Tactical Air Control Party

The Tactical Air Control Party, commonly abbreviated TACP, is a small team of Air Force or Marine personnel who provide airspace deconfliction, command and control communications, and terminal attack control of close air support at battlegroup level or below.

USAF Tactical Air Control Party operators using a SOFLAM during training

Australia

Australian TACPs are provided by the RAAF and are responsible for the coordination of air assets in support of deployed Army units.[1]

Canada

The Royal Canadian Air Force TACP is the principal air liaison and control element aligned with land force manoeuvre units from battlegroup to corps. The primary mission of a TACP is to advise the respective ground commanders on the capabilities and limitations of air power and to assist the ground commander in planning, requesting, coordinating and controlling air effects.[2] In the Canadian Armed Forces, tactical air control parties and joint terminal attack controllers are not the same thing. A TACP can coordinate and approve the airstrike, but cannot execute terminal attack control unless they are a qualified JTAC. TACPs provide strike coordination, routing safety of flight, airspace deconfliction, aerospace management, flight advisory, maximize joint fires integration, coordinate airstrikes beyond coordinated fire line among other capabilities. The TACP is responsible to the JFACC and responsive to the designated supported commander who is usually the ground commander; two primary responsibilities:[3]

  1. The TACP advises the ground commander on aerospace matters and enable the safe, effective, and efficient integration of aerospace capabilities with surface forces to achieve the tasks, missions, intent, and desired end state.
  2. The TACP also provides an intermediate-level aerospace C2 capability for airspace and aerospace assets and enable the safe, effective, and efficient execution of aerospace operations at the tactical level.

In Sep 2006, a USAF A-10A conducting CAS controlled by a Canadian JTAC strafed Canadian soldiers, killing Canadian Army Private Mark Anthony Graham and wounding several others. A Board of Inquiry was created to investigate the fratricide discovering several deficiencies in regards to JTAC training and equipment that contributed to the fratricide. Resulting from the investigation, the Air-Land Integration Cell was established in 2007 to provide national standards for JTACs, the creation of the RCAF TACPs, and adequate capability management.[4]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom Armed Forces, TACP personnel may come from the Royal Marines,[5] Army or RAF Regiment.[6] Every TACP has four members; one officer and one SNCO, who are trained Forward Air Controllers (FACs), and two signallers (JNCOs), who are responsible for communication equipment and assist in tasking aircraft to FACs in forward positions. The FAC's role is to guide attack aircraft and fast jets to the correct target by providing descriptions and locations to the pilots via a range of telecommunications equipment. FACs and TACPs in the United Kingdom are trained at the Joint Forward Air Controller Training Standards Unit (JFACTSU).[7]

In World War II, "air liaison officers" were senior officers of the Royal Air Force posted within a separate foreign or domestic military or civil service, providing communication between that service and the Royal Air Force.[8] Prince Harry, the fifth in line to the British throne, served as a TACP commander in Afghanistan.[9][10]

United States

Air Force TACP

A USAF TACP Airman (AFSC 1Z3X1) integrates and operates with a conventional United States Army combat maneuver unit or special operations unit, including Special Forces Operational Detachment Alphas (ODAs), the 75th Ranger Regiment, including the Regimental Reconnaissance Company, Navy SEAL Teams, and Joint Special Operations Command Tier 1 Special Mission Units. TACPs are responsible for advising ground commanders on the best use of air power, establishing and maintaining command and control communications, and providing precision terminal attack guidance of U.S. and coalition fixed-wing and rotary-wing close air support aircraft, artillery, and naval gunfire.

Marine Corps FAC

Traditional Marine Corps infantry battalions each have a Forward Air Controller (FAC), who is a Marine Corps Naval Aviator or Naval Flight Officer acting liaison between their fighter/attack jets and/or attack helicopters and the infantry battalion. A Marine Corps FAC (7502 MOS) is commonly referred to as the Air Officer. Underneath him, he has two other FACs and three Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs – 8002 MOS). Ideally the three FACs (including the Air Officer) come from three different aviation backgrounds: one tactical jet pilot or NFO (F/A-18 or AV-8B), one tactical helicopter pilot (AH-1W or UH-1Y), and one assault support pilot (CH-46, CH-53, KC-130 or MV-22). Ideally, the three JTACs come from an artillery background (Forward Observer – 0861 MOS).

In addition to the three FACs and three JTACs, the infantry battalion also has eight Joint Fires Observers (JFOs) distributed among the rifle companies.

Marine Corps Air and Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO)

The USMC has three active duty ANGLICO units with the sole purpose to provide a fires liaison capability to Joint, Coalition, and Allied partner nations. This capability is scale-able from a small team to the division level. The smallest unit of an ANGLICO unit is a 4-5 Marine Firepower Control Team (FCT) composed of an Officer Team Leader/JTAC, a Team Chief (Forward Observer/JFO/JTAC), and a Radio Chief (Radio Operator) with the rest of the team being a mix of FO/ROs. These teams can be tailored to meet the mission requirement, from just a JTAC attached to a small team to all 5 Marines dispersed among a company sized element for distributed fires lethality via communication. Because of the large number of units these teams work with they are usually experienced in working with various US and international CAS aircraft in all environments ranging from the jungles of south east Asia, Middle East to the Arctic Circle.

See also

References
  1. "Operations Officer - Defence Jobs Australia". Defencejobs.gov.au. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  2. "The RCAF Theatre Air Control System: Considerations for the Employment of Air Power in Joint Operations".
  3. "B-GA-403-000/FP-001, Canadian Forces Aerospace Shape Doctrine".
  4. "Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) Requirement as an Occupation or Sub-Occupation".
  5. "Royal Marines Reserve Specialist Qualifications". 608 Tactical Air Control Party, or 608 TACP as it is known in the Corps, is part of RMR Merseyside. Every TACP has four members, including one officer, whose role is described in the Forward Air Controller section. RMR Merseyside trains personnel at both the Manchester and Liverpool Detachments to be part of the TACP. The role of this small team is to provide accurate descriptions and locations of targets, and indicate those targets using laser technology, to fast jets and other attack aircraft carrying a wide variety of weaponry.
  6. "RAF Regiment Roles". Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. The RAF Regiment provides both a Flight and a TACP to the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG). Specially selected Officers and Gunners operate at a high operational tempo in direct support of UK Special Forces operations worldwide.
  7. "Training the RAF's eyes and ears". BBC News. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2010. In the bitter cold and wind of the North Yorkshire Moors, a group of soldiers, Royal Marines and others are learning how to call in air-strikes and become 'forward air controllers' on the front lines in Afghanistan.
  8. David Ian Hall, Page 80, Strategy for Victory: The Development of British Tactical Air Power, 1919-1943. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Security International, 2008. ISBN 9780313350085
  9. "Timeline: A terrorist-fighting prince". The Daily Telegraph. 29 February 2008. After brief in-theatre training he catches a flight directly to FOB Dwyer. He takes up his place in the TACP working under the direct command of battlegroup Battery Commander Major Andrew Dimmock of the Royal Artillery.
  10. "Ministers and Chiefs make statements on Prince Harry's Afghan deployment". MODUK. This 3 month deployment has shown that it is perfectly possible for Prince Harry to be employed just the same as other Army officers of his rank and experience. His role as the commander of the Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) in charge of the Household Cavalry Regiment Battlegroup Forward Air Controllers (FAC) is one that he had trained for last year. As such, he was responsible for the logistical resupply of the Battlegroup by air, surveillance of the area by both manned and unmanned aircraft and protection tasks which includes controlling aircraft onto their targets.
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