June 15, 2022

Effective Airspace Management to Facilitate Fires – Establishing an Airspace Management Authority (AMA)

Article Originally Published in Air Land Sea Bulletin 2008-03, September 2008 It used to be enough to establish a coordinating altitude and communicate jointly only on those rare occasions when United States Army (USA) or United States Marine Corps (USMC) operations required venturing to higher altitudes. However, while the Air Force still maintains the preponderance of air assets, the airspace has become saturated with much more than USAF aircraft. Ground fires, Close Air Support (CAS) stacks, and a multitude of unmanned platforms occupying the same airspace will require a steady-state coordination mechanism for continuously servicing joint and coalition dynamic requests for airspace.

May 15, 2022

COORDINATION MEASURES

Many have heard of, and used, airspace coordinating measures (ACMs) and fire support coordination measures (FSCMs). Until a few years ago, as a graybeard combat airspace, air operations center (AOC) guy and former AOC formal training unit instructor (R2), and multi-tour air liaison officer (ALO) and former combat air operations center (CAOC) Chiefs of Combat Operations (p2 and Shaf), we thought ACMs restricted “things” from going through ACMs unless they were coordinated with a controlling agency. We thought ACMs protected aircraft orbiting in a restricted operating zone (ROZ) from other aircraft and fires (i.e., artillery, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GLMRS), Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) etc.). We were wrong!