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. What Happened to Battlefield McCaffrey
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. Air Interdiction?
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. Army and Air Force Battlefield Doctrine
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. Development from Pre–Desert Storm to 2001
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COLLEGE OF AEROSPACE DOCTRINE,
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
AIR UNIVERSITY
What Happened to Battlefield
Air Interdiction?
Army and Air Force Battlefield Doctrine
Development from Pre–Desert Storm to 2001
TERRANCE J. MCCAFFREY III
Lieutenant Colonel, USAF
CADRE Paper No. 17
Air University Press
Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama 36112-6615
September 2004
Air University Library Cataloging Data
McCaffrey, Terrance J. III,
What happened to battlefield air interdiction? : Army and Air Force battlefield doc-
trine development from pre–Desert Storm to 2001 / Terrance J. McCaffrey III.
p. ; cm.––(CADREpaper, 1537–3371)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-58566-129-5
1. Close air support. 2. Air interdiction. 3. Military doctrine––United States.
4. Operation Desert Storm––Aerial operations, American. I. Title.
358.4/142––dc22
Disclaimer
Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of
the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Air University, the United States Air
Force, the Department of Defense, or any other US government agency.Cleared for public re-
lease:distribution unlimited.
This CADRE Paper and others in the series are available
electronically at the Air University Research Web site
http://research.maxwell.af.mil and the AU Press Web site
http://aupress.maxwell.af.mil.
ii
CADRE Papers
CADRE Papers are occasional publications sponsored by
the Airpower Research Institute of Air University’s College of
Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education (CADRE). Dedi-
cated to promoting the understanding of air and space power
theory and application, these studies are published by Air
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All military members and civilian employees assigned to Air
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CADRE
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Tel: (334) 953-5508
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iii
Contents
Chapter Page
DISCLAIMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
ABOUT THE AUTHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2 ORIGINS OF BATTLEFIELD AIR
INTERDICTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3 WHERE WAS BATTLEFIELD AIR INTERDICTION
IN DESERT STORM? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4 WAS BATTLEFIELD AIR INTERDICTION A
VICTIM OF SUCCESS? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
5 IS BATTLEFIELD AIR INTERDICTION BACK? . . 75
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS . . . . . . . . . 97
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
v
Illustrations
Figure Page
1 Concepts of operations depiction . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2 Operation Desert Storm apportionment . . . . . . . 47
3 Tactical air support missions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4 Linear and nonlinear battlefield operations . . . . 80
vi
Foreword
The ground and air forces have strong interlocking connec-
tions in the battlefield operations known as close air support
(CAS). In the 1970s the Army and Air Force began to develop
a shared battlefield doctrine known as battlefield air interdic-
tion (BAI) that was concerned with a class of targets that lay
out a fair distance from the front lines. These targets were be-
yond the capability and immediate tactical concern of the
ground commander, beyond the area that required detailed co-
ordination of each individual CAS mission, but were close
enough to have a near-term effect upon surface operation and
required a general coordination of both air and ground opera-
tions. These became known as “intermediate” targets, and
often considered “shallow interdiction” targets closer to the
front lines than the traditional “interdiction” targets commonly
tasked by and under the control of the air forces.
The Air Force and Army worked hand in glove through the
seventies to refine and publish battlefield doctrine, best recog-
nized under its Army label, AirLand Battle. Through the eighties
Gen Wilbur L. “Bill” Creech, Tactical Air Command commander,
Gen Donald Starry, chief of Army Training and Doctrine Com-
mand, and other service leaders worked on a series of his-
torical compromises pertaining to all aspects of the Army–Air
Force operations.
Not more than 10 years later, on the battlefields of Desert
Storm, the Air Force excluded BAI from its tasking orders, al-
though some claimed interdiction missions of this nature were
carried out under different names. Indeed, the term BAI was
removed from doctrinal manuals written after 1990. Was it
considered irrelevant or useful doctrine? Did the heightened
self-interest of the services explain its removal? Or was the
removal a victim of bureaucratic inertia or unique doctrinal
presentations?
Lt Col Terrance J. McCaffrey III answers these questions in
What Happened to BAI? Army and Air Force Battlefield Doctrine
Development from Pre–Desert Storm to 2001. He traces air-
ground doctrine and operational practices relative to battle-
field interdiction from World War I to Operation Desert Storm
vii
and suggests at one point that even the flank support for Pat-
ton was, in effect, BAI. The author carries the discussion
through the decade after Desert Storm and shows how the
issue is too important to be dropped by either service, even as
technology provides new weapons for both services.
Colonel McCaffrey concludes that there is still need for a BAI-
type mission. Both services are searching for an answer to the
doctrinal void. Development is being impeded by a lively trend to
speak in the self-interest of one’s service. This study illuminates
the process that will lead to renew BAI even as the struggle for
service missions continue to cause self-interested debate.
What Happened to Battlefield Air Interdiction? was written as
a master’s thesis in the 2001–2 class for the Air University’s
School of Advanced Airpower Studies—renamed School of Ad-
vanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS) in September 2002—
Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Colonel McCaffrey’s very thoughtful
study was chosen as one of the best of its group. The College
of Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education (CADRE) is
pleased to publish this SAASS research as a CADRE Paper
and thereby make it available to a wider audience within the
US Air Force and beyond.
DANIEL R. MORTENSEN
Chief of Research
Airpower Research Institute, CADRE
viii
About the Author
Lt Col Terrance J. McCaffrey (BS, United States Air Force
Academy; MA, Midwestern State University) is chief, Policy
and Strategy Branch, North American Aerospace Defense
Command, Peterson AFB, Colorado. After completing pilot
training at Williams AFB, Arizona, he went to Royal Air Force
Upper Heyford to fly the F-111E with the 79th Fighter
Squadron (FS). While there, Colonel McCaffrey deployed to
Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm to fly combat mis-
sions over Iraq with the 7440th Composite Combat Wing from
Incirlik AB, Turkey. Next he instructed in the AT-38B at Hol-
loman AFB, New Mexico, and Sheppard AFB, Texas. In 1996
Colonel McCaffrey moved to the F-15C and the 390th FS at
Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, and led combat missions over
Iraq during Operation Southern Watch and Air Expeditionary
Force deployments V and VII. In 1999 he served as an F-15
joint bilateral air operations officer at Headquarters Fifth Air
Force, Yokota AB, Japan. He is a distinguished graduate of
Squadron Officer School and the Air Command and Staff Col-
lege and a graduate of the School of Advanced Airpower Stud-
ies (renamed School of Advanced Air and Space Studies in
2002)—all based at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. He is a graduate
of the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, where he
won the MacArthur Foundation Award for excellence in writ-
ing. Colonel McCaffrey is married to the former Lisa K. Mul-
Holland of Colorado Springs, Colorado. They have three chil-
dren—Garrett, Trevor, and Mallory.
ix
