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

THE AIR FORCE’S NEW GROUND WAR 49cordingly, a draft Air Force instruction hascodified a fight-the-air-base concept, outlininga process by which Airmen gradually step uptheir participation in base-defense activities asthreats increase. 15 Each escalating phase ofmanning battle stations—coded green, yellow,orange, and red—has associated conditions ofreadiness attached (fig. 5). Assigning all Airmento a battle station, training them in theappropriate duties, and exercising the planrepeatedly will dramatically expand the collectivepower of the base-defense force.GREENYELLOWORANGERED• Security forces provide full-timesecurity operations• All Airmen contribute as sensors• Security forces and select Airmenprovide full-time security operationsbased on the threat and theinstallation commander’s intent• Tactical warning issued to prepare forbattle stations• All Airmen contribute as sensors andensure readiness• Security forces and select Airmenprovide full-time security• All Airmen armed for self-defense• Battle stations prepared• Security forces serve as the installation’squick-reaction force• All Airmen take shelter, defend their battlestation, or are designated mission criticalby the installation commander’s decision• Forces quickly neutralize the enemy tocontinue the missionFigure 5. Proposed Air Force battle stations.(Adapted from Air Force Instruction 10-246, “InstallationArming and Response,” draft [four-digitcoordination package], 17 January 2006, 2.)Increasing the capability for base defenserequires including ground-combat tasks in thebasic skill sets of all Airmen. 16 For example,although Airmen currently receive instructionin firing a weapon, they do not learn how andwhen to employ that weapon; neither do theylearn combat skills common in the otherarmed forces. Identifying the requirement forthese skills in Iraqi Freedom / Enduring Freedom,CENTAF established the basis for expeditionarycombat training for all Airmen witha theaterwide program called Combat RightStart. Developed as a short-term solution tothe need for ground-combat skills, the programbecame a requirement (19 hours oftraining) for all Airmen in the CENTAF theaterbefore they deploy to a designated combatzone like Iraq. Although an Air Force ExpeditionaryAirmen Integrated Process Team isbuilding a road map to fulfill these requirementsover the long term, Airmen must sustainthese combat skills by undergoing periodicancillary training, and the fight-the-baseconcept outlined above must become part ofan installation’s defense plans. Lastly, theforce must regularly rehearse going to battlestations in order to assure proficiency whencalled into action.Posturing the ForceAlong with better doctrine, robust C4ISR,FPI, and ground-combat training for all Airmen,security operations in the BSZ will requiremore effective use of security-forces capabilitiesthan do traditional flight-line orperimeter-security missions. Whereas a notionalexpeditionary base in the current IraqiFreedom threat environment might call for200 to 300 security forces to protect its flightline and perimeter, that same base duringexecution of robust BSZ operations will needcloser to 1,200 such forces. In order to supportthis new responsibility, the Air Force’s securityforces are undergoing a complete transformationdesigned to shift tactical doctrine aswell as tactics, techniques, and procedures froma Cold War focus on an industrial-securitymodel to an expeditionary war-fighting focuson offensive and defensive operations in theBSZ. Rather than follow the historical practiceof training, equipping, and manning like apolice force with some combat skills, the transformedsecurity forces will train and organizeas a competent war-fighting capability insteadof an installation police force.The Cold War force structure of our currentsecurity forces (designed to support