JAGOG: training air-ground combat prowess at the NTC and JRTC

FA Journal, Sept-Oct, 2005 by Arden B. Dahl

On 5 July, the USAF renamed the Air Ground Operations School (AGOS) at Nellis AFB, Nevada, the Joint Air-Ground Operations Group (JAGOG). (1) This reflects a USAF move to reinforce the unit's joint air-ground training mission and that the organization is more than just a "schoolhouse."

JAGOG trains basic and advanced air-ground combat skills to prosecute land campaigns. Its objective is to develop a joint team that combines close air support (CAS) and air interdiction (AI)--the core air-ground missions--with ground maneuver and fires to win battles.

For Airmen, the proximity of air-to-ground fires to friendly ground forces and the requirement for detailed integration with maneuver and fires in the close fight make CAS the toughest joint mission. For this reason, we emphasize CAS training. (2)

The JAGOG schoolhouse teaches the basics of air-ground planning, integration and execution to produce entry-level joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs), joint fires observers (JFOs), forward air controllers-airborne (FAC-As), air liaison officers (ALOs) and ground liaison officers (GLOs). JAGOG hammers out advanced CAS skills in Air Warrior I and Air Warrior II exercises in conjunction with National Training Center (NTC) and Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) rotations at Fort Irwin, California, and Fort Polk, Louisiana, respectively--two of the Army's "Dirt" Combat Training Centers (CTCs).

JAGOG Organization and Operations. The group consists of four squadrons, one detachment (Det) and one operating location (OL) in four states. Additionally, the Army Joint Support Team-Nellis (AJST-N) is integrated into the JAGOG schoolhouse mission at Nellis AFB. Figure 1 lists the JAGOG units and their locations and major programs.

The JAGOG plan for the Fort Sill OL is to grow the two personnel already assigned to a detachment size (about 12 personnel) within two years and possibly station a combat training squadron (CTS) at Fort Sill later (about 25 personnel). The OL will instruct the JFO Course (JFOC), an Army-Air Force draft course. The eventual JFO throughput planned for Fort Sill is about 500 students per year.

The JFO is a recent jointly recognized combatant. He is an expert in killing targets with artillery and naval surface fire. For Types 2 or 3 CAS, the JFO is trained to serve as the JTAC's eyes and ears when the JTAC is not in a position to see the target or aircraft at weapons release. In those types of CAS, the JFO provides timely, accurate targeting information for the JTAC's (or certified FAC-A's) terminal attack control of the aircraft. Together, they form a joint battle-field team designed to train together and provide commanders lethal CAS.

During the last 12 months, more than 80 percent of JAGOG's 4,000-plus air-ground students wore Army "Green." JAGOG's Air Warrior exercises exposed another 90,000 Soldiers and Airmen to air-ground problems at the "graduate" level. These exercises integrated more than 2,000 fighter/bomber sorties, 30 flying squadrons and approximately 400 tactical air control party (TACP) personnel in the brigade fights at the NTC and JRTC. Air Warrior I and II have been building joint combat prowess in the close force-on-force fight for the last two decades.

All the more, the Army's transformation to a leaner brigade-centric force with less organic direct and indirect fire resources calls for greater reliance on air power to win battles. This has intensified the need for the robust joint training of Soldiers and Airmen in combat operations ranging from stability and support operations (SASO) to major combat operations (MCO).

This article describes the main challenges of air-ground training and some initiatives to keep joint air-ground training "on the front burner" at the NTC and JRTC.

Air-Ground Training Fronts. The air-ground training challenge has lots of moving parts. To help prioritize the effort, JAGOG has organized tactical air-ground training into three "fronts"--first, second and third.

First Front. This front is the point at which terminal attack control, munitions and targets intersect on the battlefield. The training primarily is concerned with the JTAC-JFO lash-up on the ground and the play of the FAC-As and pilots, the air-to-ground trigger pullers. This front is receiving a lot of DoD attention concerning how many JTACs are required to support combat operations on the ground and the equipment, ranges and sorties needed to train that number of JTACs. JAGOG's primary training push at this tactical level is the interdependency of the JFO and JTAC.

Second Front. The second training front is in the brigade combat team (BCT) tactical operations center (TOC). The focus there is on integrating the efforts of the ALO/TACP, the fire support element (FSE) or fires and effects cell (FEC) the latter in the modular BCT, and the rest of the BCT's combat staff.

In my view, this is our toughest training front. It requires extensive practice in garrison and other exercises to get battle priorities and execution right.