Air and Space Power Today
The Global War on Terrorism
1
Overview
•The Global War on Terror
– Background
– Launching a War on Terrorism
•Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF)
– Airpower’s Distinctive Contributions
– Problems with Airpower Execution
– Operation Anaconda
•Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
– Background
– The Military Campaign
– Termination of OIF and the
Beginning of New Dawn
•US National Lessons Learned
•Evolution of Airpower
2
The Global War on Terror Background
OEF marked the beginning of a broader US
and international global war on terrorism,
but our enemies actually declared war on
us through acts and words years earlier.
Sheik Rahman
Osama bin Laden
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The Global War on Terror Background
• The 1983 suicide bomb attack against US Marines
in Lebanon was our first introduction to this
war—220 Marines were killed
in the attack.
• The first World Trade Center bombing in
Feb 1993 killed 6 and injured
over 1,000 people.
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The Global War on Terror Background
In 1996, Osama bin Laden issued his fatwa:
a “Declaration of War Against the
Americans Occupying the Land of the Two
Holy Places.”
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The Global War on Terror Background
In 1996, the Khobar Towers USAF facility in
Saudi Arabia was attacked with a truck bomb.
That attack killed 19 Airmen.
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The Global War on Terror Background
• US Embassy bombings in
Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar el
Salaam, Tanzania in 1998
• US retaliated with
strikes against Sudan
and Afghanistan
• USS Cole attacked
in Yemen, killing
17 Americans
US Embassy Nairobi
Damaged USS Cole
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The Global War on Terror Background
• September 11, 2001 attack launched on
the United States using airliners as
piloted missiles
– Two airliners crashed into the World
Trade Center twin towers (3,000 dead,
towers destroyed).
– Third airliner crashed into the
Pentagon
– Fourth airliner crashed into a
field in western PA
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The Global War on Terror Background
• Attacks on September 11, 2001
motivated the United States to
initiate the Global War on
Terrorism
• The first battle zone:
Afghanistan and the Taliban
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Launching The War on Terror
• United States announces two-pronged approach
1. Go after the terrorists
“Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there.
It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been
found, stopped, and defeated.”
2. Go after their supporters
“Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. From
this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support
terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.”
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Launching The War on Terror
• Department of Homeland Security
is established
• American diplomats forge different
coalitions of nations willing to engage in
the war on terrorism in a variety of ways
• Law enforcement agencies, at home and
abroad, work around the clock to uproot
terror networks and disrupt potential
attacks
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Launching The War on Terror
• Financial regulators and law
enforcement combine forces to
deprive terrorists of sources of
financial support
• Reserves and the National
Guard patrol US skies and
bolster the security of airports
and other public places
• US intelligence community redoubles
efforts to gain needed intelligence and
prepare for a series of covert actions
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Launching The War on Terror
• Global Perspective
• Broader than just
Afghanistan
– The Philippines
– Bosnia
– Africa
• Introduction of
Doctrine of
Preemption
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OEF Military Operations
• US Objectives for OEF
– Make clear to the Taliban leaders and
their supporters that harboring terrorists is
unacceptable and carried a price
– Acquire intelligence to facilitate
future operations against al Qaeda
and the Taliban regime that
harbored the terrorists
– Develop relationships with groups in
Afghanistan that oppose the Taliban
regime and the foreign terrorists that they
support
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OEF Military Operations
• US Objectives for OEF (cont’d)
– Make it increasingly difficult for terrorists to use
Afghanistan freely as a base of operation
– Alter the military balance over time by denying the
Taliban the offensive systems that hamper the
progress of the various opposition forces
– Provide humanitarian relief to
Afghans suffering truly
oppressive living conditions
under the Taliban regime
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Airpower’s Distinctive Contributions
• Data Fusion
– Historic deployment of ISR
umbrella
• E-3s, E-8s, RC-135s, RPAs, U-2s
• Fighters w/ infrared targeting capabilities
– Targeting coordinates e-mailed to aircraft
– Greater connectivity between sensors and shooters
– Highly beneficial in joint ops
Airpower’s Distinctive Contributions
• Air-Ground Synergy
– Close synchronization of air and land
