provide close air support to friendly...
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) signed into law a mandate directing the Department of Defense (DoD) to develop and procure Unmanned Systems through FY 2030. These unmanned air, ground, and sea systems are being...
This thesis examines how might Special Forces liaison elements (SFLEs) improve interoperability between US forces, allies, and coalition partners from now until 2020. Given the history and current nature of US national security interests and...
The United States Army began transformation to meet the needs of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). Senior leaders within the military initiated the transformation from a division-based organization to one built around brigades. This...
A View from the FA49 Foxhole: Operational Research and Systems Analysis. Lieutenant General David F. Melcher, U.S. Army, and Lieutenant Colonel John G. Ferrari, U.S. Army; Functional Area 49, the Operations Research Systems Analyst career field, is...
Through the study of past military experiences, especially the examination of common lessons from differing conflicts, implications for future warfare can be revealed. Common counterland lessons from three major US conflicts are the focus of this...
The United States Army recently released a white paper on Concepts for the Objective Force. This force will be capable of simultaneous engagement by air-ground maneuver elements at operational and tactical distances by employing future advanced...
Increasingly, since the end of Desert Storm, the Army National Guard (ARNG) has conducted more overseas missions with fewer resources. In operations since the events of 9/11, mobilizations are at their highest levels since World War II. The ARNG...
The end of the Cold War marked the end of an era in United States national security. The bi-polar global balance of power, which defined our nation’s defensive strategy for more than 30 years, was replaced with the uncertainty of failed...
Contains selected documents that place at the student's disposal the type of intimate detailed and pertinent source material that may otherwise remain buried in archives and files. Attempts to present information on "how" in practical, war-tested...
Airspace control is not a new concept and there has been considerable doctrinal development and discussion over the last 50 years. However, the role the joint forces air component commander as the airspace control authority during stability...
This thesis asserts the Army does not define missions in terms of resources consumed, in sufficient detail to assist decision-making. This is primarily the result of the current budget structure which restricts resource classification to broad...
This study is designed to discover perceived issues that plague conventional forces and special operations forces (SOF) integration on the battlefield. The research did in fact show that although operational and tactical integration of these...
The future of the Marine Corps resounds in Operational Maneuver from the Sea. This doctrine demands complete mastery of the littoral battle space to project amphibious combat power farther and faster than ever before. Critical to the success of any...