Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing

by Tom Clancy

  A Defense Support Program (DSP)-1 spacecraft is launched from the cargo bay of a space shuttle. DSP spacecraft like this would provide the 366th Wing with early warning of ballistic missile launches, as well as rough targeting of the launch sites. Official U.S. Air Force

  • Navigational Support—I have often sung the praises of the NAVI-STAR GPS program every chance I can, for good reason. More than any other space-based system, this one will soon touch the life of almost every person on Earth. The system is based around twenty-four satellites in six circular orbits. Aboard each bird is a series of highly accurate atomic clocks, which are calibrated daily from the control center on the ground. Each satellite transmits synchronized timing pulses from the clocks, and a highly accurate receiver measures the differences between the arrival times of signals from different satellites. The receiver does some fancy trigonometry and develops a highly accurate positional fix, as well as other data. The real beauty of the system is that it places the burden of “smarts” on the receiver system, which can be engineered into packages of amazing compactness and utility.GPS is set up to provide two different levels of precision: super-precise for military users with the appropriate code key, and less precise for everyone else, including the enemy. This means that civilian receivers are accurate to within about 100 meters/330 feet, and military receivers can generate 3-D positions to within 16 meters/52.8 feet, while also providing an anti-spoofing/anti-jamming capability. In addition, the receivers can generate time readings accurate to within 100 Ns, and velocity readings accurate to within .1 meter per second/4 inches per second, which translates to errors of less than .2 knots/.37 kph! GPS receiver designers have found many uses for the system, from basic flight navigation to guiding weapons like cruise missiles and bombs. All this is possible in virtually any weather conditions, anywhere on Earth, or even in orbit around the Earth. Current DoD plans envision acquiring over eighty thousand GPS receivers, with over two thousand aircraft being built or modified to use the system.

  While the systems mentioned above are owned by a variety of federal and military agencies, the operations of the birds are mostly controlled by a single organization, the 50th Space Wing (SW), based at Falcon AFB, Colorado, just down the street from NORAD and USSPACECOM headquarters. Currently commanded by Colonel Gregory L. Gilles, the 50th SW is something new in the space community, an operationally oriented unit designed to get the products of space into the hands of “real” users in the field. Broken into squadrons, it controls the operations and uses of literally tens of billions of dollars of orbital hardware. Yet when you look at the young men and women of the 50th SW, you see a lot of thick glasses and laptop computers, along with more than a few science fiction novels. Don’t be fooled, though, because these young space warriors are every bit as professional and dedicated to their tasks as are the aircrews in the ejection seats. In fact, their prideful motto, “In your face from outer space,” says volumes about how they feel.

  Each of the 50th SW’s Space Operations Squadrons (SOSs) controls the satellites of a particular program or function. Some of the units of the 50th SW include: • 1st SOS—Provides support during launch and checkout of a variety of different satellite programs. For example, they are currently heavily tasked with checkout of the first MILSTAR orbital vehicles.

  • 2nd SOS—Is responsible for day-to-day operations, calibration, and maintenance of the GPS satellite constellation. Every day, they check and adjust, if required, the accuracy and timing of the onboard systems for every one of the GPS satellites.

  • 3rd SOS—Responsible for the operations and maintenance of the twenty-two operational DSCS-II and -III, NATO-III, and FLT-SAT communications satellites.

  • 4th SOS—Will, when it comes on-line, conduct the operations and maintenance of the constellation of MILSTAR communications satellites.

  • 6th SOS—Located at Offut AFB, Nebraska (adjacent to STRATCOM headquarters), this squadron controls the DMSP-series of meteorological satellites for USSPACECOM.

  There are undoubtedly other SOS-type units assigned to control of “black” programs like the imaging and ELINT/SIGINT programs, but their story will have to wait for a future telling, after it has been declassified.

  Space-based systems can be extremely valuable to a force going into combat. While many of these systems were directly tied to strategic missions during the Cold War, and thus closely held by the National Command Authorities, the end of that conflict has allowed almost every military commander to have some use for space. For many it will be the beautiful simplicity of things like the hand-held GPS receivers used during Desert Storm. For the 366th Wing, it will be the vital data flow delivered by the satellite dishes of the 366th Communications Squadron, which will distribute the products of the space infrastructure to the wing’s users.

  CATS AND DOGS—OTHER ATTACHED UNITS

  In this chapter, you have seen how virtually anything can be plugged into the 366th Wing structure. Some of the specialized units that might be added to the wing on an “as required” basis by the National Command Authorities (NCAs) include:• Stealth Bombers/Fighters—The B-2As and F-117As of the 509th BW and 49th FW respectively are irreplaceable national assets, closely controlled by the NCAs. Nevertheless, given the importance of the missions that the 366th would undertake, a detachment of F-117s might be assigned to the wing, or a strike by B-2s might be authorized, once they acquire a Precision Guided Munitions capability in the late 1990s.

