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Tactical Air Control Party

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USAF Tactical Air Control Party
File:TACP.png
United States Air Force TACP shield
Country United States of America
Branch United States Air Force
Sizeapprox. 1100
Part ofUSAF Air Combat Command, U.S. Air Forces Pacific, United States Air Forces in Europe ,United States Special Operations Command, Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC)..
Motto(s)"Death on Call" "Advise, Assist, Control"
ColorsRed, Green, and Blue
File:Tacp.png
Tactical Air Control Party Crest
TACP during an exercise in Germany

United States

A Tactical Air Control Party, commonly abbreviated TACP, is usually a team of two or more United States Air Force Tactical Air Command and Control Specialists (AFSC 1C4X1) aligned with a conventional or special operational United States Army combat maneuver unit to advise ground commanders on the best use of air power, establish and maintain command and control communications, and provide precision terminal attack guidance of U.S. and coalition fixed- and rotary-wing close air support aircraft, artillery, and naval gunfire. A TACP always includes at least one Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) qualified to control attack aircraft. It can also include an Air Liaison Officer, who works primarily in an advisory capacity.

Along with being assigned to all conventional Army combat units, TACP airmen are also attached to Special Forces, Navy SEALs, and Army Rangers, as well as Joint Special Operations Command units and multi-national Special Operations task forces, primarily as communication and aircraft coordination experts and precision airstrike controllers.

In addition, TACP members can be assigned to AFSOC Special Tactics Squadrons to perform their traditional duties in support of the Special Tactics mission.

Enlisted members are either known as JTACs or ROMADs.

- JTACs provide terminal attack control for attack aircraft and act in an advisory capacity for their aligned army unit.

- ROMADs (Now referred to by the Air Force as JTAC's in training) are communication experts who assist JTACs in the performance of their duties while working to attain JTAC status for themselves. ("Radio Operator, Maintainer, and Driver," a holdover acronym from the careerfield's Vietnam era, when enlisted airmen served primarily as assistants to officer-only Forward Air Controllers, has been replaced in the TACP vernacular with the term "Recon, Observe, Mark & Destroy" in reflection of the modern role of the TACCS)

TACP members wear black berets with a distinctive red, blue, and green cloth flash and silver crest. Air Liaison Officers are authorized to wear the black beret, flash, and rank while assigned to a TACP unit, but not at any other point in their career (many choose not to don the black beret out of respect for the enlisted TACP airmen who have undergone intense training to earn this distinctive uniform item). Air Liaison Officers can obtain JTAC status by attending a four-week joint terminal attack controller qualification course, but are not required to do so.

USMC TACP

Tradional Marine Corps infantry battalions each have a TACP that falls under the S-3 in the H&S company. The TACP is head by a Marine Forward Air Controller (FAC, MOS 7502), referred to as the Air Officer. Underneath him, he has two other Forward Air Controllers and three Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs, MOS 8002). Ideally the three FACs (including the Air Officer) come from three different aviation backgrounds: one tactical jet pilot (F/A-18 or AV-8B), one tactical helicopter pilot (AH-1W or UH-Y), and one assault support helicopter pilot (CH-46 or CH-53). Ideally, the three JTACs come from an artillery background (Forward Observer, MOS 0861).

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

Training

All TACP candidates attend a 75-day training course at Hurlburt Field, Florida, home of Air Force Special Operations Command.

ROMADs who have achieved a Combat Mission Ready status and completed associated Initial Qualification Training are sent to the Joint Terminal Attack Controller Qualification Courses held at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada Berlin, Germany, and Soissions France. Upon graduation and completion of subsequent Mission Qualification Training, they are evaluated to determine if they will receive JTAC status.

Indoctrination

All TACP candidates will now attend a 5 day long indoctrination course at Lackland AFB immediately following basic military training. The course is designed to educate candidates on the TACP career field and also to weed out any candidates not fit to continue on to the TACP schoolhouse.

Initial Training

  • Block I Basic Career Knowledge (5 Days)

Basic career knowledge and associated publications.[1]

  • Block II Portable Communications Equipment (20 Days)

Portable radio familiarization and training.

  • Block III Communications Pallet (11 Days)

Vehicle-mounted radio communications familiarization and training.

  • Block IV Ground Environment Training (20 Days)

Field training exercise, Day and night land navigation, vehicle navigation, convoy training, and small unit tactics. Also, including training in bivouac setup, site selection, patrolling methods, and day and night navigation on foot and in a vehicle.

  • Block V Air Support Coordination/Weapons Systems (5 Days)

Methods and means of requesting close air support, weapons effects and utilization, and other coordination procedures.

  • Block VI Close Air Support Procedures (12 Days)

Field training exercise, including close air support planning and execution. [2][3]

Advanced Training

United States Air Force Combat Survival School -- SERE Course—3 weeks, Fairchild AFB, Washington

United States Army Airborne School** -- Basic Parachutist Course—3 weeks, Fort Benning, Georgia

Special Tactics Advanced Skills Course -- 12 weeks, Hurlburt Field, Florida

Note: Some of these courses are unit dependent and may be selected.

Optional Advanced Training

US Army Jumpmaster Course—Fort Benning, Georgia

US Army Air Assault School -- Fort Campbell, Kentucky (in addition to other locations that offer this course, such Schoefield Barracks, Hawaii)

US Army Ranger School -- Fort Benning, Georgia

Special Forces Military Freefall Course—Freefall Parachuting Course-5 weeks, Fort Bragg, North Carolina and Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona

Special Forces Combat Diver Qualification Course—Open and Closed-Circuit SCUBA and Waterborne Infiltration Course-5 weeks, NAS Key West, Florida

US Army Pathfinder School—Fort Campbell, Kentucky or Ft. Benning, Georgia

Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course—Fort Bragg, North Carolina

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom Armed Forces TACP personnel may come from the Royal Marines[4], Army or RAF Regiment[5] Every TACP has four members, including one officer Forward Air Controller. 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.

Prince Harry, the third in line to the British throne served as a TACP commander in Afghanistan [6][7]

FACs and TACPs in the United Kingdom are trained at the Joint Forward Air Controller Training Standards Unit (JFACTSU) [8]

References

  1. ^ http://www2.hurlburt.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123029059
  2. ^ http://www.romad.com/main.htm
  3. ^ http://www2.hurlburt.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123029059
  4. ^ "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 very professional small team is to provide accurate descriptions and locations of targets, and indicate those targets using sophisticated LASER technology, to fast jets and other attack aircraft carrying a wide variety of weaponry.
  5. ^ "RAF Regiment Roles". 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.
  6. ^ "Timeline: A terrorist-fighting prince". The Daily Telegraph. 2008-02-29. 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.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "Training the RAF's eyes and ears". BBC News. 2009-02-14. Retrieved 2010-01-06. 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.
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