DTIC ADA477621: Combat Pair: The Evolution of Air Force-Navy Integration in Strike Warfare

0.69 MB·English

by  Defense Technical Information Center

THE ARTS This PDF document was made available
CHILD POLICY from www.rand.org as a public service of
CIVIL JUSTICE
the RAND Corporation.
EDUCATION
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT Jump down to document6
HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit
NATIONAL SECURITY
research organization providing
POPULATION AND AGING
objective analysis and effective
PUBLIC SAFETY
solutions that address the challenges
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SUBSTANCE ABUSE facing the public and private sectors
TERRORISM AND
around the world.
HOMELAND SECURITY
TRANSPORTATION AND
INFRASTRUCTURE Support RAND
WORKFORCE AND WORKPLACE
Purchase this document
Browse Books & Publications
Make a charitable contribution
For More Information
Visit RAND at www.rand.org
Explore RAND Project AIR FORCE
View document details
Limited Electronic Distribution Rights
This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law as indicated
in a notice appearing later in this work. This electronic representation of RAND
intellectual property is provided for non-commercial use only. Unauthorized
posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are
protected under copyright law. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce,
or reuse in another form, any of our research documents for commercial use. For
information on reprint and linking permissions, please see RAND Permissions.
Report Documentation Page Form Approved
OMB No. 0704-0188
Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information,
including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington
VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it

