Airhead Operations: Where AMC Delivers

Купить бумажную книгу и читать

Airhead Operations: Where AMC Delivers

By John Cirafici

Publisher: Air University Press 1995 113 Pages

ISBN: 1585660574

PDF 5 MB

Airhead operations have been an important feature of modern warfare since Gen Francisco Franco, in 1936, air-landed his Moroccan forces in southern Spain during the opening phase of the Spanish Civil War. The concept gained currency during World War II, especially as an element of airborne operations. In that context it denoted an assault zone(s) employed during vertical envelopment maneuvers. In current usage airhead is defined in Joint Pub 1-02, Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, this way:

1. A designated area in a hostile or threatened territory which, when seized and held, ensures the continuous air landing of troops and materiel and provides the maneuver space necessary for projected operations. Normally it is the area seized in the assault phase of an airborne operation. 2. A designated location in an area of operations used as a base for supply and evacuation by air.1

Airhead has become a significant part of nearly all contingency operations. Operations Urgent Fury, Just Cause, Desert Shield/Storm, Restore Hope, among others, demonstrate the airhead's criticality in almost every phase of mission execution. It is, therefore, essential for potential participants in any contingency, be it a low-intensity conflict, humanitarian, or any other form of force projection, to possess a conceptual understanding of the airhead, as it applies to air mobility operations. This study educates and recommends, where needed, improvements in the conduct of air mobility airhead operations.