MAGAZINE
FALL 2021
LANDCOM JOINT FIRES
PERSONNEL TRAINED DURING EXERCISE RAMSTEIN AMBITION 21
It is no longer a matter of the soldier making his plan for battle on the ground and then turning to see how the air can help him . Land and air operations must be deliberately planned to get the best out of each other .
INTRODUCTION These words from the senior commander of the United Kingdoms Royal Air Force , Sir John Cotesworth Slessor , in 1936 still resonate with contemporary operations . As in the past , it is still imperative that air and land forces deliberately coordinate action to achieve a desired effect .
FROM AFGHANISTAN TO THE CONTEMPORARY OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
From 2001 , Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan saw a rapid and ongoing evolution in this relationship : air power was almost exclusively employed directly with the land component , often mitigating limited troop numbers of small American Special Operations Forces ( SOF ) teams and local rebels . The conflict began in a traditional way with air power employed to strike key Taliban targets in order to secure control of the air . During the subsequent land campaign , SOF targeted the Taliban with
By Italian Army Lieutenant Colonel Marco DAL COL , LANDCOM G3 , JFEB BSM
14 the support of offensive air ; the result was that Taliban forces were removed from key population centers across Afghanistan by the end of 2001 . The combined power and effect of the air and land components was clear evidence of the importance of having effective Air Land Integration .
But real world scenarios and the Alliances potential adversaries change and today NATO has to be prepared to face a peer adversary and operate in Multi-Domain Operations . This means Air supremacy cannot be guaranteed as was the case during the Counter-Insurgent Operation in Afghanistan . Fighting against a peer adversary would mean different air assets allocation with priority to Offensive and Defensive Counter Air operations ( OCA / DCA ), competing against potentially hundreds of Air Support Requests from land forces to Joint Force Air Component ( JFAC ) that require de-confliction and prioritization .
THE GROUND LIAISON ELEMENT This is the role of the Ground Liaison Element ( GLE ). GLE is COM LCC ' s direct representative in JFAC HQ . It is responsible for explaining his intent and providing cross-functional area advice , thus ensuring LCC ' s requirements are given the right emphasis throughout the Air / Land operation . The GLE must have comprehensive , up to date situational awareness of the land scheme of maneuver to convey to JFAC HQ . It ensures that LCC targeting priorities are properly translated within Air targeting execution ; it provides input of the Battle Space Management to synchronize with the Air Space Management ; it processes the Air Support Requests ( ASRs ) with the right priority and ensures land maneuver is properly understood .