Tiger team to improve command, control

  • Published
  • By Elaine Belcher
  • Air Combat Command Public Affairs
LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFNS) --  Command and Control, one of the keystones to modern warfare, is getting a boost thanks to an Air Combat Command-led tiger team.

The team, comprising more than 20 senior leaders from across the Air Force, is responsible for stewardship of the Air Force theater air control system and brings different points of view to improve processes.

"TACS is fundamentally a C2 system of airborne and ground systems consisting of facilities, equipment and personnel," said Col. Francis Xavier, C2 Tiger Team lead and chief of the ACC intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance division. "Individual TACS weapon systems contain sensors, both active and passive; computers and workstations; voice and data communications; operators and maintainers to conduct air operations.

"Specific Air Force elements of the TACS include (an) air operations center, airborne warning and control system, joint surveillance and targeting attack radar system, control and reporting center, air support operations center, and tactical air control party," Colonel Xavier said. 

"Simply stated, the TACS is the joint force air component commander's command and control system, enabling the air component to plan and execute air operations in support of theater combatant commander requirements," he said.

"The chief of staff of the Air Force is committed to providing a modern and efficient command and control system that integrates seamlessly with other services' C2 efforts," said Maj. Gen. Mark Matthews, C2 Tiger Team chairman and director of requirements for ACC. "Our joint focus on integration will ensure our nation's dominance in command and control. The C2 Tiger Team is working hard to make that modernization a reality."

Currently, C2 face challenges with reduced manning, outdated equipment and constrained budget resources to draw from for recapitalization and modernization purposes. The tiger team is assessing areas most in need of improvement and is prioritizing what changes need to be made first.

The team was created in August 2008 to provide recommendations for Air Force C2 capabilities to deliver air, space and cyberspace efforts across operations and conflicts in a joint and combined environment. Members work to develop warfighting command and control capabilities such as the development of distribution operations, the restructure of the component-numbered Air Forces, implementation of a service-oriented architecture for warfighting systems and construction of a plan to sustain, modernize and recapitalize TACS.

"We want to transform C2 to make it more flexible, efficient and affordable while making sure we're ready to conduct operations in peacetime and combat in any environment," General Matthews said.

The team's initial recommendations were presented to senior Air Force leaders during the October 2008 Corona Conference and the Combat Air Forces/Mobility Air Forces Conference held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in November 2008.

The team will continue to meet and develop comprehensive plans of action and milestones for measuring progress toward improvement, and an updated list of recommendations will be presented at the February 2009 Corona South Conference.

"We hope that the collaborative work we do now will provide the vision, guidance and actual development to bring 21st century C2 capabilities to better support the joint commanders in a balanced way across the range of military operations.," said Maj. Gen Mike Worden, ACC vice commander.

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