AF Doctrine, AEF and Joint Force Flashcards
The AF premier statement of our beliefs, the cornerstone upon which our service identity is based, and the source from which our doctrine flows.
AFDD 1, Air Force Basic Doctrine
What is the AF methodology for presenting forces to combatant commanders (CCDR)
The AEF
Three principles are the foundation upon which the AEF is structured and executed
Transparency, Predictability, and Equitability
This is a statement of officially sanctioned beliefs, warfighting principles, and terminology that describes and guides the proper use of air, space, and cyberspace power in military ops.
Air Force Doctrine
This facilitates the rapid standup of joint and service organizations during rapidly evolving situations
effective command relationships and command authorities
The arrangement of military actions in time, space, and purpose to produce maximum relative combat power at a decisive place and time
Synchronization
The arrangement of military forces and their actions to create a force that operates by engaging as a whole.
Integration
What is the Airman’s basic doctrine?
AFDD 1, it describes the “elemental properties” of air, space, and cyberspace power and provides the Airman’s perspective.
What is Operational Doctrine?
AFDD 2, describes more detailed organization of forces and applies the priciples of basic doctrine to military actions.
This describes the proper employment of specific U.S. AF assets, individually or in concert with other assets, to accomplish detailed objectives.
Tactical Doctrine
Tactical doctrine is codified as tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) in..
AF TTP 3-series manuals
The study of airpower..General Hap Arnold termed
Airmindedness
War and peace are decided, organized, planned, supplied, and commanded at the
Strategic level of war
Airpower can exploit the principles of mass and maneuver simultaneously. Airpower dominates the…
fourth dimention - time - and compresses events to produce physical and psychological shock
Airpower’s versatility allows it to be rapidly employed against
strategic, operational, and tactical objectives simultaneously
The aspects of warfare that are universlly true and relevant
Principles of war
Ensures concentration of effort for every objective under one responsible commander
Unity of command
Directing military operations toward a defined and attainable objective that contributes to strategic, operational, and tactical aims
Objective
Is to seize, retain, and exploit the initiative. Act rather than react. Dictates the time, place.
Offensive action
Concentrates the effects of combat power at the most advantageous place and time to achieve decisive results
Mass
Places the enemy in a position of disadvantage. Allows engagement anywhere, from any direction, at any time.
Maneuver
The judicious employment and distribution of forces. May require a commander to establish a balance in the application of airpower between attacking, defending
Economy of Force
Purpose is never to permit the enemy to acquire unexpected advantage.
Security
Leverages the security principle by attacking the enemy at a time, place, or in a manner for which they are not prepared.
Surprise
Calls for avoiding unnecessary complexity
Simplicity
Application of airpower is refined by several fundamental guiding truths know as
Tenets
The oldest tenet of airpower remains the keystone of success in modern warfare.
Contralized control and decentralized execution
Fundamental organizing principles for airpower,
Centralized control and decentralized execution.
It allows subordinates to exploit opportunities in rapidly changing, fluid situations
Decentralization
Allows airpower to exploit mass and maneuver simultaneously
Flexibiilty
Is the ability to employ airpower effectively at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels
Versatility
The essential guideline for air component commanders
Balance
Tenets of Air, Space, and Cyberspace Power
Centralized Control and Decentralized Execution, Flexiblity and Versatility, Synergistic Effects, Persistence, Concentration, Priority, and Balance
Together they do represent the means by which U.S. AF forces accomplish the missions assigned to JFCs by the President, SECDEF, and CCDRs.
Operational Functions
Is an offensive action specifically selected to achieve national strategic objectives. Seeks to weaken the adversary’s ability or will to engage in conflict
Strategic Attack
Through strategic attack, military commanders can directly affect adversary leadership perceptions (by isolation, deception, or exploitation), cut off fielded forces from their leaders and societies, and directly attack the adversary’s capacity to sustain military forces in the field.
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The Airmans Perspective:
Thinking about defeating the enemy as a system
Best describes the Airman’s overall vision for striking at the enemy
Strategic Attack
Consists of integrated offensive and defensive operations to attain and maintain a desired degree of air superiority
Counterair
Consists of operations to destroy, degrade, or disrupt enemy air and missile power as close to its sourse as possible. OCA is often the most effective and efficient method for achieving the appropriate degree of air superiority
Offensive counterair
Entails detection, identification, interception, and destruction of attacking enemy aircraft and missiles and normally takes place over friendly territory
Defensive counterair
Involves those kinetic (lethal) and nonkinetic (nonlethal) operations conducted to attain and maintain a desired degree of space superiority by protecting and defending friendly….; the main objectives are to allow friendly forces to exploit space capabilities, while negating the enemy’s ability to do the same.
