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

62 AIR & SPACE POWER JOURNAL FALL 2006and corps staffs. Install a soldier as chief ofstrategy or chief of plans in each AOC, andinstall an airman in a similar position in eachcorps. The devil will be in the details: the servicesmust select officers well versed in groundand air schemes of maneuver, and both theArmy and Air Force personnel communitiesmust see to it that officers who serve in theseliaison roles maintain viable career paths(joint service should expand rather than contractleadership opportunities for aircrewmembers and fire supporters alike). Such abold move would be worth the personnel turbulence.By investing real authority in sisterservicepersonnel, senior ground and air commanderscan focus every plan on the jointteam’s strengths. Most importantly, the presenceof effective joint leadership at the componentlevel guarantees that every game startswith all the stars in the lineup.At the same time, a focus on junior officerscould help the Air Force develop its futurestars. At the outbrief for Joint Urban Warrior’06, a multicommand urban-warfare experiment,Maj Gen Mike Worden, USAF, askedparticipants how to most effectively integrateairpower at battalion level. Can we improveon the current situation wherein senior JTACsserve as enlisted battalion ALOs? EBALOslearn planning and liaison skills at seven-levelschool but never have the opportunity to immersethemselves in fighter, bomber, attack,and reconnaissance tactics that young aircrewmembers have. We could best infuse significantairmanship in battalion-level planning byresurrecting the BALO program, whereinA-10 pilots attached themselves to maneuverunits during their first or second flying tours.In a resource-unconstrained world, opening aBALO program to the majority of airframesand crew positions would expose battalioncommanders and staffs to a wide range of airpowercapabilities; in turn, it would expose awide cross section of aviators to ground schemesof maneuver—albeit at significant cost.Current funding and manpower limitations,however, make significant changes inbattalion-level integration unlikely. To improvetactical-level air-ground integration, theAir Force must look one level higher, highlightthe role of the brigade ALO, and placetop performers in that role. In the current environment,brigade ALOs—usually junior captains—getanywhere from two to nine monthsof training and then deploy to Iraq or Afghanistanas the senior Air Force representative toa colonel who commands 5,000 soldiers. TheALO’s ability to advocate makes or breaks airpower’scontribution in a large battlespace—historically, though, Airmen have shunnedbrigade ALO duty. 12 If the Air Force wants effectiveintegration at the grassroots level, itshould assign its up-and-comers as ALOs—precisely as the Marines do.The Marine Corps uses a ground-liaisontour as a stepping-stone to weapons school,ensuring that lower-level ground commandersget the best airpower advice available.According to Col Lawrence Roberts, USMC,commander of Joint Forces Command’s JointFires Integration and Interoperability Team,most of the graduates of the USMC Weaponsand Tactics Instructor Course do a tour of12–18 months as ground forward air controllers(GFAC)—equivalent to battalion or brigadeALOs—en route to that school: “To ensurethe ground community is well representedby aviators, and to ensure the training cadreof the squadron is well represented by aviatorswith ground experience, those consideredfor weapons school must achieve the GFACwicket first or a career-level school like ExpeditionaryWarfare School (EWS) . . . GFAC beingthe preferred prerequisite, EWS a suitablealternative.” 13Although the Air Force may not be ready tohave its weapons-school selectees do a 12-to-18-month tour at an Army post en route toNellis, AFB, Nevada, it should at least assignsecond-assignment mission commanders oraircraft commanders to these critical billets.Doing so would instantly improve the qualityof advice given to Army commanders and simultaneouslybuild a bench of well-roundedfuture Air Force commanders. Flying squadronsdeserve leaders with joint vision and experience—andBattlefield Airmen, divisioncommanders, and corps commanders demandcommanders of air support operations