Kill box: the newest FSCM

FA Journal, July-August, 2005 by Karl E. Wingenbach

Lieutenant Colonel Karl E. Wingenbach is the Joint Doctrine Manager for Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) and was the Army lead for developing kill box doctrine. In his previous assignment, he was the Operations Chief for the 1st Battlefield Coordination Detachment (Airborne) deployed to the Coalition/Joint Air Operations Center in Kuwait during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. In that job, he coordinated, executed and managed air operations in support of the land component, including kill boxes. His email address is karl.wingenbach@us.army.mil.

The author wishes to acknowledge Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Charlie Guerry, Chief, Joint and Multinational Doctrine Division, Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate, Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for invaluable help in crafting this article. Additionally, the author acknowledges the contributions of LTC Lou Schurott, US Army, and Lt Col Rob McCreadie, USAF, at the Air, Land, Sea Application Center, Langley AFB, Virginia, who led the effort to develop joint kill box doctrine.

Endnotes:

1. Joint Publication 1-02 (JP 1-02) Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (12 April 2001, as amended through 9 May 2005), 295. The definition for the kill box in FM 3-09.34 will replace the definition for kill box in JP 1-02 when JP 3-09 Doctrine for Joint Fires is revised.

2. Air Force Doctrine Document 1-2 (AFDD 1-2), Air Force Glossary (24 August 2004), 31.

3. Combined Forces Command (CFC) Publication 3-1 Joint/Combined Fires-Korea (15 April 2003), Chapter 5.

4. USAREUR/USAFE [US Air Force Europe] TTPs for Command and Control of Joint Fires (24 April 2001), Chapter 4.

5. CENTCOM Kill box Interdiction/Close Air Support (KI/CAS) CONOPS [Concept of Operations], 2003.

6. Airspace coordination measure (ACM) is the joint term; the Army term, in accordance with FM 1-02, is airspace control measure.

7. JP 3-60, Joint Doctrine for Targeting (17 January 2002), Appendix D "Common Reference Systems: Area and Point," D-1.

8. FM 3-60.1 MTTP for Targeting Time-Sensitive Targets, Appendix G, "Common Geographic Reference System," describes a standard area reference system. "CGRS is primarily an operational-level administrative measure used to coordinate geographical areas rapidly for battlespace deconfliction and synchronization.... The usefulness of a CGRS is that it enables establishment of appropriate control and coordination measures that can be mutually coordinated, deconflicted, and synchronized via a simple, common, mutually understood, and agreed upon reference system." The CGRS is a regional/theater-based system that a combatant commander can employ. On 15 December 2004, the Joint Chiefs of Staff signed a memo to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, adopting the ALSA-developed "regional common geographic reference system (CGRS) as each service's training standard." On 25 March 2005, the Secretary of Defense directed the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to "take the lead in developing a global reference system that meets the requirements of the combatant commanders and services." NGA, with the help of service representatives, is developing that new global system. The joint doctrine community will address this in the ongoing revision of JP 2-03 Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) Support to Joint Operations.