Counterspace
These operations deny, degrade, disrupt, destroy, or deceive and adversary’s space capability
Offensive counterspace
These operations preserve space capabilities, withstand enemy attack, restore or recover space capabilities after an attack, and reconstitute space forces. Destruction of ground based GPS.
Defensive counterspace
Is defined as airpower operations against enemy land forces capabilities to create effects that achieve JFC objectives. Control the surface environment
Counterland
Counterland provides two discrete air operations for engaging enemy land forces
Air Interdiction and Close Air Support
This is a form of aerial maneuver that destroys…the enemy’s surface military potential before it can be used
Air Interdiction
Is normally the supported commander for air interdiction
JFACC (Joint Force Air Component Commander)
Is directed against enemy land force capabilities and associated infrastructure that contribute directly to or are maneuvering to reinforce the ground battle
air interdiction
Provides direct support to help friendly surface forces in close proximity with enemy forces carry out their assigned tasks
Close Air Support (CAS)
Can halt attacks; help create breakthroughs, cover withdrawals, guard flanks, and escort. Should be used at decisive points in a battle and should normally be massed to concentrate combat power and saturate defenses
Close air support (CAS)
these operations are conducted to attain and maintain a desired degree of maritime superiority by the destruction….neutralization of threats in the maritime environment.
Countersea
Is the integrated employment of the core capabilities of influence operations, electronic warefare, and network warefare ops. Influence the adversary’s “observe, orient, decide, act” loop while protecting our own.
Information Operations (IO)
Employ capabilities to affect behaviors, protect operations, communicate commander’s intent, and project accurate info to achieve desired effects. Counterpropaganda, psychological, military deception, operation security, counterintelligence, and public affairs
Influence Operations
The integrated planning, employment, and assessment of military capabilities to achieve desired effects across the electromagnetic spectrum. Is not limited to radio frequencies, also includes optical and infrared regions, electronic attack, protection, and warefare support.
Electronic Warfare Operations
The integrated planning and employment of military capabilities to achieve desired effects across the interconnected analog and digital portion of the operational environment. Include radio nets, satellite links, telemetry, network attack, network defense, and network warfare support.
Network Warfare Operations
The art of motivating and directing people and organizations into action to accomplish missions.
Command
The process and system by which commanders can plan and guide operations.
Control
Includes both the process by which the commander decides what action is to be taken and the systems that facilitate planning, execution, and monitoring of those actions.
Command and Control (C2)
Air Force forces conduct the __ function to meet strategic, operational, and tactical objectives.
Command and Control C2
Can achieve tactical through strategic effects. Provides rapid and flexible mobility options allows response to and operation in a wider variety of circumstances. Provides global reach capabilities. Encompass passenger and cargo movement, combat employment, evacuation, spec ops support.
Airlift
Airlift missions are executed using four delivery concepts
airland, airdrop, hub-and-spoke, and direct delivery
A variety of refueling rendezvous techniques can be planned to facilitate operations, including:
Point parallel, en route, anchor, radar, and receiver directed
Spacelift can be pursued from two approaches
Launch-on-demand and launch-on-schedule
Are operations conducted in hostile, denied, or politacally sensitive environments to achieve objectives
Special Operations
Are normally organized and employed in small formations capable of independent, supported and supported joint ops to enable timely responses
Air Force special operations forces (AFSOF)
Core tasks include countering proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, counterterrorism, direct action, psychological operations. Also responsible for synchronizing DoD efforts in the GWOT.
U.S. Special operations command (USSOCOM)
Provides specialized air mobility and precision fires to both special operations and conventional commanders.
Air Force Special Operations Forces AFSOF
Provide geographic CCDR’s the ability to assess, train, advice, and assist foreign forces
AFSOF combat aviation advisors
Overall objective is to provide awareness of the operational environment to commanders and combat forces to enable them to successfully plan, operate, and assess results across the range of military ops
Intelligence
Evaluates the adversary as a “system of systems”
Intelligence
The function of systematically observing air, space, surface…photographic or other means. Is a continuing process; designed to provide warning of enemy activities
Surveillance
Complements surveillance by obtaining specific info about activities & resources of enemy through visual observation.
Reconnaissance
Must operate together to enable commanders to preserve forces, achieve economies, and accomplish objectives; they are integral to gaining and maintaining info superiority
Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
The umbrella term for five mission essential tasks focused on recovering caputred, missing, or isolated personnel
Personnel recovery operations
Deploy with dedicated vertical-lift and fixed-wing aircraft….
