Force modules give commanders 'playbook'

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott Elliott
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON --  The Air Force is developing a "playbook" that will allow combatant commanders to better manage their air assets, particularly in the area of opening and establishing forward bases.

According to Maj. Gen. Timothy A. Peppe, special assistant for air and space expeditionary forces at the Pentagon, the key to that playbook is matching the appropriate people and equipment into "force modules" designed to meet specific mission requirements, such as opening a bare base.

"What we are trying to do is develop force modules that will allow a combatant commander to assemble forces to open and build up an air base in an expeditious manner and in a logical sequence," he said.

The plan calls for five distinct modules to get an air base up and running, Peppe said. They include opening the base (the first airmen on the ground to assess and get the airfield operational), command and control (the air expeditionary wing leadership), establishing the base (expeditionary combat support), generating the mission (the base's flying mission) and operating the base (the "rounding out" of base support).

Peppe said three factors drove the development of the force-module concept. First, Air Force leaders needed to develop a vision of expeditionary power that would incorporate combat, expeditionary combat support, and command and control. Second was the need to improve the Air Force's ability to open and establish forward bases in a systematic way. Third was the belief that force modules would help quantify an ability to open, establish and operate bases in terms of people and equipment, and relay to senior leaders when the Air Force no longer has the people and equipment to support such taskings.

"Once we define all this ... we can go into our air and space expeditionary force library and assign forces to the modules and ensure proper expeditionary training is accomplished," Peppe said. "When all the forces are assigned, we can say, 'That's all the people we have who can do this (mission) and sustain it over a period of time.'"

Each force module was built to provide specific capability and to do the mission with the minimum amount of expeditionary combat support people and equipment. However, sustainment begins immediately and actual requirements can be increased if the on-scene commander requires additional support.

"While we planned all of the force modules with the minimum amount of personnel and equipment, each force module must still be able to perform the desired capabilities," he said.

While that concept flies in the face of a more-is-better philosophy, Peppe said a smaller "footprint" makes perfect sense to the warfighter.

"If you bring in 800 people instead of 700, then you have to bring more people to cook meals, more tents, more power generators, or whatever," he said. "Airlift is critical, because as soon as the combatant commander opens that air base, he or she may want to bring in the Army or Marines."

According to Peppe, the Air Force has a head start on the first module.

"The contingency response units located both in the European and the Pacific theaters have the capability to open and secure bases in their theaters," Peppe said. "Air Mobility Command has been opening air bases with their tanker airlift control elements for over 30 years. Air Combat Command has also established the capability to secure forward locations with the 820th Security Forces Group at Moody Air Force Base, Ga."

One of the benefits of the force-module process, Peppe said, is its versatility.

"The idea is that force modules should be clean enough and bare enough that they can support any of the chief of staff's seven task forces," he said. "Depending on what task force the component commander picks, you can just add capabilities as needed. An additional benefit to the force-module concept is that the service's senior leaders will know exactly how many tasks they can support".

Although Peppe acknowledged the force-module concept is not a new one (it was first examined as early as 1989), these modules create the basis for an air and space expeditionary task force and are on a fast track to completion.

"AMC will take the lead with the support from other major commands and start testing the force-module concept when (it) conducts a test for the global mobility task force concept," he said. "AMC (officials) would like to use Bright Star (the biennial multinational exercise held in Egypt) next summer as a capstone."

Ideally, the general said, all force module plans will be solidified so that by Nov. 1, the Air Force can start posturing the new UTCs for use in AEF Cycle 5 on Sept. 1, 2004.

"Our goal, obviously, is to mesh everyone's capabilities so we can provide combatant commanders with what they need," Peppe said. "If force modules improve crisis planning, they'll quantify our warfighting capabilities and enable us to manage our forces over the long haul in any type of contingency."