Download or read book The Airborne Forward Air Controller written by John W. Ellis and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Airborne Forward Air Controller Past Accomplishments and Future Opportunities written by and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book History of the Airborne Forward Air Controller FAC Mosquito Aircraft Joint Air Tasking Doctrine World War I and II Korea Vietnam War Marine Corps Kosovo War on Terror A 10 F 16 F 14 F 18 written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2017-05-07 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two excellent reports provide an excellent history of the FAC: The History of the Airborne Forward Air Controller and Rebuilding the Joint Airborne Forward Air Controller: Analyzing Joint Air Tasking Doctrine's Ability to Facilitate Effective Air-Ground Integration. The US Department of Defense predicts that ground forces of the future will wage tomorrow's wars by replacing large numbers of personnel and organic firepower for advanced technology and superior maneuverability. Those forces must be prepared to face an unconventional enemy who will operate in small, lethal units interspersed with the civilian population rather than facing coalition forces with massed formations. This scenario of blurred lines of battle and difficulty determining friend from foe resembles very closely what the US military faced in Vietnam. This paper will address the successes and failures of United States airborne forward air controllers (FACs), particularly in Vietnam, and whether combat lessons learned were passed from service to service or historically from conflict to conflict. The FAC mission has not significantly changed since the end of the Vietnam War, and a thorough study of operational and tactical lessons learned by those aircrew will significantly enhance today's FACs ability to find and destroy dispersed enemy forces in a wide array of environments. CHAPTER 1 - AIRBORNE FACs AT WAR * Airborne Observer History * World War I: The Birth of a Concept * The Interwar Years * World War II: Lessons Learned and Forgotten * Korea: Mosquitoes Take Flight * CHAPTER 2 - THE ADVISORY YEARS * US Air Force Counterinsurgency Operations * Farm Gate * O-1 Birddog * CHAPTER 3 - THE SLOW-FAC AIR WAR * FAC Aircraft in Vietnam * USAF FAC Involvement in Vietnam * US Navy FAC Involvement * US Marine Corps FAC Involvement * FAC Operations 1965-1970 * Out-of-Country Operations * Visual Reconnaissance * CHAPTER 4 - THE FAST-FAC AIR WAR * US Marine Corps Fast-FAC: F9F Panther and OA-4 Skyhawk * Operation Commando Sabre: The Misty FAC * Stormy, Wolf, Tiger, and Night Owl: Phantom FACs * Vietnam Lessons Forgotten * CHAPTER 5 - BEYOND VIETNAM: THE DEATH OF LARGE-SCALE AIRBORNE FAC * Marine Corps FACs After Vietnam * New FACs Emerge: Air Force A-10 and F-16 * New FACs Emerge: Navy F-14 and F-18F * Special Operations Forward Air Control * The Next Test: Kosovo 1998 * The Global War On Terror * Where Do We Go From Here? * The Mission of Forward Air Control * The People of Forward Air Control * The Aircraft of Forward Air Control * Conclusion * BIBLIOGRAPHY Book Two: Lessons learned from Operation Anaconda point to deficiencies in current joint FAC(A) air-ground integration. The primary purpose of this thesis is to determine if current joint air tasking doctrine allows the FAC(A) to effectively integrate into supported ground operations. This study examines potential modifications to joint air tasking doctrine that will allow FAC(A)s to integrate with their supported ground units more effectively. Based on this study, there are two primary methods to successfully integrate the FAC(A) into supported ground operations. The first method is through detailed pre-mission coordination, currently called for in joint doctrine. Consequently, this analysis compares the integration opportunities available in current joint air tasking doctrine to the established requirement for effective FAC(A) integration to determine if current joint air tasking doctrine facilitates effective air-ground integration. Consequently, the analysis also compares current joint air tasking doctrine to the successful models illustrated in the Vietnam War TASS system and the USMC MAGTF to identify potential avenues for improved FAC(A) integration. Finally, the study recommends modifications to joint air tasking doctrine to help improve FAC(A) integration.
