Forward air control
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (October 2016) |
Forward air control is the provision of guidance to close air support (CAS)[1] aircraft intended to ensure that their attack hits the intended target and does not injure friendly troops. This task is carried out by a forward air controller (FAC).[2]
A primary forward air control function is ensuring the safety of friendly troops during close air support. Enemy targets in the front line ("Forward Edge of the Battle Area" in US terminology) are often close to friendly forces and therefore friendly forces are at risk of friendly fire through proximity during air attack. The danger is twofold: the bombing pilot cannot identify the target clearly, and is not aware of the locations of friendly forces. Camouflage, a constantly changing situation and the fog of war all increase the risk. Present day doctrine holds that Forward Air Controllers (FACs) are not needed for air interdiction, although there has been such use of FACs in the past.
An additional concern of forward air controllers is the avoidance of harm to noncombatants in the strike area.
Early air ground support efforts
As
The Marines in the so-called
French colonial operations in the
The German military noted close air support operations in the Spanish Civil War and decided to develop its forward air control capability. By 1939, they had forward air control teams called Ground Attack Teams attached to every headquarters from regiment level upwards. These Teams directed air strikes flown by Luftwaffe close air support units. Extensive coordinated training by air and ground troops had raised this system to state of the art by the beginning of World War II.[10]
When the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was founded on 20 June 1941, it included provisions for Air Ground Control Parties to serve with the United States Army at the division, corps, and Army headquarters. The Air Ground Control Parties functions were to regulate bombing and artillery in close conjunction with the ground troops, as well as assess bomb damage. They were thus the first of similar units to try to fulfill the functions of the FAC without being airborne.[11] However, these units were often plagued by turf wars and cumbersome communications between the respective armies and air forces involved. As a result, it could take hours for an air strike requested by ground troops to actually show up.[12]
World War II
However, forward air control during World War II came into existence as a result of exigency, and was used in several theaters of World War II. Its reincarnation in action was a result of field expedience rather than planned operations.[13]
On the Allied side, British forces in the
In the Pacific Theater,
The United States would end World War II still without an air control doctrine. When the U.S. Air Force split from the U.S. Army in 1947, neither took on the responsibility for forward air control; the U.S. military thus had no functional forward air control when the Korean War broke out.[14]
Post World War II
British Commonwealth operations
The United Kingdom and Commonwealth continued to build on their experience in the Second World War in various campaigns around the world in the second half of the twentieth century, including the
Korean War
Although the United States, as part of the
When the front lines bogged down into static
By the cessation of hostilities, airborne forward air controllers alone were credited with flying 40,354 forward air control sorties, and directing air strikes that killed an estimated 184,808 communist troops.[27] At times, tactical air was credited with inflicting about half of all communist casualties.[28]
Despite having agreed on a common forward air control doctrine as embodied in Field Manual 31 - 35 Air-Ground Operations,[29][14] a turf war over doctrine raged between the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army for the entire war. Additionally, the U.S. Marine Corps maintained its own FAC operation during the war. Also, U.S. Navy carrier aviation would not completely coordinate its operations with the Air Force/Army system until the final month of the war. With no common doctrine agreed upon during the war, forward air control systems were shut down postwar in 1956.[30][31][32]
Vietnam War
Forward air controllers played a major part in the largest bombing campaign in history during the Vietnam War. While World War II had featured indiscriminate mass air raids on major cities worldwide, bombing during the Vietnam War was aimed at smaller targets in a country the size of New Mexico. Unless bombs were dropped in a free fire zone, or on a pre-briefed target, the bombing in Vietnam was directed by FACs. Also unlike World War II, serious efforts were made to avoid hitting the civilian populace, which also called for FAC intervention.[33][34]
Reinvention of forward air control
In 1961, when
The first manning requirement for FACs, levied in 1962, amounted to 32 slots in Vietnam. Even as the slots slowly filled, the requirement proved inadequate.
