'Eyes on target': combat drills stress air-ground coordination.

• Author: Jean, Grace
• Position: TRAINING

AVON PARK AIR FORCE RANGE, Fla. -- Ground troops fighting in Iraq have learned that when they need to destroy targets or restrain unruly crowds, they can call for "close air support." But the elaborate coordination required to synchronize events on the ground with air maneuvers often is not mastered until units are in actual combat.

In an effort to begin that integration before they deploy, some units voluntarily are participating in a weeklong training event here in central Florida.

On a recent sunny afternoon, a small, unmanned helicopter hums its way above a mock Iraqi town where role-playing villagers are congregating in the path of an incoming convoy of humvees. As the drone scans the ground with a video camera, a truck east of the concrete buildings permits soldiers to keep an eye on targets using a prototype laser rangefinder system. The convoy hangs back and minutes later, a simulated laser-guided bomb eliminates armed insurgents atop two of the tallest buildings.

In a war in which record numbers of drones and robots are surveying the ground to hunt down enemy fighters and roadside bombs, the importance of incorporating such technologies into tactics and training has become paramount. The information provides opportunities for ground troops to take preemptive actions, often by use of air power. In Iraq, units are relying on close air support to take out targets and to intimidate crowds with low-altitude "show of force" fly-bys.

All of these situations have been incorporated into this semi-annual pre-deployment exercise called Atlantic Strike, which is training 200 participants from all four services including the Canadian Forces.

"It's intended to give them scenario-based training that they'll experience in theater as best as we can replicate it here," says Air Force Maj. Ray Brennan, director of the exercise.

The training event originated from a need to learn how technologies work in combat. When the remotely operated video enhanced receiver (ROVER) technology that allows ground forces to see data from airborne sensors was developed several years ago, operators needed a way to train on the system before deploying. The Air Force created Able Archer, later renamed Atlantic Strike, to allow operators to develop the tactics, techniques and procedures for the system, says Brennan.

With its focus on close air support, the event quickly evolved to the point where it now includes 24 teams of U.S. and foreign troops who rotate daily through four scenarios. Joint terminal attack controllers, or JTACs, run with the ground forces as they help guide aircrews onto targets.

Technologies on the brink of entering service have had opportunities to follow in the footsteps of ROVER at the event. The...