Aerial Refueling And Rapid Global Mobility Vision

While it had been planned for some time, delaying the evacuation until the last moment caused the plan to fall apart quickly. Panicked South Vietnamese Army pilots began stealing Air America helicopters, picking up their families, and heading out to the flotilla at sea (Veith, 2012). The next serious issue became access to fuel. The fuel truck, which had been prepositioned for Air America’s use, disappeared. It was later discovered in a impound lot with no keys (Leary & Czajkowski, 2005). This meant that the only place to refuel was the naval ships parked in the South China Sea. After two or three shuttle flights from Saigon to the DAO compound, the pilots needed to fly out to sea for refuel. As the skies became clogged with US Navy, Marine, Air America, and South Vietnamese aircraft, the spaces to land became sparse. One small frigate with a tiny helipad was able to land 17 helicopters. They would push each helicopter over the side to make room for the next (Herman, 2013). As the day progressed, the navy started denying Air America pilot’s requests for fuel. Low on fuel, some pilots were forced to drop their passengers and ditch the aircraft in the ocean. Others shut down and helped the deck crew push their aircraft over the side (Leeker, 2015). Despite the absolute chaos, Air America managed to airlift

Under step 2 it discusses available assets and identify resources shortfalls. According to the Battle Staff book reviewing available assets and identify resources shortfalls is staffs determine if they have the assets needed to accomplish all task . (Page 2-13 Battle Staff)The CJTF would have noticed that the air assets were needed as well as the air planners. Once the air planners would have been involved in the planning process, they could have rescheduled the date of the air tankers switching. The result would have been less wounded causalities and certain terrorist leaders possibly killed.

The objective of this study is to examine how, with the ultimate goal of joint mission being operational effectiveness, that USSOCOM and USTRANSCOM can 'enable' the mission. Also discussed will be the capabilities and limitations of the available service forces, and considering that these forces were not optimized for the assigned mission, explain which additional forces would be requested and why. Also addressed will be the interdependencies among available and requested forces.

Turning a 767 into a KC-46A Tanker includes building each tanker with the latest and most advanced technology and capable of meeting or exceeding the Air Force's needs for transport of fuel, cargo, passengers, and patients. It includes advanced technology systems that meet the demanding mission requirements of the future, including a digital flight deck featuring Boeing 787 Dreamliner electronic displays and a flight control design philosophy that places aircrews in command rather than allowing computer software to limit combat maneuverability. The NewGen Tanker also features an advanced KC-10 boom with an expanded refueling envelope, increased fuel offload rate and flyby-wire control system] (Boeing, 2011, Media, p. 28).

In September 2011, the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee voted to cancel the Army and Marine Corps' Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) in their version of the fiscal year 2012 defense bill (Munoz, 2011). This measure could have completely shut down efforts to replace a thirty year-old fleet of Humvees, loyal but potentially outmoded tactical wheeled vehicles. The Army's Modernized Expanded Capacity Vehicle program has been a project set to replace the High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) family in the works for years. The project, however, continues to be stymied by budgetary constraints. Per-vehicle costs for the JLTV begin at $250,000 and are likely to climb, as Lockheed-Martin secured a preliminary contract for engineering, design, and development. The high cost of the JLTV does preclude it from completely replacing the HMMWV, and yet cost does not preclude the JLTV from supplementing the Army's fleet. A middle-ground solution is the best method of maximizing initial investments, while also banking on the robustness of national security.

1. Purpose: To Provide Information Regarding Present Status of Available Allied Air Power and Options Following Landings.

In order to gain a thorough understanding of Operation Eagle Claw, it is imperative to account for the historical context which governed the military at the time. Induced by public opinion and the economic state of the United States proceeding the Vietnam War, dramatic reductions in appropriations and personnel plagued the Department of Defense. Consequently, in the midst of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the United States military was labeled as a “hollow force;” the cuts made to federal defense spending compromised the capabilities of most components of the military including the Special Operation Force, which proved to be critical to the rescue mission. Considering the unsatisfactory state of readiness, the disastrous conclusion of Operation Eagle Claw was inevitable. However, despite its tactical shortcomings, the operation has left a reclusive legacy as a constructive failure that catalyzed improvements to future implementations of Joint Task Forces in special operations.