Technological developments
There was a great deal of technical innovation in forward air control operations during the course of the Vietnam War. The United States came up with a number of ways to make its forward air control system more effective. As early as 1962,
By early 1966, a rising level of communist anti-aircraft fire against propeller-driven FAC aircraft necessitated the use of jet aircraft for FACs in high-risk areas in North Vietnam. The Fast FAC mission would supplement the FAC mission in Southeast Asia until war's end.[51]
In July 1966, night FAC operations began against the Ho Chi Minh Trail;
On 1 November 1968, President
In early 1970, in an attempt to improve bombing accuracy, the USAF began using laser guided ordnance.[61][62]
Results
By May 1971, U.S. Air Force intelligence concluded that air strikes had wiped out all the North Vietnamese trucks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This was a demonstrably untrue conclusion, as trucks still traversed the Trail until the communist takeover in 1975.[63][64] After war's end, the U.S. Air Force ended the forward air control mission, just as they had following World War II and Korea.[14][65][66]
Indo-Pakistani War
Major Atma Singh, of the Indian Army, flying a HAL Krishak, played a crucial part in a close air support defense against steep odds. The Pakistani loss of armor in December 1971 was one of the most severe since the great armored clashes of World War II. Major Singh won the Maha Vir Chakra for his performance under heavy ground fire.[67][68]
Portuguese Overseas War
During the Portuguese Overseas War, the Portuguese Air Force used mainly Dornier Do 27 and OGMA/Auster D.5 light aircraft in the forward air control role, in the several theatres of operation: Angola, Portuguese Guinea and Mozambique.[citation needed]
Rhodesia
During the Rhodesian Bush War the Rhodesian Air Force mounted Airborne FACs in Aermacchi AL60 B Trojans and Lynx aircraft.[69][70][71]
South Africa
South Africa deployed both Airborne FACs (in
Present day doctrines
NATO
For NATO forces the qualifications and experience required to be a FAC are set out in a
United Kingdom armed forces
FACs in the United Kingdom are trained at the
United States Marine Corps
When deployed on operations each USMC infantry company is allocated a FAC or
Afghanistan National Army
The
See also
- Air naval gunfire liaison company
- Artillery observer
- Fire Support Team
- Forward Air Control Development Unit RAAF
- Joint terminal attack controller
- Tactical Air Control Party
- United States Air Force Combat Control Team
Notes
- ^ "Joint Air Operations Interim Joint warfare Publication 3-30" (PDF). MoD. pp. 4–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2011.
CAS in defined as air action against targets that are in close proximity to friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with the fire and movement of these forces
- ^ "Tactical air control: the job explained". The Daily Telegraph. London. 24 August 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
The primary role of the forward air controller is to direct combat strike aircraft onto enemy targets in support of ground troops.
- ^ Hallion, pp. 20 - 21, 38 - 40.
- ^ Chant, p. 86.
- ^ Hallion, p. 21.
- ^ Hallion, pp. 70 - 74.
- ^ Churchill, p. 2.
- ^ Lester, p. 7.
- ^ Hallion, pp. 69 - 70.
- ^ Shlight, pp. 29, 32.
- ^ Churchill, pp. 1 - 2.
- ^ Hallion, pp. 149 - 150.
- ^ Churchill, p. 5.
- ^ a b c d Gooderson, p. 26.
- ^ Post, Carl A. (2006). "Forward air control: a Royal Australian Air Force innovation". Air Power History. [dead link]
- ^ a b "JFACTSU Home". RAF Leeming. Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- ^ Cossey, page not given.
- ^ "Supporting Forces Pioneering Utilities". [dead link][citation needed]
- ^ "British-Yemeni Society: Mapping the coast of Mahra". Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2009., Colin Richardson, Mapping the coast of Mahra, The British-Yemeni Society, The British-Yemeni Society, 2005. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "1946 to". MoD. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
- ^ "8 Squadron History". Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
- ^ Futrell, pp. 98 - 102, 425 - 426.
- ^ Schlight, p. 122.
- ^ Futrell, pp. 148 - 152, 371 - 372.
