Command and Control of Specialized Aviation Assets : A New Operational Concept

Currently, U.S. military forces deploy and employ under the auspices of separate systems Deployment occurs via the Joint Chiefs of Staff managed process called Joint Operational Planning and Employment System (JOPES) employment of forces occurs under the direction of a combatant theater commander In the case of special operations forces, the employment process is managed by a Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF) commander and is known as Time Sensitive Planning Special operations forces are able to execute jointly planned and rehearsed special operations missions within 96 hours of receiving a warning order, The JOPES deployment system may take days to complete the coordination required to deploy military forces overseas, However, control of those military forces, and therefore mission preparation, does not currently pass to the theater commanders until the forces arrive in theater, Depending on the method of transportation, this deployment window may take as long as a week, Although in some cases, deployments can be accomplished in a matter of days, This is the exception rather than the rule, though, The net effect is that the timeliness of military responses to crises is limited not only by the distance to the frontline, but also by the speed of the current JOPES and mission planning processes, This is true for special operations forces as well as conventional military forces, This thesis will offer a new operational concept for the deployment, employment, and command and control of specialized air power.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Command and Control of Specialized Aviation Assets : A New Operational Concept', published 2001 under ISBN 9781423524199 and ISBN 1423524195.