power
• Special forces teams
included CIA operatives and
Air Force TACP members
• Air Force controllers
integrated with Army Special
Forces
– Result was ground-enabled precision
strike instead of classic close air
support
Airpower’s Distinctive Contributions
• Humanitarian Relief and Force Sustainment
– Air mobility effort was massive—3rd behind Berlin
airlift and Desert Shield
– Humanitarian aid operation was personal creation of
President Bush
• 2 million human daily rations
had been delivered by 30 Nov
– OEF was first American
campaign in which airlift
provided ALL military supplies for several months
Airpower’s Distinctive Contributions
• Space Support to Force Employers
– Provided info for special ops mission planning
– BRITE—Provided near-real-time satellite info
– Bandwidth was an issue—Severely limited the
number of RPAs that could be in use at a given
time
– Space support now
measured with a stopwatch
instead of a calendar
Airpower’s Distinctive Contributions
• CAOC Operations
– New CAOC was at
PSAB, Saudi Arabia
– Coherent and
cooperative group of
planners from all the services
– Had to handle both OSW and OEF
mission
– Outstanding system but limited by
lack of personnel and training
Airpower’s Distinctive Contributions
• Buildup at Manas
– US military tent cities established at 13 sites in
9 countries
– 86th Contingency Response
Group was significant player
in establishment of Manas,
Kyrgyzstan
– By May 2002, Manas had
about 2,000 coalition forces
in place
Airpower’s Distinctive Contributions
• New Technology
– OEF helped validate new
concepts and technology
• CIA firing of Hellfire missiles
from Predators
• Earth penetrator weapons;
computer-controlled hard-target smart fuse; thermobaric
devices
– Measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT)
• Foliage-penetrating radar
• Hyperspectral imaging
• Pattern-change tracking technology
Problems with Airpower Execution
• CAOC-CENTCOM Tension
– The “other dynamic”
– Caused by CENTCOM’s decision
to plan and conduct OEF the same
as OSW—strict rules of engagement
and targeting procedures
– Made worse by divide between
CENTCOM Army culture and
CAOC Air Force culture
– Led to target list issues
Problems with Airpower Execution
• Rules-of-Engagement Constraints
– Severity of 9/11 prompted many to think “gloves
would come off”
– Political realities necessitated controls seeking to
lessen civilian casualties
– Time difference hampered
getting timely firing approvals
– The result: OEF set a new
record for strict rules of
engagement and targetapproval criteria
Problems with Airpower Execution
• Trend Toward Centralized Execution
– Techno advancement created more efficient &
timely operations, but also have enabled direct
senior leadership involvement in finest details of
force employment.
– Technology shortened kill chain, but centralized
control often nullified this benefit
– If this issue isn’t addressed it will undermine and
ultimately destroy one of the nation’s most
preeminent military advantages
Video
Operation Anaconda: The Battle of Roberts Ridge
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OIF Background
• After major combat operations in
Afghanistan ended, the US shifted
focus to Saddam Hussein’s regime
• UN Resolution 687 codified
Cease Fire Agreement for the Gulf
War
• Iraq was testing and breaking
these agreements
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OIF Background
• Paragraph 8 stated that Iraq must
“…unconditionally accept the destruction,
removal, or rendering harmless, under
international supervision of:”
– All chemical/biological weapons
– All ballistic missiles with range greater than 150
km
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OIF Background
• Paragraph 12 addressed nuclear capabilities,
stating that Iraq must “…agree not to acquire or
develop nuclear weapons or nuclear weaponusable material
• Paragraph 32, with regards to terrorism, stated
that “…[Iraq] will not commit or support any
act of international terrorism”
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OIF Background
• 12 Sept 2002: President Bush addressed the UN
General Assembly to highlight observed violations
and attempt to gather further international support for
action against Iraq
• 16 Oct 2002: President Bush signed the Iraq War
Resolution
• 8 Nov 2002: The UN Security Council passed
Resolution 1441
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OIF Background
• Dr. Blix (chief UN investigator)
reported non-cooperation to the UN
Security Council multiple times
• In February 2003, Secretary Powell
addressed the UN Security Council
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OIF Background
• 16 Mar 2003: President Bush demanded senior
leaders leave Iraq within 48 hours
• 19 Mar 2003: President Bush addressed the nation
stating that military operations had begun in Iraq
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OIF Air Campaign
• OIF Air Campaign = Operations NORTHERN
WATCH and SOUTHERN WATCH
• Not a single Iraqi Combat Sortie during OIF
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OIF Military Objectives
• End the regime of Saddam
Hussein
• Identify, isolate, and eliminate
Iraq’s weapons of mass
destruction
• Search for, to capture, and to drive out
terrorists from that country.
