Space is still the Air Force’s new frontier. Less than 15 years ago, relying on spaced-based capabilities to direct battles on the ground was a relatively new capability for the U.S. military. Not even in their wildest dreams would most people think it would one day be possible for a pilot to sit in an air-conditioned room at some stateside base and “fly” an unmanned aerial vehicle over Afghanistan to gather intelligence, carry on surveillance, do reconnaissance — even fire Hellfire missiles at enemy forces.
But things have changed. Today, a joint and multinational force is fighting an ever-expanding Global War on Terrorism that’s nothing like past conflicts. When commanders go into combat, they now take their space operators with them — relying on them to provide real-time expertise on the added capabilities new space-based “gadgets” provide them.
“We cannot go to war and win without space,” said Gen. Lance W. Lord, commander of Air Force Space Command.
THE NEW FRONTIER
When on the battlefields of Iraq, Staff Sgt. Nick Reddinger doesn’t have time to wonder how all the pieces fall in place that let him call in an air strike. He just gets on the radio and calls it in using coordinates he gets from “painting” targets with a laser range finder.
But the tactical air controller does know that when he calls in a close air support strike, the jet fighters or bombers overhead — Air Force, Navy, Marine or a coalition partner — will drop their deadly “smart” bombs where he tells them.
That’s because high overhead — in space — a global positioning system satellite relays the Airman’s target information to the aircraft loitering over the area. The data goes into the bomb’s brain, which aims it with deadly accuracy at the enemy below.
“Precision-guided munitions give me a ‘warm fuzzy,’” Sergeant Reddinger said, because he knows “the targets I want hit will be hit,” The sergeant, from Blyria, Ohio, serves with the 19th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron at Balad Air Base, Iraq.
Space-based assets allow tactical controllers to “spend a lot less time on the mic explaining the target and more time saying ‘cleared hot,’” so pilots overhead can drop their bombs, said Staff Sgt. William Shepherd, a joint terminal attack controller with the squadron.
GLOBAL NETWORK
Today, a string of satellites is the backbone of the communications, command and control infrastructure the military depends on. Over the past decade there has been a “shift in understanding” about what space can bring to the fight. Today’s joint warfighters are more appreciative of “the decisive, precise combat effects space brings to the battlefield,” General Lord said.
And there are a lot more space operators than before. The general commands the nearly 40,000 space professionals who run a global network of satellite command and control, communications, missile warning and launch facilities and maintains the combat readiness of the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile force.
The products of this organization are no longer just a “nice to have capability,” he said. Space is on display in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Space is so integrated into the way we do business as a military, I would be hard pressed to say the Army uses it more than the Navy, or fliers use it more than the guys on the ground,” he said.
But one thing is certain: The integration into the U.S. military of these space warriors has transformed the modern battlefield, making warfare more precise, more effective and less destructive.
That’s a good thing for ground troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere around the globe. Because operating where the bullets fly and roadside bombs explode requires constant monitoring of the environment where ground troops work.
That’s something of which the senior space operator in Iraq is aware. Col. Kevin McLaughlin, the director of space forces for U.S. Central Command Air Forces, is responsible for bringing to bear all critical space capabilities to support command operations. The Texan from Big Spring knows ground troops depend on them.
“Modern military forces in the war on terrorism are light, lean, mobile, autonomous and expeditionary,” the colonel said. These forces feed off a constant flow of information they need for “positioning and timing, mobile communications, ISR and warning to achieve their varied and dangerous missions.”
“ In many cases, this data is primarily provided by space systems,” the colonel said. “Without these critical space capabilities, our forces would lose situational awareness and connectivity.”