The combat controllers were in charge of making sure the air strip, which the MC-130s would land on, were clear and no one was on them. A passenger bus blocked the air strip, then a fuel tanker came down a road and was told to stop but did not. Then the Americans fired a light anti-tank weapon which then caught the tanker on fire causing a big mess for the Americans to clean up, but they decided to continue with the operation. After the MC-130s aircraft arrived the RH-53 helicopters, which was on route to the MC-130s, two helicopters were forced to abort due to flight instrument and mechanical problems. The third helicopter continued on with the mission. Then to make matters worse the RH-53 helicopters were faced with a desert storm, which would later cause more problem, but the helicopters finally reached there dentition at Desert

Air Defense played several different and critical roles in the support of combat operations in Vietnam. The demand for air defense grew due to the existing threat of the Cold War as well as the new threat of the Soviet Union and China supplying light bombers as well as training the North Vietnamese. In response, the United States Army sent several different air defense weapon systems to Vietnam. These systems not only played a role in the protection of from the growing air threat, it also played a role in ground combat operations.

Aircrafts were very effective in protecting merchant ships; however, the problem was that Allied planes use earlier in the war did not have enough range to offer air cover or the convoys all the way across the Atlantic. The Mid-Atlantic Gap is recognized as a geographical term associated with an undefended area beyond the reach of land-based Costal Command antisubmarine aircrafts during the Battle of the Atlantic. Indeed this central area was known as the “Black Pit” as that was where many of the heaviest and largest convoy losses occurred.

Brigadier General “Billy” Mitchell, the chief of the United States Army Air Service, gave naval aviation a boost after conducting several tactics for bombing ships. One of his major beliefs was that air power would one day shadow over the importance of gunships. In 1921 General

This position paper will address if the F-35 JSF program is worth the current investment the United States has placed into it. First the pros of the program will be presented followed by the cons. Finally, the paper will discuss why the JSF program is not worth the investment.

Over the years, America has been involved in numerous conflicts. One of the most controversial has been the Vietnam War. Even though the United States Military failed in its efforts in the war against Vietnam, the military has learned valuable lessons about our forces during the conflict. Anti-Aircraft weapons were used during the Vietnam War, and their capabilities have increased over time to become what is now called Air Defense. Air Defense’s equipment, units, and personnel played a critical role especially during the ambush on Route 9 of the Vietnam War.

The United States of America, one of the most powerful nations in the world at the time, was completely unprepared for the war that it had joined in Vietnam. The terrain was unlike any we had ever fought in. From mountains to jungles to rice paddies, it was wet, hot, cold, and completely unforgiving. To say that the political situation was tenuous would be a drastic understatement. Not only could officials not make up their minds, neither could the general populace. The media had an influence in this war that was heretofore unseen. All of these factors were a great obstacle in and of themselves and then we put into play the greatest obstacle of all: the enemy. This was an enemy like we had never seen. The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Vietcong (VC) were fast, agile, adaptable, and extremely unpredictable. The VC hid among the common populace and fought like demons. The NVA were well supplied, well organized, and did not restrict themselves the way many large armies do. This forced us to have to rapidly adapt and develop new tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) in order to counter all of these obstacles. Due to these needs and the rapidly advancing technology and versatility of helicopters, the Air Cavalry was born. The Air Cav was composed of several types of airframes including transport aircraft, attack aircraft, and reconnaissance aircraft. The reconnaissance aircraft were also known as Aeroscouts and were known for their boldness, audacity,

The United States Air Force controls and operates numerous satellites for global positioning, missile warning, communication and meteorological purposes along with reconnaissance aircraft. Through a combination of satellite imagery and reconnaissance aircraft, identifying and collecting intelligence on guerilla military targets and movements would be the first objective in the conflict. Once targets are identified, bombing campaigns could commence from regional Air force bases in the Area of Operations (AO), softening up guerilla forces in advance of the next stage of the military engagement, the ground campaign. Air force tankers such as the HC-130, KC-135 and KC-10 would need to be deployed to offer in flight air refueling for the F-15, F-16, F-22 and A-10’s departing from regional Air force bases. The Air Force also