Redefining Joint Fires Service Functions to Better Support Joint Force Operations.

摘要

The decisions made in the National Security Act of 1947, and the service functions assigned in Executive Order 9877, forced the Army and Air Force to become interdependent when planning and executing fires. The Air Force is the primary executor of operational and tactical aerial fires in support of the Army, while the Army is the primary executor of ground-based air and missile defense fires in support of Air Force-led theater air missile defense operations. This thesis is a fundamental examination of the Army-Air Force service functions involved in planning and executing fires. The service functions assigned in 1947 were based largely on the domains in which the services operated. These functions remain largely unchanged today. In the offensive fires arena, the Air Force has provided outstanding operational fire support to the joint force and the Army since 1947. However, service disagreements and shortcomings at the tactical level have occurred. In the defensive fires arena, the Air Force's ability to establish air superiority has moved the Army's contribution to primarily missile defense, and has thrust the Army into the operational-level air superiority domain led and orchestrated by the Air Force. This research shows that service worldviews have shaped the way each service approaches both offensive and defensive fires, and finds there is a mismatch in the assignment of service functions and the stated visions and core competencies of the two services. Based on this research, the author recommends numerous changes to the fires-related service functions, and subsequent force structures, to better align each service with its stated visions and core competencies to provide more effective fires in support of joint force operations.