Download or read book The Airborne Forward Air Controller Peace time Casualty written by Thomas M. Crawford and published by . This book was released on 1970 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Hit My Smoke written by Jan Churchill and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Mosquitoes to Wolves written by Gary Robert Lester and published by University Press of the Pacific. This book was released on 2002-02-01 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comparable to twentieth century cavalry, early forward air controllers (FAC) probed, observed, and reported enemy activity. Flying rickety, underpowered, and unarmed aircraft, they operated on the leading edge of ground combat. The efficient use of airborne FACs never developed in a meaningful way in World War II, with the possible exception of their use in Marine amphibious operations in the Pacific. But the rugged terrain of Korea and the jungle mazes of Vietnam restricted the capabilities of ground controllers to identify targets, thus expanding the need for "eyes in the air." FAC roles changed from those of probing, observing, and reporting, to those of locating targets, marking them for air strikes, and taking an active role in their destruction. This expanded mission resulted in the inevitable evolution of FAC equipment and responsibilities.
Download or read book Close Air Support And The Battle For Khe Sanh Illustrated Edition written by Lt.-Col Shawn Callahan USMC and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes 7 maps, 3 tables, and more than 80 photo illustrations. In the 77 days from 20 Jan. to 18 March of 1968, two divisions of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) surrounded a regiment of U.S. Marines on a mountain plateau in the northwest corner of South Vietnam known as Khe Sanh. The episode was no accident; it was in fact a carefully orchestrated meeting in which both sides got what they wanted. The North Vietnamese succeeded in surrounding the Marines in a situation in many ways similar to Dien Bien Phu, and may have been seeking similar tactical, operational, and strategic results. General William C. Westmoreland, the commander of the joint U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (COMUSMACV), meanwhile, sought to lure the NVA into the unpopulated terrain around the 26th Marines in order to wage a battle of annihilation with air power. In this respect Khe Sanh has been lauded as a great victory of air power, a military instrument of dubious suitability to much of the Vietnam conflict. The facts support the assessment that air power was the decisive element at Khe Sanh, delivering more than 96 percent of the ordnance used against the NVA. Most histories of the battle, however, do not delve much deeper than this. Comprehensive histories like John Prados and Ray Stubbe’s Valley of Decision, Robert Pisor’s End of the Line, and Eric Hammel’s Siege in the Clouds provide excellent accounts of the battle, supported by detailed analyses of its strategic and operational background but tend to focus on the ground battle and treat the application of air power in general terms. They do not, however, make significant distinction between the contributions of the two primary air combat elements in this air-land battle: the 7th Air Force and the 1st Marine Air Wing. An analysis of their respective contributions to the campaign reveals that they each made very different contributions that reflected very different approaches to the application of air power.
Download or read book Close Air Support and the Battle for Khe Sanh written by Shawn P. Callahan and published by Marine Corps Association. This book was released on 2009 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chapters include the Hill Battles of 1967, The Seige of 1968, Operation Pegasus and the Relief of Khe Sanh, the Deep Air Battle and the B-52, Radar Controlled Tactical Air Support, Close Air Support, and Conclusions. Mixed within the text are black and white photographs, charts, and figures. An appendix with a glossary and acronym of terms and extensive bibliography support this occasional paper work. These "Occasional Papers" are chosen for intrinsic worth, must reflect structured research, present a contribution to historical knowledge not readily available in published sources, and reflect original content on the part of the author, compiler, or editor.
Download or read book Future Forward Air Controller Aircraft written by Michael E. Taylor (CPT.) and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 25 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Staff Study: Air Arm: US-Tactical Air Support-Forward Air Controller.
