Command

CHAPTER SEVEN
THE AIR FORCE COMPONENT WITHIN THE JOINT FORCE
The greatest lesson of this war has been the extent to
which air, land, and sea operations can and must be
coordinated by joint planning and unified command. The
attainment of better coordination and balance than now exists
between services is an essential of national security.
— General Henry H. “Hap” Arnold
Modern warfare requires flexibility in execution to adapt to a wide variety of
scenarios; this drives a need to assemble the right mix of forces from the appropriate
Services to tailor the operation. This need to assemble the right forces drives a
corresponding need for proper organization, command and control mechanisms, and
appropriate command relationships. Current Service and joint doctrine provide much
useful guidance on organization; however, assembling a joint organization demands
careful, conscious thought. This chapter draws from doctrine and experience to provide
the basics of setting up and commanding a joint air component within a joint force.
JOINT FORCE ORGANIZATIONAL BASICS
When a crisis requires a military response, the geographic CCDR will usually
form a tailored JTF. If Air Force forces are attached to the JTF, they stand up as an
AETF within the JTF. The AETF commander, as the COMAFFOR, provides the single
Air Force face to the JTF commander. Other Services may also provide forces, and
normally stand up as separate Army, Navy, and Marine forces, each with their
respective commander (Commander, Army forces [COMARFOR]; Commander, Navy
forces [COMNAVFOR]; and Commander, Marine Corps forces [COMMARFOR]). This
JTF organization, along purely Service lines, is the most basic joint force organization.
See figure 7.1. Each separate Service component commander normally exercises
OPCON over assigned and attached forces, as delegated from the JFC.
In all cases, the JFC is ultimately responsible for delineating the command
relations of forces under his or her OPCON and empowering subordinate commanders
appropriately. Normally, a JFC receives OPCON of assigned or attached forces and
delegates that control (OPCON) to the appropriate Service component commanders.
Delegation of OPCON allows Service component commanders the necessary
authority to fully organize and employ their forces:
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