Shaping the joint fight in air, space, and cyberspace

Joint Force Quarterly, April, 2008 by C. Robert Kehler

At the same time, the national Intelligence Community made great strides in delivering space products to warfighters. Not only did the national intelligence team deliver space products sooner, but also joint warfighters became more influential in the tasking, processing, exploitation, and dissemination process. As a result, warfighting responsiveness went up.

The ever-increasing synchronization of military space capabilities, coupled with heightened theater demand, also drove the need to develop a capability to operationally command and control space forces. Recognizing that space forces are inherently global in effect, earlier versions of what is now the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) worked to plan, task, orchestrate, and deliver space capabilities for theater commanders around the globe. Today, the 614th Air and Space Operations Center comprises the core of the JSpOC and is the primary command and control center for space operations supporting all combatant commanders.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, U.S. forces set and surpassed even higher benchmarks for the use of space systems and synthesis of space-savvy personnel with other warfighting experts. During the early stages of both Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, U.S. forces, aided by space systems and people, decisively engaged and defeated enemy military capabilities with unprecedented speed, precision, and minimal collateral damage. (3)

Space today: effective Synchronization

Although the Air Force operates essentially the same kinds of space systems that it did 25 years ago, the way the joint force uses them is very different today. Space forces are now inextricably embedded in combat operations and play a key role in providing global vigilance, reach, and power for the Nation's civilian and military leaders.

Space capabilities have shaped the American way of warfare in the late 20th and early 21st centuries and, in many instances, have become essential elements of modern weapons networks. (4) Oft-cited examples include myriad combat capabilities enabled by the Air Force's GPS constellation. For years, GPS navigation and timing signals have enabled an ever-growing arsenal of precision munitions such as the Air Force and Navy's Joint Direct Attack Munitions, which for relatively little cost effectively turned what had been dumb bombs into smart munitions. Today's operational environments have driven the military to produce even more precise lower-yield weapons to destroy targets with minimal collateral damage. Recent examples include the Air Force's 250-pound-class Small Diameter Bomb, the Army's Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, and the new Excalibur guided 155mm artillery round. GPS also supplies the brain within the Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS), a revolutionary mobility system that permits aircrews to deliver supplies with pinpoint accuracy from higher, safer altitudes. Using GPS navigation and steerable parachutes, C-130 and C-17 aircrews precisely deliver JPADS bundles to ground combat units in otherwise inaccessible forward operating bases. Furthermore, GPS features add fidelity to aircrew survival and personnel recovery radios, essentially taking the search out of search and rescue. GPS also guides forces through all terrains and allows field commanders to track ground and air forces equipped with cutting-edge Blue Force Tracking devices.