• Collect such intelligence as the United States
and its allies can that is related to terrorists
networks.
OIF Military Objectives (cont’d)
• Collect such intelligence as we can related to
the global network of illicit weapons of mass
destruction.
• End sanctions and to
immediately deliver
humanitarian support to
the displaced and…needy
Iraqi citizens.
• Help the Iraqi people create conditions for a
transition to a representative self-government.
Beginning of OIF
• Preparatory steps began in late 2002 when nofly patrols began to suppress Iraqi air defenses
• 19 March, G-day: Intel reports indicated the
location of Saddam Hussein and his sons
– Attacked using cruise missiles &
stealth aircraft
– All forces not in place when
operation began
• US and British ground forces invaded with
little air bombardment preparation
Size & Nature of Air Component
• United States had more than 1,000 acft in
theater as war began; 1,663 fixed-wing acft
used at peak of fighting
• Combination of sortie generation numbers &
sortie quality allowed coalition to generate
41,404 sorties against an Iraqi Air Force that
generated NONE
Size & Nature of Air
Component: Sortie Totals
AIRCRAFT
TYPE
Fighters
USAF
USMC
USN
USA
BRITISH
AUSTRALIAN
8,828
3,794
5,568
-
-
302
Bombers
505
-
-
-
-
-
C2
432
75
442
-
112
-
ISR
452
305
357
269
273
-
Spec
Ops/Rescue
Tankers
191
6,193
454
2,058
-
359
-
Airlift
7,413
-
-
-
-
263
Other
182
320
520
-
1
-
Total
24,196
4,948
8,945
269
2,841
565
Size & Nature of Air Component
• Key missions for the coalition air forces
– Neutralize the ability of the Iraqi government to
command its forces
– Establish control of the airspace
over Iraq
– Provide air support for special
ops forces & Army and Marine
forces that would advance
toward Baghdad
– Neutralize Iraq’s forces of
surface-to-surface missiles and suspected caches of
biological weapons
Role of the Reserve Component
• Guard and Reserve forces played extensive
role in OIF
– Made up 9.5% of US troops
– Total number of reserves called up
by late April 2003: Nearly 224,000
– Air National Guard deployed 236
aircraft and AF Reserve sent 70
Value of Expeditionary Airpower
• Expeditionary Combat Support (ECS) critical
– 46K sorties w/ 98%
maintenance
effectiveness rate
– Issued more than 1
million gallons of jet fuel
– Delivered 21.5 million
pounds of ammunition
– Served 111,000 hot meals/day; positioned 2.7
million MREs
– Positioned 91K chemical warfare suits
Intelligence Strength
• US space and intel assets to study and target
Iraq for more than 12 yrs
• ISR assets and data
– 80 acft dedicated to ISR mission
– Collected 3,200 hrs of streaming
video, 2,400 hrs of signal intel,
and 42,000 battlefield images
Intelligence Weaknesses
• All the prewar and war efforts still left major
gaps
– Lack of experts and analysts
– Difficulty in determining
activities within buildings
– Mistargeting and overtargeting
of facilities
– Poor casualty and BDA assessment processes
Intelligence Weaknesses
• Controversial intel problems
related to WMD
– US and British gov’ts had poor
understanding of Iraqi WMD threat
– Analysis problems linked to collection
problems
– Tendency to focus on worst-case
scenario
– Intel focused more on arms control
than war fighting
– Intel community avoids explicit statements—leads
users to force intel process to a definite conclusion or
make personal estimates
Urban Close Air Support
• Key player in defeating insurgency
– Use of preposition air assets in “kill boxes”
• Attack helicopters and A-10s played key role
– Lower-yield weapons minimized collateral damage
Evolving Role of the Bomber
• Value of bombers as precision strike capability
– Ability to hit up to 70 separate targets in 1 mission
– Upgraded elec. warfare capability improved
survivability
– B-52s and B-1s delivered 2/3 of bombs dropped
– AEFs limited by quantity of operational B-1s
Role of E-8C JSTARS
• Symbol of rapidly evolving role of jointness
• Air dominance allowed E-8s to track Iraqi
ground forces over hundreds of sq. miles
– Iraqis couldn’t hide in sand storms
• Highly valued asset
– 1st Marine Division:
“No other collection asset
provided the wide area all
weather coverage…that the JSTARS did!”
