Posted on 09/18/2004 6:35:34 PM PDT by SuzyQ2
"Isolated, behind enemy lines or far out in front of advancing friendly armies, a combat controller might be tasked with coordinating an air strike on an enemy air-defense position. Equipped with special range-finding binoculars, a palm-top computer, a GPS (global positioning system) receiver, and a rifle, the airmen can clandestinely spot the target, direct an attacking pilot to it, and then leap on a motorcycle and race toward another target where he will repeat the process."
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Also on this occasion, we mourn the loss of the Army Air Service.
How many threads does this make?
If you are current or former USAF, or just a USAF groupie, freepmail me to be added to this list.
My Air Force rocks! SAC FOREVER!!!!!
my son Capt USAF ....... class of 2000 USAFA.... Hand Salute....
My service 68-70 SEA USAF
My father US Army Air Corp. Korea..
Thank you and your family for service to our country. My daughter, 2DLT USUHS (med school) Lifer.
Hi, SuzyQ2:
Great article. I'm surprised the author didn't mention the Ravens. Forward Air Controllers of Vietnam.
Happy Anniversary, General Curtis E. LeMay. Acolyte of WWII Precision Daylight Bombing. Initiator of the Berlin Airlift. Father of SAC.
"Peace Is Our Profession".
Jack.
Knuckle Buster, USAF. Active/Reserve: 1972 to Present.
USAF
1977 to 1982
Aim High!
Then there is the ETAC (or FAC for you old heads and ROMAD for even older heads) troop who goes to AGOS school in Fl and then spends thier time hanging with the ARMY (as in living on Army bases). Jumps in with and calls in TAC AIR to support ground operations.
From the AFA:
The CAS Controllers
The history of the other elite group of controllers dates to the Korean War when the Air Force sent fighter pilots to Army units to call in close air support for ground attacks. USAF deployed some enlisted airmen to operate the heavy communications gear needed by the officers. Only the officers were permitted to direct CAS air strikes. That practice continued through the Vietnam War.
By the 1980s, however, the Air Force could not afford to continue using pilots for these ground assignments, so it began to train enlisted men for the job. Today, USAF’s enlisted terminal attack controllers (ETACs) work directly with Army combat forces to manage their close air support.
The Air Force awards the ETAC specialty (which has no officer counterpart) only after an airman has served a long apprenticeship and taken a variety of courses, many of them with the Army. Becoming an ETAC is an extended process, said MSgt. Charles Heidal, who has been in the career field since the 1980s. The first step is to gain basic credentials as a tactical air command and control specialist.
First, there’s a 75-day technical school at Hurlburt. There, Heidal said, an airman receives training on ground maneuvers, handling weapons, and radio equipment—“the basics that you need to use just to wander around with the Army.”
However, the majority of training for airmen hoping to become enlisted terminal attack controllers comes from work in the field, serving as an assistant to an ETAC and as a member of a tactical air control party (TACP). After an airman has been working in the career field for approximately two years, said Heidal, he is sent to the Joint Firepower Course at Nellis AFB, Nev. That course provides training in advanced close air support tactics. On returning to his unit, the airman gets a “check ride” with an experienced ETAC or air liaison officer. If he passes, Heidal said, he is qualified to handle CAS air strikes “without the direct supervision of an officer.”
Once certified, an ETAC may spend most of his USAF career living and working with an Army unit. Frequently, a single ETAC is the sole Air Force representative with a small Army Special Forces or Ranger unit. At battalion level, Heidal said, an ETAC likely will be working with a younger tactical air command and control specialist trying to gain the experience needed to move up the TACP chain
The relationship between these special airmen and the Army has changed over the years. Heidal thinks the change has been for the better.
The Air Force began placing its tactical air control parties with the Army in 1977. Earlier, USAF tactical air support units were assigned to Air Force bases and farmed out to the Army. That was a problem, said Heidal, because the airmen had to work with different Army personnel on every mission. They could not establish a close rapport.
Today, that situation is reversed. The airmen, who wear Army badges and Army patches on their shoulders, are more accustomed to the Army way. “Most of my NCO experience is dealing with soldiers,” said Heidal.
After the Air Force moved most of its ETACs directly onto Army posts, soldiers started viewing them as part of the Army team. Now, soldiers call Heidal by name and know that, when he talks about close air support, he knows what he is talking about.
And now you know the rest of the story. For fun do a word search on ETAC, ROMAD or FACP
Keep me on the list.
I'm in Vancouver, Canada. Had dinner tonite with Argh. Posting from my Blackberry. Rock On!
Argh! Tell him howdy!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
