Fall 2006 - Air & Space Power Chronicle - Air Force Link

34 AIR & SPACE POWER JOURNAL FALL 2006ditional arenas: mission planning and missionexecution. The JMPS can be the template formission planning, and Link 16 a template fordigital connectivity of airborne assets. Whenthis level of digital connectivity is established,the JASMAD could provide the mechanismfor air commanders to deconflict during themission-planning and tasking phases acrossmultiple AOCs and ensure the highest possiblelevel of deconfliction during the executionphase as the fog of war requires adjustment tothose plans and taskings. qNotes1. Walter Judd, contractor, Advancing NationalStrategies and Enabling Results (ANSER), Air Force Commandand Control and Intelligence, Surveillance, andReconnaissance Center (AFC2ISRC/DOR), to the author,e-mail, 15 December 2004. For the purposes of thispaper, the acronym COCOM will refer to “combatantcommand” and “combatant command authority” interchangeably.2. Air Force Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures(AFTTP) (I) 3-2.17, TAGS: Multiservice Procedures for theTheater Air-Ground System, 1998.3. A1C Ross Tweten, Joint Expeditionary Force ExperimentJEFX ’06 Public Affairs, “JEFX Focuses on BattleOperations, Communications,” 25 April 2006, http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123019484, (accessed15 May 2006).4. United States Central Command Air Forces(CENTAF), Assessments and Analysis Division, “OperationIraqi Freedom—by the Numbers,” 2003, www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2003/uscentaf_oif_report_30apr2003.pdf (accessed 6 July 2006).5. Briefing, David A. Griffith, senior member, TechnicalStaff, C2 Engineering Branch, Air Force Research Laboratory,Information Directorate, Command and ControlEngineering (AFRL/IFSA), subject: Joint Airspace Managementand Deconfliction (JASMAD), 2004.6. Dr. Dennis K. Leedom, Next Generation Common OperatingPicture (Vienna, VA: Evidence Based Research,Inc., 2004), http://www.dodccrp.org/events/2003/8th_ICCRTS/Pres/track_4/3_1330leedom.pdf (accessed 20November 2004).7. Jim Bradshaw, contractor, TBMCS C4I Field Support,609th Combat Plans Squadron (609 CPS/DOX),interview by the author, 16 July 2004.8. Field Manual (FM) 6-24.8, Marine Corps WarfightingPublication (MCWP) 3-25C, Naval Warfare Publication(NWP) 6-02.5, AFTTP (I) 3-2.27, Introduction to TacticalDigital Information Link J and Quick Reference Guide, 2000,I-1. While this article focuses on the tactical digital informationlink as the potential cure-all for digital connectivitybetween aerial vehicles operating in the battlespace andthe COCOM AOC, the author recognizes that other applicationsmay serve the purpose as well, such as the jointvariable-message format or the Enhanced Position Locationand Reporting System. The point is that digital connectivityto the AOC must be stated as a requirement—regardlessof the platform to achieve it.9. Ibid., I-8.10. Ibid., I-10.11. Rebecca Christie, “DOD Experiments with Balloon-Borne Communication Tech,” Market Watch from Dow Jones,4 May 2006, http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&guid=%7BA0FEB28F-8153-4583-9346-DA23555D9BF9%7D&keyword=.12. Maj David Donahue, Air Force Space Battlelab,interview by the author, 17 April 2006.13. Maj Burl Kenner, tanker planner, Operations AlliedForce, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom, 609CPS/DOX, interview by the author, 15 July 2004.14. Kenneth B. Hawks, defensive operations engineer,C3I Associates, AFRL/IFSA, to the author, e-mail, 11 January2005.