Designer

Pre-WWII CAS Posture and FM 31-35 Abstract             This article is the first in the “WWII TACP Origins” series. It covers the pre-WWII air power landscape and the Army Air Corps/Army Air Forces’ attitude toward close air support. Additionally, this article explores the original doctrinal publication to which the TACP career field can trace its […]

Mediterranean Campaign and Rover Joes Failed Umbrella Concept             In November 1942, American Army Ground Forces (AGF) committed their first troops to combat in WWII to the Operation Torch landings in French North Africa (Morrocco and Algeria). The 12th Air Force acted as the primary Army Air Forces (AAF) counterpart to the combined British/American ground campaign

D-Day, St. Lo Breakout, and Armored Column Cover             Planning for close air support proved challenging for tactical air commanders and ground commanders, especially given the perceived challenges of executing the largest amphibious assault of all time against heavily fortified beaches. The highest levels of Allied leadership, namely Generals Eisenhower, Bradley, and Quesada on the American

Patton’s Third Army and Weyland’s XIX TAC Blitz Foundations Author’s Note: Research on the Air Support Parties in Western Europe from August 1944 through May 1945 is still in progress. The primary source material on close air support during the time is sufficient to craft a narrative, but the sources on the ASPs, specifically, are

Author’s Note: This article is an extension of the previous article. It covers the use of CAS by “Lightning” Joe Collins and revisits the XIX TAC/Third Army partnership in the Battle of the Bulge. Research on the actions of individual Air Support Parties during this period is still in progress, forcing this article to revolve

Author’s Note: This article contains my concluding thoughts (so far) on the impact of the ASP and CAS on WWII. I am, I think rightly so, biased in favor of tactical air power over strategic air power, and I consider CAS the pinnacle of tactical air power. That bias shows in this article, but I

Author’s Note: This article covers the first use of the term Tactical Air Control Party in official doctrine. Excuse the poor pictures. FM 31-35 (1946) can only be found at the Air Force Historical Research Center at Maxwell AFB, AL; these are poor scans from that document. In a future trip, a full, high-quality scan

Abstract: This article zooms in on the WWII Rover Joes (Air Support Party), WWII reports on the development of Rover Joe TTPs, and shows that the Rover Joes/Air Support Party is the origin of TACP, which are renamed TACP in the 1946 FM 31-35. See pictures at the end of the article for exact excerpts

Abstract: This article provides a big-picture overview of the state of TACP and close air support before and during the beginning of the Korean War. While this topic isn’t the most fun, it is necessary to understand the dismal state of TACP before and during the war. I apologize if it’s boring, but I can’t

Abstract: The opening months of the Korean War proved to be a failure for the United Nations and, more specifically, the United States. The Department of Defense over-prioritized strategic capabilities while neglecting the tactical partnership between air and ground that worked so well during WWII. Beginning with the September 1951 Joint Training Directive, US forces