  • Cruise Missiles—The 366th does not currently have a capability to employ the AGM-86C aboard their B-1Bs, so any air-launched cruise missiles would have to come from one of the B-52 units equipped to do the job, such as the 2nd BW at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. The B-52Hs of the 2nd BW can carry several types of standoff weapons, including the AGM-86C ALCM, and the AGM-142 Have Nap standoff missile. With their precision guidance systems, these formidable weapons could be launched from outside the range of enemy defenses. As an added bonus, the B-52s could be launched on their missions directly from the continental United States, much as they were on the first night of Operation Desert Storm. In addition to the B-52s, the wing might also be able to task U.S. Navy ships and submarines to fire U/ BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs). This would be possible now that the new GPS-equipped Block-III guidance systems have made it to the fleet. The use of GPS guidance systems greatly simplifies the process of mission planning for both the TLAMs and ALCM-Cs, requiring a minimum of support from the Defense Mapping Agency and other organizations.

  • Tankers—One resource that Dave McCloud would tell you he never has enough of is airborne gas. It is almost certain that additional tankers would be assigned to the 366th Wing in the event of an emergency deployment. Most desired, of course, are the big KC-10A Extenders, because of their ability to take gas from other tankers, their truly huge giveaway capacity, and their ability to fuel either USAF aircraft with their boom receptacles, or USN/USMC/NATO aircraft with their drogue-and-probe units at the same time. Most likely, though, the reinforcing tankers would probably come from AMC’s large pool of KC-135Rs, which have several decades of service ahead of them.

  • Inter-Theater Transport—In any kind of deployment several squadrons of C-130 Hercules medium transports would be needed to move personnel and cargo from rear areas to the forward airfields. During Desert Shield and Desert Storm the press never noticed the vital job done by C-130 units (many were Air National Guard and Reserve squadrons) hauling bombs and missiles, spare parts, black boxes, food, and almost everything but fuel to the various wing airfields around the Persian Gulf. (The Saudis took care of the fuel.) Today, the logistical rules have not changed one bit, and this job would have to be done, or the wing’s efforts would come to an immediate and grinding halt.

  Of course, virtually any other kind of USAF flying unit could be plugged into the 366th Wing structure. This could range from the LANTIRN-EQUIPPED F-16Cs of the 388th FW at Hill AFB to beef up the wing’s PGM delivery capability, to U-2s or RC-135 Rive
t Joint reconnaissance aircraft from the 9th Reconnaissance Wing (RW) and 55th RW respectively. In fact, what goes overseas with the 366th Wing will probably be limited only by planners’ imaginations, and what is available at the time.

  CONOPS: THE 366TH STYLE OF WAR

  One of the viewgraphs you see during Colonel Scott’s briefing on the Wing says, “The 366th Wing lives, works, plays, trains, deploys, and fights TOGETHER .” It’s easy enough to tell squadrons they will live at the same home base, but can you make them fight as one team? For the 366th, togetherness is more than just lip service. The togetherness shows in many ways, like on Friday nights when all the officers in the wing gather at the officers’ club for happy hour. You don’t see clusters of F-16 pilots, F-15 pilots, or tanker crews. Instead, you see mixed clusters, with waving arms describing formations (pilots can’t really talk without their hands), new tactics, and ideas. These people really are interested in what is happening in the other units of the wing.

  On a more practical level, a very impressive planning effort has gone into getting the Gunfighters ready to fight. These plans continue to be improved and refined, with a primary focus on getting the wing where it is going with less use of the Air Force’s scarce heavy airlifters, and getting more out of the 366th’s pool of aircraft and weapons. Let’s look closer at how the Gunfighters would get to a crisis.

  Getting There: The 366th Wing Deployment Plan

  The 366th library of deployment and operations plans is constantly growing on the disk drives and in the notebooks at the headquarters on Gunfighter Boulevard. We’re going to look at just one of the deployment options—the movement of the wing to a well-developed base in a friendly host nation. By well-developed, we mean that the base has adequate facilities—aircraft shelters to house the wing, barracks or tent facilities for personnel, and stores of supplies such as fuel, water, and munitions compatible with USAF aircraft. Most friendly nations have supplies of jet fuel; and 80-series bomb warheads are quite common around the world. Also, the 366th might draw on prepositioned stores of such supplies, or access one of the maritime prepositioned ships stationed at places like Diego Garcia and Guam.

  The 366th deployment scheme is designed around response forces packaged (i.e., sized and matched) to meet the particular crisis in question. It may be enough to send just a few fighters and tankers to a crisis zone to keep a lid on events until reinforcements can be assembled and sent. Other times, you may want to pile on into a given situation, to deter a particular rogue regime from making trouble. To keep things simple, the 366th Operations Group has designed a series of packages which allow the NCAs to quickly order a particular force into a crisis. The following chart shows the breakdown of the packages:

  366th Wing Deployment Package Options

  As can be seen from the six options in the table, the smallest deployment unit, known as an A Package, includes twenty-four fighters and fighter bombers (eight F-15Cs, eight F-15Es, and eight F-16Cs), along with four KC- 135Rs configured for FAST tanker deployment. The B and C Packages build upon the basic A Package by adding additional aircraft, until the entire Mountain Home force is committed. In addition, each package has a “plus” option, which adds a force of B-1B bombers from the 34th BS at Ellsworth AFB. You also may have noticed the force of support aircraft that is added to each package option. These are the E-3s, EF-111s, and EC-130s, which would accompany the wing on any deployment.