does not display a currently valid OMB control number.
1. REPORT DATE 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED
2007 final 00-00-2007 to 00-00-2007
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
Combat pair the evolution of Air Force-Navy integration in strike
5b. GRANT NUMBER
warfare
5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER
6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER
Benjamin Lambeth
5e. TASK NUMBER
5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT
RAND Corporation,1776 Main Street,Santa Monica,CA,90401-3208 NUMBER
RAND/MG-655-AF
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S)
Captain James Malcom, HQ USAF/A8XP, Room 4D1083, 1070 Air
11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT
Force Pentagon, Washington, DC, 20330-1070 NUMBER(S)
12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Approved for public release; distribution unlimited
13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
Online access http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG655/
14. ABSTRACT
This report documents the exceptional cross-service harmony that the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy have
steadily developed in their conduct of integrated strike operations since the first Persian Gulf War in 1991.
That close harmony contrasts sharply with the situation that prevailed throughout most of the Cold War,
when the two services maintained separate and unique operating mindsets and lacked any significant
interoperability features. The most influential factor accounting for this gradual trend toward integration
was the nation’s ten-year experience with Operations Northern and Southern Watch, in which both Air
Force land-based fighters and Navy carrier-based fighters jointly enforced the United Nations-imposed
no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq that were first put into effect after the conclusion of
Operation Desert Storm. That steady-state aerial policing function proved to be a real-world operations
laboratory for the two services, and it ended up being the main crucible in which their eventual merger of
operational practices was forged. The results were finally showcased by the all but seamless Air Force and
Navy performance in their joint conduct of integrated aerial strike operations in the largely air-centric war
in Afghanistan in late 2001 and early 2002. They were further dramatized by the similarly near-seamless
air-warfare performance of the two services during the three-week major combat phase of Operation Iraqi
Freedom that ensued a year later. These real-world experiences suggest that the U.S. Air Force and U.S.
naval aviation should now consider each other natural allies in the roles and resources arena, since they did
not compete but rather mutually supported and reinforced one another in the achievement of joint
strike-warfare goals.
15. SUBJECT TERMS
16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF
OF ABSTRACT OF PAGES RESPONSIBLE PERSON
a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE Same as 127
unclassified unclassified unclassified Report (SAR)
Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98)
Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18
This product is part of the RAND Corporation monograph series.
RAND monographs present major research findings that address the
challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND mono-
graphs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for
research quality and objectivity.
Combat
Pair
THE EVOLUTION OF
AIR FORCE–NAVY INTEGRATION
IN STRIKE WARFARE
Benjamin S. Lambeth
Prepared for the United States Air Force
Approved for public release; distribution unlimited
The research described in this report was sponsored by the United States
Air Force under Contract FA7014-06-C-0001. Further information may
be obtained from the Strategic Planning Division, Directorate of Plans,
Hq USAF.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lambeth, Benjamin S.
Combat pair : the evolution of Air Force-Navy integration in strike warfare /
Benjamin S. Lambeth.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8330-4209-5 (pbk.)
1. Air warfare—United States—History. 2. Unified operations (Military science)
3. United States. Air Force. 4. United States. Navy—Aviation. 5. United States.
Marine Corps—Aviation. I. Title.
UG633.L258 2007
358.4'24—dc22
2007044048
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing
objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges
facing the public and private sectors around the world. RAND’s
publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients
and sponsors.
R
® is a registered trademark.
Cover design by Peter Soriano
© Copyright 2007 RAND Corporation
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any
form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying,
recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in
writing from RAND.
Published 2007 by the RAND Corporation
1776 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138
1200 South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA 22202-5050
4570 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2665
RAND URL: http://www.rand.org
To order RAND documents or to obtain additional information, contact
Distribution Services: Telephone: [phone];
Fax: [phone]; Email: [email protected]
Preface
This report was prepared as a contribution to a larger RAND-initiated
study for the U.S. Air Force aimed at exploring new concepts for bring-
ing land-based air power together with both naval aviation and surface
and subsurface naval forces to enhance the nation’s ability to negate or,
if need be, defeat evolving threats in both major combat operations and
irregular warfare. The report describes the evolution of Air Force and
Navy integration in aerial strike warfare from the time of the Vietnam
War, when any such integration was virtually nonexistent, to the con-
temporary era when Air Force and Navy air combat operations have
moved ever closer to a point where they can be said to provide both a
mature capability for near-seamless joint-force employment and a role
model for other possible types of closer Air Force and Navy force inte-
gration in areas where the air and maritime operating domains inter-
sect. It was sponsored by Major General R. Michael Worden, USAF,
then-Director for Operational Plans and Joint Matters in the Office of
the Deputy Chief of Staff for Air, Space and Information Operations,
Plans, and Requirements (AF/A5X), Headquarters, United States Air
Force. The research reported here was conducted within the Strategy
and Doctrine Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE as a part of a
fiscal year 2006 study titled “Exploring New Concepts for Joint Air-
Naval Operations.”
iii
iv Combat Pair: The Evolution of Air Force–Navy Integration in Strike Warfare
RAND Project AIR FORCE
RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF), a division of the RAND Corpo-
ration, is the U.S. Air Force’s federally funded research and develop-
ment center for studies and analyses. PAF provides the Air Force with
independent analyses of policy alternatives affecting the development,
employment, combat readiness, and support of current and future aero-
space forces. Research is conducted in four programs: Aerospace Force
Development; Manpower, Personnel, and Training; Resource Manage-
ment; and Strategy and Doctrine.
Additional information about PAF is available on our Web site at
http://www.rand.org/paf/
Contents
Preface............................................................................. iii
Summary..........................................................................vii
Acknowledgments...............................................................xv
Abbreviations.................................................................... xix
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction....................................................................... 1
CHAPTER TWO
A Backdrop of Apartness........................................................ 5
CHAPTER THREE
The Watershed of Desert Storm...............................................13
CHAPTER FOUR
Post–Gulf War Navy Adjustments to New Demands.....................17
CHAPTER FIVE
First Steps Toward Integrated Strike-Warfare Training ................ 27
CHAPTER SIX
Continued Sources of Navy–Air Force Friction............................33
CHAPTER SEVEN
A Convergence of Integration over Afghanistan...........................45
v
vi Combat Pair: The Evolution of Air Force–Navy Integration in Strike Warfare
CHAPTER EIGHT
Further Convergence in Operation Iraqi Freedom........................55
CHAPTER NINE
Emergent Trends in Air Force–Navy Integration..........................65
CHAPTER TEN
A New Synergy of Land- and Sea-Based Strike Warfare.................81
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Future Challenges and Opportunities.......................................89
Bibliography..................................................................... 99