Command and Control of U.S. Air Force Combat Support in a High-End Fight

• Published in: Policy File 2021
• Main Authors: Snyder, Don, Lynch, Kristin F, Steiner, Colby Peyton, Drew, John G, Hura, Myron, Marlier, Miriam E, Milonopoulos, Theo
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: RAND Corporation

Faced with a renewed emphasis on a near-peer fight, and after decades of postWar military operations that barely threatened combat support, the United States is refocusing its attention on the stresses presented by a high-end fight, specifically moving the location of the ground support for air operations to a secure positional advantage against an adversary, referred to in this report as maneuver, and operations while under persistent multi-domain attack. In this report, the authors propose robust and resilient concepts for combat support command and control under this situation. The main challenges they address are the U.S. Air Force's ability to maneuver its ground posture in response to adversary threats and ability to maintain an acceptable level of combat support when communications capabilities are degraded or denied. The discussion and recommendations in this report encompass an enterprisewide scope (not catered to specific geographic combatant commands) but are sensitive to the unique circumstances of each theater. Within the range of combat support, the authors concentrate on issues of fueling and arming aircraft, and maintenance and civil engineering support. Solutions focus on the near-term time horizon for supporting the current force structure, not potential next-generation weapon systems or novel concepts of operations. This near-term focus does not preclude prudently rethinking maintenance and civil engineering requirements for future combat systems and supporting equipment where appropriate.