First In! Expeditionary Airbase Seizure and Operations
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FIRST IN! EXPEDITIONARY AIRBASE SEIZURE AND OPERATIONS POWER PROJECTION THROUGH MOBILITY WARRIORS BY J. WILLIAM DEMARCO A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF ADVANCED AIR AND SPACE STUDIES FOR COMPLETION OF GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED AIR AND SPACE STUDIES AIR UNIVERSITY MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, ALABAMA JUNE 2004 APPROVAL The undersigned certify that this thesis meets masters-level standards of research, argumentation, and expression. ____________________________________ DAVID METS (Date) ____________________________________ TOM P. EHRHARD (Date) ii Disclaimer The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author. They do not reflect the official position of the US Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force, or Air University. iii Contents Page DISCLAIMER .................................................................................................................. III ILLUSTRATIONS .............................................................................................................V ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..............................................................................................VIII ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................... IX INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 THE GERMAN WAY: THE LUFTWAFFE IN NORTHERN EUROPE........................24 THE SOVIET WAY: THE RED AIR FORCE IN AFGHANISTAN..............................38 THE AMERICAN WAY: THE USAF IN IRAQ 2003.....................................................57 THE WARRIOR MINDSET IN A NEW CAREER FIELD.............................................81 THE FUTURE: COMBAT STRUCTURING.................................................................106 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................130 APPENDIX......................................................................................................................137 iv Illustrations Figure 1 DOCTRINAL TRIANGLE ...........................................................................3 2 JOINT VISION 2020.....................................................................................5 3 THE ANTI-ACCESS DILEMMA.................................................................14 4 BUILDING BLOCKS OF AIR BASE OPENING........................................17 5 THE GERMAN INVASION OF NORWAY 1940.......................................21 6 THE SOVIET THRUST INTO AFGHANISTAN........................................35 7 MULTIPLE DISTRIBUTED NETWORKED LODGMENTS.....................46 8 IRAQI AIRFIELDS ......................................................................................47 9 AIRBASE OPENING TIMELINE................................................................61 10 THE MELDING OF CAREER FIELDS.......................................................70 11 EMTF/CRW ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE......................................79 12 CRG STRUCTURE.......................................................................................81 13 CRGS AND THE ARC OF INSTABILITY .................................................85 14 CRG BADGES AND TABS .........................................................................91 v ABOUT THE AUTHOR Major J. William “Bill” DeMarco is a KC-10A instructor pilot. After graduation from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, he attended Undergraduate Pilot Training at Reese AFB, Texas, before beginning his first operational flying tour in the C-23A Sherpa at Zweibruken AB, Germany in early 1989. After a short tour in Europe and the closure of Zweibruken, he trained on the C-12F stationed at Norton AFB, California. After 18 months and another base closure he moved to March AFB, California with the C-12F and attained the rating of Flight Examiner. Following the C- 12, and the closure of March AFB, he transferred to the C-141B at Charleston AFB, South Carolina. While there, he upgraded to instructor and held qualifications in Special Operations Low Level (SOLLII), airdrop, boat drop, CDS delivery and Air Refueling. After Charleston he held positions at HQ AMC, Scott AFB IL, as the Chief of Contingency Airlift plans in Special Missions, TACC/XOOS, Deputy Chief of the Commander’s Action Group TACC/CCX, Chief Short Notice Air Refueling Requirements TACC/XOOKS and Assistant Executive Officer to the AMC Commander AMC/CCEA. After Scott AFB, he cross-trained to the KC-10A at Travis AFB, where he served as Chief Pilot, Assistant Director of Operations and Instructor Pilot for the 9th ARS. A senior pilot with more than 2500 hours of flying time, Major DeMarco completed Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, in June 2003 and remained there to attend the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies the following year. Upon graduation he was assigned to the 715 AMS, Travis AFB, California as the Director of Operations. He holds a Masters degree in Military History from the vi American Military University. He is married to the former Sundie Lark Walton, and God has blessed them with two children: Joseph Lukas and Harrison. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As in all things, I thank God for bringing me to this point and seeing me through this challenging year it took to create this thesis. I also truly appreciate the tireless efforts of my advisor, Mr. David Mets, PhD, whose patience, guidance, and wisdom taught me much. His diligence and high standards improved the quality of this work immeasurably. It is a true honor to be one of his last student theses as he retires after 53 years of service to our country, in uniform, as a civil servant, and as a professor at SAASS. My thanks extends to those who have served and are serving this country in uniform and been willing to leave loved ones in order to do their nation’s bidding. With particular regard to this study, I thank those who willingly took take time from their busy lives to graciously respond to the countless e-mails with which I bombarded them. Of particular note, I would like to thank Lt Col Joel Witzel for his countless hours of editing and his continual patience, and Major Ted Detwiler at HQ/AMC A3 for answering several emails a day and actively debating my ideas and concepts. Lastly, however, my greatest debt of thanks goes to my family for giving of their husband and father. My children (Lukas and Harley) described their father’s work as no longer being a pilot, but as “my Daddy writes the words,” (I hope to get back into flying someday). I thank God for my family, and I thank my family for their patience and love. viii Abstract A secure base of operations is essential to US participation in a conflict. Where a threat of force is necessary, it is imperative that the means to project that force and the place to subsequently operate from must be as credible as the force itself. The USAF is becoming more expeditionary in nature with every passing conflict and relies increasingly on such bases. In post-Cold War engagements, the variable nature and increased conflicts warrant a review of how the USAF is performing from austere airbases that have recently been seized. Indeed, the post 9/11 world has illustrated that the Air Force will find itself relying more frequently on lodgments that have little or no infrastructure and may find hostile fires occurring quite often. The Air Force and AMC must examine how they are postured to project force in an anti-access environment from recently seized bases. This study analyzes the historical perspectives of airbase seizure and follow-on airbase operations from World War II to today. It attempts to glean lessons for the new USAF Contingency Response Groups (CRG). I explore what the value of such a unit is to the United States armed forces and the potential effects it should offer in future conflicts. CRGs are an attempt to combine several legacy groups, from various Air Force commands, into standardized units with like capabilities. There is debate, however, over ix the capability these groups should possess and how they should operate. USAF leadership must examine future CRG requirements and train these personnel to meet USAF and sister service needs, enabling effective combat operations. The conclusion recommends how the USAF must organize, train, and equip the CRG to build a combat unit with the capability and culture to meet future anti-access environments. x Chapter 1 Introduction The nature of the Cold War threat required the United States…to emphasize deterrence of the enemy’s use of force, producing a grim strategy of mutual assured destruction. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, our security environment has undergone profound transformation. President Bush’s National Security Strategy The global strategic environment changed in a massive way when the Cold War ended. Gone is the moderating existence of two superpowers exerting suppressive influence on otherwise explosive regions. There was armed conflict during the Cold War, and it did occur with some regularity. Yet there was an implicit understanding between these superpower nations that nearly every encounter carried with it the potential to widen into a regional conflict or perhaps even nuclear war. The concept of a global confrontation and the possibility of an Armageddon scenario was something both nations knew would not benefit either country. However,