Effects-Based Bombing
• Involves selective use of precision airpower to strike
targets to produce effects rather than simply
maximize physical damage
– More efficient and effective use of resources
– Use less weapons and strike less targets
– Ease concerns for collateral damage and civilian
casualties
• Made possible by improvements
in precision weapons
• Even near misses have
psychological impact
Effects-Based Bombing
• Limits to effect-based bombing
– Accuracy based on assumption of perfect targeting,
launch, and weapon function—rarely happens
– Battle damage assessment limitations
– Air Force & Army differences over strike planning
– Iraqis efforts to counter our efforts
• Carried out efforts where satellite coverage was limited
• Predicted limits of US sources and methods based on
intel received from United States during Iran-Iraq War
Termination of OEF and
Beginning of New Dawn
• Historic milestone on 1 Sep 2010
– End of formal US military combat
ops and beginning of stability ops
– Emphasis shifted from predominantly
military to predominantly civilian
• Made possible by increased Iraqi
Security Forces (ISF) capabilities
• Primary mission of US forces
– Advising, assisting, and training ISF
– Conducting partnered counterterrorism ops
– Provide support to provincial reconstruction teams and
civilian partners
US National Lessons Learned from GWOT
• Wars in the twenty-first century
will increasingly require use of
all elements of national power
• Ability of forces to communicate and operate
seamlessly on the battlefield will be critical to success
in future wars
• Wars best fought by coalitions of the willing, but
should not be fought by committee.
• Defending the United States requires prevention and
sometimes preemption
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US National Lessons Learned from GWOT
• The United States must rule out nothing in advance
• Victory in the GWOT requires steady pressure on the
enemy, leaving them no time to rest and nowhere to
hide
• The new and the high-tech have not totally replaced
the old and conventional
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US National Lessons Learned from GWOT
• The US must link military operations directly with
humanitarian assistance, radio broadcasts, rewards,
and other efforts
• American leaders must be honest with the
American people
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US National Lessons Learned from GWOT
The United States must not make the mistake of
believing that terrorism is the only threat of the
twenty-first century. Terrorism is a deadly
asymmetric threat but not the only possible one.
Chinese Forces on parade
Iranian Uranium
Conversion Facility
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Now and Beyond video
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Evolution of Airpower
• So, what have we learned?
– What were significant airpower achievements
and changes during this period?
– What was the impact of these achievements and
changes?
Summary
•The Global War on Terror
– Background
– Launching a War on Terrorism
Expeditionary
Medal
•Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF)
– Airpower’s Distinctive Contributions
– Problems with Airpower Execution
– Operation Anaconda
•Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
– Background
– The Military Campaign
– Termination of OIF and the
Beginning of New Dawn
Service
Medal
•US National Lessons Learned
•Evolution of Airpower
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Final Thoughts
• Final thoughts for you as future Air Force
leaders
– Even with the recent death of Osama bin
Laden, the GWOT is still very much a current
event and a conflict we must win
• How long will it take?
• How vigilant do we need to be?
• Are you ready?
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