- ^ Futrell, pp. 332 - 333.
- ^ Futrell, pp. 4, 232, 258, 461 - 462, 517, 538 - 539, 561.
- ^ Futrell, p. 692.
- ^ Futrell, pp. 168 - 175.
- ^ Schlight, pp. 71 - 105.
- ^ Churchill, pp. 6 - 9.
- ^ Schlight, pp. 174 -177.
- ^ Lester, pp. 74 - 77.
- ^ Dunnigan, Nofi, pp. 106 - 107.
- ^ CIA World Factbook [1] Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ Rowley (1972), pp. 37 - 50, 62, 64, 66, 72 - 84.
- ^ Churchill, pp. 15 - 16, 24.
- ^ Walton, p. 31.
- ^ Rowley (1972), pp. 25 - 26.
- ^ Rowley (1972), p. 30.
- ^ Walton, p. 36.
- ^ Churchill, p. 36.
- ^ Rowley (1975), p. 10.
- ^ Hooper, p. 2.
- ^ Rowley (1972), pp. 45 - 46.
- ^ Walton, pp. 44 - 47.
- ^ Rowley (1972), pp. 21 - 27.
- ^ Walton, pp. 27 - 28.
- ^ Churchill, p. 12.
- ^ Anthony, p. 6.
- ^ Project CHECO ABCCC Report, pp. 2, 11. [2] Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ Churchill, pp. 134 - 135.
- ^ Anthony, p. 100.
- ^ Anthony, pp. 115 - 118.
- ^ Churchill, pp. 15 - 16, 70.
- ^ Anthony, pp. 134 - 139.
- ^ Churchill, pp. 80 - 83.
- ^ Nalty, pp. 54 - 56.
- ^ Nalty, pp. 6, 98 - 99.
- ^ Anthony, Sexton, p. 271, 298, 301.
- ^ Robbins, entirety.
- ^ Anthony, pp. 147 - 148.
- ^ Nalty, pp. 57 - 58, 236.
- ^ Zeybel, October 1995, "Night Spectre Haunts the Ho Chi Minh Trail", Vietnam, pp. 38 - 45.
- ^ Nalty, pp. 300 - 304.
- ^ Robbins, p. 411.
- ^ Lester, p. 194.
- ^ "Battle of Longewala by Wing Commander Kukke Suresh". Bharat-rakshak.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ "The Tribune - Windows - Featured story". Tribuneindia.com. 16 December 2000.
- ^ http://www.rhodesianforces.org/No4Sqn.htm Archived 12 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine , Anonymous, "Rhodesian Air Force No 4 Squadron", Rhodesian Air Force. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ Stringer, p. 125.
- ^ Anonymous, [3] Rhodesian Air Force gets Bell 205s. Flightglobal website, 30 December 1978, p. 2302.
- ^ Fly Africa forum"Instalment 9 - The Bosbok". Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ Norval, page unknown.
- ^ Edward Alexander. "The Cassanga Raid" (PDF). University of South Africa. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2008.
- ^ Operation MISTRAL: Post Mission Debrief. SA Army internal documentation
- ^ FIB 2013-2014. Operational Lessons Learnt. SA Army Internal documentation
- ^ "Joint Air Operations Interim Joint warfare Publication 3-30" (PDF). MoD. pp. 4–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2011.
- ^ a b Caroline Wyatt, 14 February 2009, "Training the RAF's eyes and ears", BBC NEWS [4] Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ Maj J Stallings (January 1968). "Close air Support and the Forward Observer" (PDF). Tactics Combined Arms Dep USAAMS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
- ^ "NATO STANAG 3797 MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS FOR FORWARD AIR CONTROLLERS & LASER OPERATORS IN SUPPORT OF FORWARD AIR CONTROLLERS". NATO. Archived from the original on 29 August 2009.