  It would probably be impossible to deploy the entire wing (a C+ Package) in one wave, due to the shortage of heavy airlift. Thus, for anything larger than an A Package, the wing is broken into separate waves, so that tanker and heavy transport aircraft can be utilized in shifts. For example, the deployment breakdown for a B Package would look like this:

  B Package Deployment Schedule

  The C+ Package, which is the largest option available, looks like this:

  C+ Package Deployment Schedule

  Each wave would be separated by something like twenty-four to thirty-six hours, and would depend on tanker and airlift support to get certain key pieces of equipment and personnel onto the ground at the right time and in the right order. The matter of airlift cannot be overemphasized these days, since the force of AMC heavy airlift aircraft (C-141s, C-5s, and C-17s) is at the danger level when it comes to moving important stuff for top-priority units like the 366th. The AMC heavy airlift force in early 1995 consisted of the following aircraft:

  USAF Heavy Lift Fleet

  As you can see, the heavy airlift fleet is limited to less than 375 PAA aircraft assigned to units around the USAF. This situation is going to get worse as C-141s are retired faster than new C-17s are delivered. Whenever possible, AMC will try to use commercial freight aircraft from the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF), a pool of commercial freight aircraft subsidized by the U.S. Government and available to be drafted in a time of crisis. Another option for AMC is to charter freight aircraft from air carriers like UPS, Emery Air Freight, Federal Express, or even some of the huge Antonov 124 transports operated by the Russian flag carrier, Aeroflot.

  As for the 366th Wing, they have worked hard to reduce their heavy airlift requirements to the bare minimum to get into operation at a host base in the minimum amount of time. The key is the number of C-141 loads it will take to get a particular package into action at the destination. Because the C-5 and C-17 can carry bigger loads of cargo (including outsized loads), and the KC-10 is limited to palletized cargo and personnel only, the load planners at the 366th Transport Squadron transportation office have to take this into account when they get the phone calls from AMC headquarters at Scott AFB. They plan for all kinds of possibilities. For example, consider the following notional table of airlift required to move various package combinations:

  366th Package Deployment Transport Requirements

  It should be noted that the above table is representative of only one particular planning scenario (the most optimistic actually), and should not be considered definitive. In fact, for bare-base operations, you should probably double the number of C-141 loads and throw in the services of one of the USAF Red Horse battalions.

  Now, let’s look back to our earlier example of an A Package going to a well-developed host base. As you can see, about thirty C-141s, along with appropriate tanker assets, would be needed to move the force overseas to the host operating base, and once the wing is in the air, the clock and the meter are running with regards to pushing cargo and supplies forward. What you see in the above table is just the down payment on a credible 366th deployment. A continuing logistics effort is vital to keeping the wing flying and operating up to its full potential, because on the ground the 366th is only a set of targets for another air force to destroy.

  Hold Until Relieved: The 366th Style of Operations

  Let’s assume that General McCloud and the 366th Wing leadership has gotten the designated wing package to their host base. What happens next? Actually, well before the first combat aircraft has arrived, there will be a great deal of activity at the base, starting with the arrival of the FAST-1 tanker with its site survey team. Working quickly, they will size up the base, and using their own SATCOM link, will send back to Mountain Home the exact support requirements for the wing, so that the proper AMC airlift can be ordered and the right pallets and cargo can be loaded and sent on their way. Right after this comes FAST-2 with the AOC buildup team to establish the WICP satellite communications links back to Mountain Home and the Space Warfighting Center in Colorado Springs. Following this would be the C3I element with their CTAPS equipment on FAST-3. This would be immediately moved to the AOC to keep the planning process going. Finally, FAST-4 would arrive, hopefully together with the first elements of the wing package with the aircrews and maintenance personnel necessary to fly the 366th’s first missions.

  So, just what might those missions be?

  The Gunfighters are capable of almost any combat operation, except launching long-range cruise missiles or doing a stealth penetration strike of an enemy ai
r defense environment. Below is a chart of the different mission capabilities of the various aircraft of the 366th Wing (and attached units):

  366th Mission Capabilities

  As can be seen, the Gunfighters provide a core capability to run rapid response air operations in a crisis initiated by a hostile government or force. The 366th is an aerial fire brigade, grudgingly willing to trade losses to buy time for the politicians back home to make up their minds, define a policy, and send forward reinforcement and/or replacement units. It is assumed that these would take over for the long-term campaign that would follow the commitment of a unit like the 366th. It is likely that the deployment of a package by the Gunfighters would be part of a joint operation with ground units from the Marine Corps or the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps. Just how they would fight in a crisis is therefore rather hard to specify, given the unpredictability of rogue states and other “bad guys” around the world. Thus, the 366th leadership will have to be both sneaky and imaginative in their use of their limited force of planes and aircrews.