Welcome back to the LeMay Centers
doctrine education series . This video
will help visualize the concept of
agile combat employment or ace .
Straight from Air Force Doctor note
1-21 Ace is defined as a proactive and
reactive operational scheme of maneuver
executed within threat timelines to
increase survivability while generating
combat power to unpack these concepts .
First , we will provide the big picture
of the different terms , moving parts
and places involved in a space and then
we will walk through the different
phases of ace . Let's go over the big
picture . This is a busy slide , but
we'll cover it left to right and first
provide a broad overview of the main
components of a space on the left side .
The Air Operation Center utilizes
mission command to exercise command and
control , such as issuing mission type
orders for more information . See our
mission command video here . You can
see high value airborne assets and
strategic airlift , Both intra and
inter theater logistics serves a
critical role in executing a space
strike aircraft also flow from home
station to forward enduring locations
or main operating bases .
As we go right , you have the top and
bottom main operating bases functioning
as air expeditionary wings in
a space . We must remember that all
bases are fighting positions , not
sanctuaries . These main operating
bases will have multiple contingency
locations or forward operating sites
which are typically closer to the fight
and rely more on logistical support .
They are signified by the green huts
depending on the operational situation .
Forces will flow back and forth from
maine and forward sites , relying on
airlift and logistical flows in a
perfect scenario . All of these are
covered by air and missile defense
typically provided by the army .
It's important to note that Ace is a
joint effort and is inherently part of
joint all domain operations . All the
services have supporting and supported
roles in a space . All the way on the
right is the adversary's territory ,
which is where the bulk of the threats
are located . That is the overall
picture of a battle space . Now
that we have the big picture , let's
step through the phases of Ace as
mentioned . Ace refers to a scheme of
maneuver . So let's break down with
this entails Phase one involves setting
the theater , we call this posture and
it is tied to all other elements of ace
as the starting point . We do this well
ahead of need ideally during the
competition phase it involves
prepositioning war , reserve material .
Forward operating sides are identified
and ready to be sustained through
agreements with host nations In Phase
two , some kind of political or
security trigger compels us to maneuver
our forces from home station and from
our enduring locations to disperse to
our contingency locations or forward
operating sites . Again , this is
proactive and serves to both deter our
adversary and assure our allies and
partners . As our scenario progresses
into armed conflict , certain threats
have triggered us into reactive ace in
Phase three . In order to survive and
then regenerate . We disperse from our
contingency or enduring locations that
are under attack . The goal of base is
to complicate the adversaries targeting
solution and at the same time in the
next phase , mass forces from the
dispersed locations to take the fight
to our adversary . This is intended to
be effective , not necessarily
efficient and will require innovative
logistics to meet operational needs and
boost our resilience .
Finally , the last phase involves
recovery and sustainment . This
involves fixing airfields rapidly and
maintaining and fixing our aircraft
whether their code one or battle
damaged and we continue taking the
fight to our adversary by generating
combat air power to fly , fight and win .
This is an all hands fight and every
phase relies on the skills , expertise
and innovation of multi capable airmen .
To sum up when applied correctly , Ace
complicates the enemy's targeting
process , creates political and
operational dilemmas for the enemy and
creates flexibility for friendly forces .
Thanks for watching . We hope this
video helped you to better understand
the concepts of agile combat employment
and what it requires for success . When
confronting a near peer adversary ,
please be sure to check out our website
for all our doctrine publications ,
doctor notes , additional videos and
our new podcast series .