- ^ http://www.raf.mod.uk/idtraf/courses/4704.cfm Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Anonymous, "Forward Air Controllers (FAC) - 4704", INTERNATIONAL DEFENCE TRAINING, Royal Air Force, publication date unknown, unpaginated. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ^ ""Specialist Qualification"". Archived from the original on 10 June 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2009., Ministry of Defence
- ^ "The RAF Regiment - Experiences of a Forward Air Controller", raf.mod.uk, archived from the original on 16 June 2016, retrieved 28 April 2013
- ^ "Royal Air Force".
- ^ "Join as a Soldier", Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 4 October 2015. Archived 1 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ http://tribune-intl.com/asutralian-excels-in-afghan-army-advisory-role/ Editor. "Australian excels in Afghan Army advisory role". Tribune International (Australia), 18 October 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- ^ Anonymous. "Cooper Dale makes a difference in Afghanistan". South Coast Register 16 September 2014. [5] Retrieved 4 October 2015.
References
- Chant, Christopher (2002). Austro-Hungarian aces of World War 1 Christopher Chant. Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 978-1-84176-376-7.
- Churchill, Jan (1997). Hit My Smoke!: Forward Air Controllers in Southeast Asia. Sunflower University Press. ISBNs 0-89745-215-1, 978-0-89745-215-1.
- Cossey, Bob (2009). Upward and Onward: Life of Air Vice-Marshal John Howe CB, CBE, AFC. Pen and Sword. ISBNs 1-84415-820-9, 978-1-84415-820-1.
- Dorr, Robert F., and Warren Thompson (2003). Korean Air War. Robert F. Dorr, Warren Thompson. Zenith Imprint, 2003. ISBNs 0-7603-1511-6, 978-0-7603-1511-8.
- Dunnigan, James F. and Albert A. Nofi(2000). Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War: Military Information You're Not Supposed to Know. Macmillan. ISBNs 0-312-25282-X, 9780312252823.
- Futrell, Robert F. (1961).The United States Air Force in Korea 1950-1953. Air Force History and Museums Program year 2000 reprint of original Duel, Sloan and Pearce edition. ISBNs 0160488796, 978-0160488795.
- Gooderson, Ian (1998). Air Power at the Battlefront: Allied Close Air Support in Europe 1943-45 (Studies in Air Power). Routledge. ISBNs: 0714642118, 978-0714642116.
- Hallion, Richard (1989).Strike from the Sky: the History of Battlefield Air Attack, 1911-1945. Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBNs 0-87474-452-0, 978-0-87474-452-1.
- Hooper, Jim (2009). A Hundred Feet Over Hell: Flying With the Men of the 220th Recon Airplane Company Over I Corps and the DMZ, Vietnam 1968-1969. Jim Hooper. Zenith Imprint. ISBNs 0-7603-3633-4, 978-0-7603-3633-5.
- Lester, Gary Robert (1987). Mosquitoes to Wolves: The Evolution of the Airborne Forward Air Controller. Air University Press. ISBNs 1-58566-033-7, 978-1-58566-033-9.
- Nalty, Bernard C. (2005). War Against Trucks: Aerial Interdiction in Southern Laos 1968- 1972. Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force. ISBN 9781477550076.
- Norval, Morgan (1990). Death in the Desert: The Namibian Tragedy. Selous Foundation Press. ISBNs: 0944273033, 978-0944273036.
- Schlight, John (2003). Help from Above: Air Force Close Air Support of the Army 1946-1973. Air Force History and Museums Program. ISBNs 178039442X, 978-1780394428.
- Shepperd, Don (2002). Misty, First Person Stories of the F-100 Misty Fast FAC in the Vietnam War. 1st Books Library. ISBN 0-7596-5254-6.
- Stringer, Kevin Douglas and John Adams Wickham (2006). Military Organizations for Homeland Defense and Smaller-scale Contingencies: A Comparative Approach. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBNs 0275993086, 9780275993085.
External links
- Joint Publication 3-09.3 Joint Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Close Air Support (CAS)
- Michael Amrine (August 1951). "He Runs An Air Force For Gravel Crunchers". Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation. p. 92.