US AF combat search and rescue forces (CSAR)
Provide accurate location and time of reference in support of strategic, operational, and tactical operations. Help air forces by enabling accurate redezvous for air refueling; synchronization of effort; and accurate weapons delievery, ingress and egress
Navigation and Positioning
Includes the actions taken to ready, sustain, and protect personnel, assets, and capabilities through all peacetime and wartime operations; “the science of planning and carrying out the movement, maintenance, and protection of forces as well as ensuring an effective combat support command and control process of those forces”
Combat Support
Includes maintenance & logistics, personnel, comm, financial management…legal services, and chaplaincy
Combat support
Provides the foundation to support AETF operations enabling the capabilities that distinguish airpower: speed, flexibility, and global perspective.
Combat Support
These factors are used to determine actual deployed rotation lengths
Overall level of requirements, the relative availability of capabilities within the overall force, and continuity for key deployed positions or functionally specific requirements.
The baseline AEF vulnerability period
Tempo band A 4 month rotation; facilitates readiness of forces to respond to rotational and operations plan (OPLAN) requirements
All AEF forces are vulnerable for ___ requirements
OPLAN
7 tempo bands; A is 4 month deploy to dwell ratio while B - E and M & N are 6 month blocks
M and N are for ARC forces
Is a process to align force apportionment, assignment, and allocation methodologies in support of the defense strategy and in support of joint force availability requirements
Global force management (GFM)
Is a potential capability focused on accomplishing a specific mission that the military service provides.
Unit type code (UTC)
The AF presents required capabilities to the JFC as an
Air Expeditionary task force (AETF)
Are capable of establishing and operating an airbase and will be established using the AF combat wing structure with an ops group, maint group, med and mission support group
Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW)
Normally the smallest AETF presented to a theater; not normally equipped to established and operate a base; normally a tenant
Air expeditionary group (AEG)
The basic war fighting organization and is the building block of the AETF.
Air expeditionary Squadron (AES)
The AEF schedule is a 24 month schedule encompassing two 12-month GFM cycles.
24 month schedule - two 12 month GFM cycles
Designated Air Force warfighting capabilities are grouped into force packages identified by
UTC
If requirements exceed forces available during AEF vulnerability period, the AEF is designed to surge. Surge methods include:
Reaching forward, reaching deeper, and rebanding capability area/mobilization of ARC forces
Surge operations will not be used to support exercises or rotational presence, unless specifically directed by
HAF/A3/5
An active component employment ratio of 1:2 is considered the maximum sustainable utilization rate while maintaining total AF units readiness category levels 1 and 2.
At level 1 the unit can take full wartime missions at level 2 is can undertake most of the wartime missions
Functional areas aligned in Band D experiencing demand that exceeds postured capabilities should consider involuntary recall of
Air Reserve Component Forces
AEF surge of no more than 12 months allows AEF to recover with minimal reconstitutution. Surges above this level may take reconstitution of over 1 year.
Reconstitution requirements are not determined until near the end of surge operations and will be guided by ongoing theater needs and the need to support emerging commitments
Provides Airman a degree of predictability in each GFM cycle
The AEF
If wing commanders or equivalent approve a second deployment with less than the dwell they will inform their respective…
Major command vice commander (MAJCOM CV) or in the case of FOA or DRU the first general officer or civilian equivalent
Competent joint war-fighters must be skilled startegic thinkers with a joint perspective, able to opitmize joint capabilities and
apply strategic and operational warfare.
Five values have special impact on the conduct of joint operations
Integrity, competency, physical courage, moral courage, and teamwork
This direction leads to unified action
National strategic direction
The result of effective unified action is unity of effort to achieve
national goals
The term “unified action” broadly refers to the synchronization, coordination, and integration of the activities of governmental and nongovernmental entities with military operations to achieve
Unity of Effort
Each military department, organized separately, operates under the authority, direction, and control of the
secretary of that military department
The Secretaries of the military departments, through their respective service chiefs, exercise authority over service forces no assigned to the CCDRs
i.e. forces in the training pipeline
Four Functional Commands
U.S. Transportation Command, U.S. Strategic Command, U.S. Joint Forces Command, U.S. Special Operations Command
Is the authority of a CCDR to perform those functions of command over assigned forces involving organizing and employing…cannot be delegated or transferred.
Combatant Command Authority (COCOM)
Is the command authority that may be exercised by commanders at any echelon at or below the level of CC and may be delegated within the command. Is in herent in COCOM.
