Marine Air-Ground Team: Still Not Adequately Training for the Urban Fight/The Marine Air-Ground Team: Still Not Adequately Trained for the Urban Fight

摘要

Long before General Krulak introduced the concept of the 'three block war' in 1997, the Marine Corps has seen the urban battlefield on the horizon. Since the end of the Second World War, both the number of urban areas and the total number of urban dwellers has continued to increase. Dynamics among the varying cultures in these urban areas have proven to be one of the most destabilizing forces in the world today. From the European front in World War II; to the battle for Hue City, Vietnam; to Operation Restore Hope in Mogadishu, Somalia; to the battle for Fallujah, Iraq; the United States Marine Corps has found itself immersed in the urban fight. Yet despite the ever increasing number of urban conflicts, the United States Marine Corps is failing to provide its aviators and forward air controllers the training and facilities necessary to develop and execute efficient urban close air support tactics, techniques, and procedures. The urban battlefield is full of countless challenges and threats. The Marine air-ground task force (MAGTF) has continued to subdue these threats. Although the Marine Corps has a tradition of adapting to overcome the evolving challenges of urban conflict, it has failed to properly prepare its air-ground team to address those challenges more efficiently. The Marine Corps must have a greater focus on training its air- ground team for the urban fight, as well as provide its aviators and forward air controllers adequate, readily accessible live-fire training facilities.