Access Strategies for the 82Nd Airborne Division

C O R P O R A T I O N Enabling the Global Response Force Access Strategies for the 82nd Airborne Division Christopher G. Pernin, Katharina Ley Best, Matthew E. Boyer, Jeremy M. Eckhause, John Gordon IV, Dan Madden, Katherine Pfrommer, Anthony D. Rosello, Michael Schwille, Michael Shurkin, Jonathan P. Wong For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR1161 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-0-8330-9247-2 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2016 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface The U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division (hereafter, the 82nd) plays a significant stra- tegic role as part of the Global Response Force (GRF), whose mandate is contained in a Joint Chiefs of Staff executive order that codifies generalized global missions for which the GRF needs to be prepared, forces that could be called upon as part of the GRF (from across the Joint community), and time lines for providing them. The time lines, among other factors, make the GRF an important national asset for rapid responses to unforeseen or, more specifically, unplanned operations. One part of ensuring the GRF works is having working concepts and a generalized and specific understanding of what global access means to the GRF’s mandate. RAND Arroyo Center was asked to consider access strategies from the standpoint of airlift constraints, intermediate staging bases (ISBs), and the various concepts for how they might access each of the five combatant commands (CCMDs) to help shed light on an important question: How is the GRF going to get where it needs to go? The findings from this document should be of interest to planners from the ser- vices, Joint Staff, and Geographic Combatant Commands. This research was spon- sored by the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and conducted within RAND Arroyo Center’s Force Development and Technology Program. RAND Arroyo Center, part of the RAND Corporation, is a federally funded research and development center spon- sored by the United States Army. The Project Unique Identification Code (PUIC) for the project that produced this document is HQD146648. iii Contents Preface ................................................................................................. iii Figures ................................................................................................. ix Tables .................................................................................................. xi Summary .............................................................................................xiii Acknowledgments ................................................................................ xxiii Abbreviations ....................................................................................... xxv CHAPTER ONE Background ............................................................................................ 1 A Little History ........................................................................................ 2 About This Study ...................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER TWO Scenarios and Force Packages ...................................................................... 7 Scenarios ................................................................................................ 7 Method for Generating Tailored Force Packages..................................................12 Range of Force Packages .............................................................................15 Conclusions ............................................................................................15 CHAPTER THREE Deployment Concepts ..............................................................................19 Aerial Refueling and Hopping Across the Globe ..................................................19 Direct Access ......................................................................................... 20 Theater Staging ....................................................................................... 23 Distances Used for Coverage ....................................................................... 27 Conclusions and Observations ..................................................................... 28 CHAPTER FOUR Lift and Airfield Considerations for Access Timing ..........................................29 Getting to a Staging Base ............................................................................29 Operations at the Staging Base ......................................................................32 v vi Enabling the Global Response Force: Access Strategies for the 82nd Airborne Division Accessing the Contingency Location .............................................................. 34 Optimal Cycling ..................................................................................... 36 Conclusions ........................................................................................... 38 CHAPTER FIVE Contingency Location and ISB Selection .......................................................41 Role of ISB .............................................................................................41 Determining Criteria/Methodology ............................................................... 42 Fuel Issues ..............................................................................................45 Additional Considerations .......................................................................... 46 ISB Typology ..........................................................................................47 Conclusions ............................................................................................49 CHAPTER SIX Toward a USAFRICOM Access Strategy ........................................................51 Description of USAFRICOM Contingency Locations ..........................................51 ISB Selection for USAFRICOM ....................................................................52 Staging for USAFRICOM .......................................................................... 54 Redundant Coverage in USAFRICOM ........................................................... 56 Direct Access to USAFRICOM .................................................................... 56 Toward an Access Strategy into USAFRICOM ...................................................59 CHAPTER SEVEN Toward a USCENTCOM Access Strategy ......................................................63 USCENTCOM Contingency Locations .......................................................... 64 ISB Selection for USCENTCOM ................................................................. 64 Staging Provides Very Good Coverage of USCENTCOM ......................................65 Direct Access to USCENTCOM Limited to Airland ............................................67 Toward an Access Strategy into USCENTCOM ................................................ 68 CHAPTER EIGHT Toward a USPACOM Access Strategy ...........................................................73 Description of Contingency Locations .............................................................73 ISB Selection for USPACOM .......................................................................75 Staging Provides Good Access to USPACOM ....................................................76 “Direct Access” Provides Almost No Coverage in USPACOM .................................78 Toward an Access Strategy into USPACOM ......................................................79 CHAPTER NINE Toward a USSOUTHCOM Access Strategy ....................................................83 Description of USSOUTHCOM Contingency Locations ......................................83 ISB Selection for USSOUTHCOM ................................................................83 Contents vii Staging Provides Good Access to USSOUTHCOM If Austere Bases Are Included .........85 Direct Access to USSOUTHCOM Provides Good Coverage .................................. 86 Toward an Access Strategy into USSOUTHCOM ..............................................89 CHAPTER TEN Toward a USEUCOM Access Strategy ...........................................................93 Description of USEUCOM Contingency Locations .............................................93 ISB Selection for USEUCOM .......................................................................93

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