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Role The DASC processes immediate air support requests; coordinates aircraft employment with other supporting arms; manages terminal control assetssupporting GCE and combat service support element forces; and controls assigned aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and itinerant aircraft transiting through DASC controlled Airspace . The DASC controls and directs air support activities that effect the GCE commander's focus on close operations and those air missions requiring integration with the ground combat forces ( Close Air Support {Link without Title} , assault support and designated air reconnaissance). The DASC does not normally control aircraft conducting deep air support (DAS) missions as detailed coordination of DAS missions are not required with ground forces. However, the DASC will provide battle damage assessments (BDAs) and mission reports (MISREPs) from DAS missions to the GCE's senior fire support coordination center (FSCC) and TACC when required. Tasks The DASC-
Current Units
HISTORY World War II " Okinawa was the culmination of the development of air support doctrine in the Pacific ," declared Colonel Vernon E. Megee, commander of the Landing Force Air Support Units during the campaign. "The procedures we used there were the result of lessons learned in all preceding campaigns, including the Philippines ." Indeed, Marine aviation at Okinawa operated across the spectrum of missions, from supply drops to bombing an enemy battleship. The early forerunners of today's Marine Aviation Command and Control units were the Air Liaison Parties that accompanied the front-line divisions and served to request close air support and direct (but not control — the front was too narrow) aircraft to the target. Coordination of lower-echelon air requests became the province of three Marine Landing Force Air Support Control Units. Also during the Battle Of Okinawa the Marines made great strides towards refining supporting arms coordination. Commanders established Target Information Centers (TICs) at every level from Tenth Army down to battalion. The TICs functioned to provide a centralized target information and weapons assignment system responsive to both assigned targets and targets of opportunity. Finally, all three component liaison officers — Artillery , air, and naval gunfire — were aligned with target intelligence information officers. As described by Colonel Henderson, the TIC at IIIAC consisted of the corps artillery S-2 section "expanded to meet the needs of Artillery , NGF, and CAS on a 24-hour basis . . . . The Corps Arty Fire Direction Center and the Corps Fire Support Operations Center were one and the same facility — with NGF and air added." From these early innovations it is easy to see the groundwork that was laid for today's units such as the DASC, FSCC, MEF Force Fires and the Intelligence Tactical Fusion Cell. Korea Vietnam In April 1965, MASS-2 and MASS-3 deployed to the Republic of Vietnam and provided Direct Air Support Centers in support of ground combat units. In addition, the Air Support Radar Teams established an impressive record of precision ground-controlled bombing. From 1966-1971, MASS-3 Air Support Radar Teams controlled more than 38,010 AN/TPQ-10 missions, directing more than 121,000 tons of ordnance on 56,753 targets.(10:1) By the end of the war, the Direct Air Support Centers and Air Support Radar Teams participated in virtually every major Marine combat operation. During the twenty years following the Vietnam War, the Marine Air Support Squadron underwent numerous organizational changes, equipment enhancements and significant doctrinal growth. Gulf War During Operation Desert Storm the DASC was operational for 984 hrs. They controlled 4948 fixed wing missions and 839 rotary wing missions. During this time they received 375 immediate Joint Tactical Air Requests (JTARs), 114 immediate Air Support Requests (ASRs) and 153 immediate Medevacs . Operation Iraqi Freedom The first DASC Marines to arrive in theater were from Marine Air Support Squadron 3 . They arrived in Kuwait at the end of October 2002 and were billeted at Camp Commando along with other key units and planners from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Follow on forces began to arrive in January of 2003. They included the remainder of Marine Air Support Squadron 3 and significant detachments from Marine Air Support Squadron 1 and Marine Air Support Squadron 6 . The plan called for the DASC to be broken up into a Main echelon and a Forward echelon. The main would be attached to the Main Headquarters of the 1st Marine Division while the forward would be attached to the Division "Jump CP." Air Support Marines also provided a smaller DASC for Task Force Tarawa , staffed a DASC(A) Det out of Al Jader Air Base in Kuwait and provided Air Support Liaison Teams (ASLTs) to all of the Regiments within the 1st Marine Division. After billeting at LSA Matilda for the week prior to the war, the DASC Fwd, in conjunction with the Division jump CP, pushed to the northern Kuwaiti desert in the final days before the invasion. Crossing the border on the morning of the 20th of March, they pushed forward into the Rumallayah oil fields and took over operations from the DASC Main. From there they moved in trace of the First Marine Division operating from a position just north of An Nasariyah, next to the hasty airstrip at Hontush, on Highway 6 about 10k SE of Baghdad, in a former airborne training facility in Eastern Baghdad and as part of Task Force Tripoli in Tikrit. The 1st Marine Division DASC used the MASS-3 squadron callsign ''"Blacklist"'' throughout the initial invasion while the Task Force Tripoli DASC used the callsign "Presley" in honor of Presley O'Bannon and also to distinguish itself from "Blacklist" which was still operational during that time. REFERENCES
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