Download or read book Mosquitoes to Wolves written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Mosquitoes to Wolves the Evolution of the Airborne Forward Air Controller FACs Emerge in the Korean War with Mosquito Operations Use in Close Air Support in the Vietnam War with F 100 Aircraft written by Air University Press and published by . This book was released on 2017-09-11 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comparable to twentieth century cavalry, early forward air controllers (FAC) probed, observed, and reported enemy activity. Flying rickety, underpowered, and unarmed aircraft, they operated on the leading edge of ground combat. The efficient use of airborne FACs never developed in a meaningful way in World War II, with the possible exception of their use in Marine amphibious operations in the Pacific. But the rugged terrain of Korea and the jungle mazes of Vietnam restricted the capabilities of ground controllers to identify targets, thus expanding the need for "eyes in the air." FAC roles changed from those of probing, observing, and reporting, to those of locating targets, marking them for air strikes, and taking an active role in their destruction. This expanded mission resulted in the inevitable evolution of FAC equipment and responsibilities.Interservice differences regarding the definition of close air support (CAS) caused controversies which clouded ground-support operations in both Korea and Vietnam. The Navy and the Marines saw CAS as the primary mission for airpower. The Air Force and the Army saw CAS as the last priority, to be employed after air superiority has been gained and maintained, supplies have been interdicted, and the enemy's infrastructure has been damaged.Contents * PREFACE * 1 EVOLUTION OF CLOSE AIR SUPPORT * World War I * Between the Wars * The American Experience, 1918-42 * World War II * Notes * 2 CLOSE AIR SUPPORT DOCTRINE * Early Navy-Marine Close Air Support * Close Air Support in Korea * Air Force Philosophy in Korea * Navy/Marine Air in Vietnam * Notes * 3 KOREA: FORWARD AIR CONTROLLERS EMERGE * The Fight for Air Superiority * Phase One--Retreat to Pusan * Phase Two--Advance to the Yalu * Phase Three--Second Retreat * Phase Four--Main Line of Resistance Stabilized * Phase Five--Air Pressure for Peace * A Substitute for Artillery * Close Air Support in Korea * The Extemporized Air War * The Need for Airborne FACs * Command and Control Support * 6132d Tactical Air Control Group * 6147th Squadron Organized * Immediate Air Requests * Mosquitoes Assigned to Divisions * Mosquito Mission Expands * The 502d Tactical Control Group * Notes * 4 MOSQUITO OPERATIONS IN KOREA * The Role of the Mosquito * Forward Air Controller Equipment * Visual Reconnaissance * The Tactical Air Control System * Mosquito Mellow * Strike Control Procedures * Problems Encountered * Forward Air Controller Training * Notes * 5 KOREA: THE STAGNANT WAR * The Argument for Interdiction * CAS along a Stabilized Front * Radar-Controlled Air Strikes * Communications Upgrades * T-6 Upgrades * Operation Thunderbolt * Operation Ripper * Communist Losses in the First Year * Strategy Changes * Pathfinder Operations * The Truce Ceremony * 6147th TCG Deactivated * Joint Air-Ground Doctrine * Post Korea * Notes * 6 VIETNAM: THE ADVISORY YEARS * Wars of National Liberation * Developing the Counterinsurgency Force * Farm Gate * Command Structure * Air Operations in 1962 * Air Operations in 1963 * Air Operations in 1964 * The Gulf of Tonkin * New Demands * Notes . * 7 VIETNAM: SLOW FAC OPERATIONS * FACs Come of Age * FAC Aircraft * Personnel Requirements * Seventh Air Force * 504th Tactical Air Support Group * Increased Manning Requirements * Qualifications * Rules of Engagement * Locating the Enemy * Visual Reconnaissance Process * In-Country Operations, 1965-72 * Employing the FAC Force * Navy Participation * The Battle of Khe Sanh * The Tet Offensive * Cleared in Wet! * Notes * 8 EXPANDING MISSIONS * Night Operations * Air Operations in Laos * USAF Controllers in Cambodia * Notes . * 9 THE FAST FORWARD AIR CONTROLLERS * Out-Country Operations, 1964-65 * Commando Sabre * F-4 "Phantom" FACs * Notes * 10 VIETNAMIZATION AND AMERICAN WITHDRAWAL * Vietnamization and Close Air Support * The South Vietnamese Air Force * Cambodia * Lam Son 719 * Interdiction in Route Packages I and II * The 1972 Spring Offensive * Linebacker * Notes
Download or read book The Evolution of the Airborne Forward Air Controller written by James A. Farmer and published by . This book was released on 1967 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An assessment of the role of the airborne forward air controller (FAC) in the Korean conflict--organization, tactics, equipment, and operational procedures. The function for which the airborne FAC was initially conceived was strike control. To this was soon added the responsibility for performing visual reconnaissance over the entire front line and for calling for strike aircraft for immediate close air support. With these three functions--strike control, visual reconnaissance, and strike aircraft procurement--the airborne FAC became the focal point of the TACS. The organization, tactics, and operational procedures developed 'under fire and in crisis' in Korea failed to survive after the war. The stature of the airborne FAC in Air Force doctrine and attitudes did not change from 1946 until 1966, when the operation had to be 'reinvented' in Vietnam. (Author).
