Delete comment from: Elements Of Power
I would argue that the problem was two-fold, coordinating air power is difficult, particularly given the lead time required to get air support, and its a matter of controlling all of the planning. So long as the Army is planning Army operations, they don't have to make concessions, they don't have to get consensus from others, and they don't have to worry about the host of other planning issues that will develop such as Air Control Orders. Lacking ALOs in early Vietnam would have significantly increased the complexity of the issue.
However, you still see these same factors creep up today. The best open source example is Operation Anaconda in which, despite the availability of ALOs, the Army single-handedly planned the entire op and only contacted the Air Force at the last moment.
Personally, I tend to never attribut to malicious attitude/behavior that which can be more easily be blamed on laziness. Planning combat operations is incredibly difficult. Adding in air power makes it more so. Why make your job harder when you can just account for the forces you have on hand and control directly?
Jul 26, 2011, 8:11:56 AM