Operational Control (OPCON)
Is the command authority over assigned or attached forces or commands, or military capability or forces made available for tasking, that is limited to the detailed direction and control of movements within the operational area. Is inherent in OPCON
Tactical Control (TACON)
The establishing authority
the common superior commander
The chain of command, from the President to the SECDEF to the secretaries of the military departments to the service chiefs, exercises…
Administrative Control Authority (ADCON)
Is direction or exercise of authority over subordinate or other organizations in respect to administration and support, including organization of service forces
Administrative Control (ADCON)
Is a service command authority, and flows through service, not joint channels.
Administrative Control (ADCON)
Joint forces are established at three levels
Unified commands, subordinate unified commands, and JTFs
A ________ is a command under a single commander, composed of forces from 2 or more military departments, & established by the POTUS
Unified Command
Is a command that has broad continuing missions and is established by the POTUS. None of these commands are currently designated.
Specific command
The commander of a U.S. AF service component at any joint level is by joint and US AF definition called a
commander, Air Force forces (COMAFFOR)
Is the single commander who conveys commander’s intent and is responsible for operating ans supporting all AF forces assigned or attached to that joint force.
COMAFFOR
The COMAFFOR commands forces through two separate chains of responsibilities
Operational and administrative
The sustainment activities are sometimes referred to as
beds, beans, and bullets
If air and space assets from more than one service are present within a joint force, the JFC normally will designate a
joint force air and space component commander (JFACC)
If working with allies in a coalition or alliance operations, the JFACC may be designated as the
Combined force air and space component commander (CFACC)
One individual will normally be dual-hatted as
COMAFFOR and JFACC/CFACC
The JFACC as with any component commander should not also be dual-hatted as the
JFC
The process by which the armed forces are brought to a state of readiness for war or other national emergency
Mobilization Planning
Encompasses the movement of forces and their sustainment resources; responsibility of the CCDR’s in close coordination with USTRANSCOM
Deployment Planning
prescribes how to apply military force to attain specified military objectives within an operational area; provides the foundation for, determines the scope of, and is limited by mobilization, deployment, and sustainment planning
Employment Planning
Is the provision of logistics and personnel services required to maintain and prolong operations until mission accomplishment
Sustainment planning
This concerns the movement of units, individuals, or supplies deployed in one area to another area, or to another location; also includes the return of forces and resources to their original location
Redeployment Planning
Includes the return of Reserve component units, individuals, and materiel stocks to their former status; primarily the responsibility of the military departments and services
Demobilization planning
Is a system of joint policies, procedures, and reporting structures supported by communications and computer systems
Joint Operations Planning and Execution system (JOPES)
All Joint conventional time-phased force deployment databases are developed by and reside in
Joint Operations Planning and Execution system (JOPES)
Is the AF’s war-planning system and provides and AF feed to JOPES; objective is to enable AF unique operation planning and execution processes; provides standard data files, formats, application programs, and management procedures used primarily for force planning, sourcing equipment and personnel requirements
Deliberate and Crisis Action Planning and Execution Segment (DCAPES)
Consists of 5 volumes and associated databases and is the AF’s supporting document to several joint documents; provides the Air Staff…with current policies, apportioned forces, and planning factors for conducting operations
War and Mobilization Plan (WMP) System
A critical element of unified action is effective integration of allied capabilities into a
campaign plan
Is a relationship that results from a formal agreement
An Alliance
Operations conducted with units from two or more allies are referred to as
Combined Operations
Is an ad hoc arrangement between two or more nations for common action; are formed by different nations with specific objectives, usually for a single occasion
A Coalition
The five tenets of multinational operations
respect, rapport, knowledge of partners, patience, and coordination
The basic structures for multinational operations fall into one of three types
Integrated, lead nation, or parallel command
Have representative members from the member nations in the command HQ
Integrated Command
Exists when all member nations place their forces under the control of one nation
A lead nation structure
No single force commander is designated
A parallel command structure
Advises and assists the POTUS in integrating all aspects of national security policy, including domestic, foreign; Is the principal means for coordinating, developing, and implementing national security policy
The National Security Council (NSC)
Provides a parallel forum for considering unique homeland security (HS) matters, especially terrorism. Responsible for advising and assisting the POTUS with respect to all aspects of homeland security
Homeland Security Council (HSC)
For domestic HS related interagency coordination that may require military participation in countering domestic terrorism the ____ has the lead
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Per the ____ the US refrains from employing Title 10, USC DoD forces to enfore the law except in cases of necessity
Posse Comitatus Act and DoD policy
When formed a _____ can increase the CCDR’s ability to collaborate with other USG civilian agencies and departments
Joint interagency coordination group (JIACG)