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

THE AIR FORCE’S NEW GROUND WAR 45BaseBoundaryAirBaseBSZUrbanAreaFigure 2. Notional base boundary. (Adapted from Air Force Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures 3-10.2,“Integrated Base Defense Command and Control,” draft [topline coordination copy], 1 April 2006, 8.)base-defense forces integrated under onecommander should conduct security operationswithin the zone. Normal BSZ operationsin the future will resemble offensive-style effortssuch as Desert Safeside. The base’s areaof interest, where the enemy can do planningand preparation for an attack against a givenbase, reaches beyond the BSZ to anticipate andcounter enemy threats (fig. 3). Base-defenseforces are not responsible for operations inthe area of interest, but they can shape the environmentby coordination with joint/coalitionforces and/or the host nation.The next challenge for Air Force doctrineentails determining which component commandsthe air base. In Iraqi Freedom and EnduringFreedom, we assigned base commandto the component with the preponderance offorces. Although doing so may appear appropriateon the surface, air bases have uniquerequirements—for example, countering thethreat of shoulder-fired SAMs. If the Armycommands an air base simply because it has alarge logistics operation (and thus a largenumber of troops) on base, the commandermay or may not place a high priority on thecritical issue of defeating the MANPADSthreat. The component with the most stringentsecurity requirements should serve asbase commander.Tactical Command and ControlProsecuting ground-combat operations inthe BSZ will require a robust tactical C2 infrastructurerun by the base-defense operationscenter (BDOC) (fig. 4). The C2 architecture