Download or read book USAF Air Controllers from World War II to Today written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study analyzes the United States Air Force's current employment effectiveness of tactical air. Specifically, it addresses the necessity of the forward air controller in this day of high technology weaponry, and it focuses on the efficiency of the human aspect of the tactical air control party (TACP). The study draws relevance from reviewing historical lessons from the interwar years, World War II, Korean War, evolution of the combat control team (CCT) and the Vietnam War. Historically, joint doctrinal development and execution in regard to tactical air has been a real problem. Also, command and control (C2), (joint) training, equipment, and morale have also been a problem. By illustrating these problems of the past and the solutions that were devised, the author is then able to evaluate the current status of the TACP effectiveness. The author concludes quickly that the TACP is effective today as demonstrated in the last two conflicts that utilized the TACP and CCT quite extensively. However, this study definitely shows that there are a lot of deficiencies in the TACP system today, many are along the same lines of historical problem areas -- doctrine execution, C2, training, and equipment. This study makes six recommendations to correct these deficiencies: emphasize and follow current doctrine for manning, equipping, and training; exercise and train the C2 of the tactical air control system regularly, make the TACP a weapon system, create an officer non-rated career air liaison officer, perform more joint training, and continue the TACP - Modernization program. These recommendations especially training and the creation of a career ALO could really provide the continuity that the TACP will need in the future. The thesis asserts that correcting these deficiencies will make the TACP efficient thus directly impacting combat effectiveness in a positive way. Finally, the thesis concludes that in the future the forward air controller will be relied upon more than ever, and if he is to employ effectively in the future these deficient areas must be corrected.
Download or read book Story Of A Forward Air Controller written by Kassie Chant and published by . This book was released on 2021-07-16 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of Southeast Asia covers the people of Southeast Asia from prehistory to the present in two distinct sub-regions: Mainland Southeast Asia (or Indochina) and Maritime Southeast Asia (or Insular Southeast Asia). Mainland Southeast Asia comprises Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (or Burma), Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam whereas Maritime Southeast Asia comprises Brunei, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island, East Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore. Forty-eight years ago, Tom Petitmermet was assigned a Forward Air Controler in Southeast Asia supporting SOG and 5th Special Forces Group. Of his 535 sorites, Tom re-tells both humorous and dangerous experiences during Combat Search and Rescue Missions, Commando Vaults, and other declassified operations. The book gives the reader the chance to ride alongside him on airstrikes for a clear view of what it was like to fly with stacks of maps guiding him across thick, dense jungles often in severe storms. Photos taken from his Cessna 0-2A during sorties puts the reader in the seat during and after missions, offering a rare glimpse into the life of a young FAC. After a 26 year Air Force career flying fighter aircraft, Tom retired in 1995 as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the North American Defense Command (NORAD).
Download or read book History of the Forward Air Controller USAF written by Charles R. Dougherty and published by . This book was released on 1970 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Peacetime Forward Air Controller s Role in the Tactical Air Control System written by John E. Jacobs and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
