Services sign off on common procedures for close-air support.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Aviation

In an effort to reduce the risk of friendly fire and make close-air support more I helpful to ground troops, U.S. military aviators from all branches of the armed forces are now required to follow common guidelines.

The U.S. military services and U.S. Special Operations Command signed in early September a "joint close-air support memorandum of agreement," paving the way for a single document that will, for the first time, standardize the procedures and terminology employed by both aviators and ground controllers, said Navy Rear Adm. Matthew G. Moffitt.

"It is a watershed event," said Moffitt, who commands the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, in Fallon, Nev.

"We finally have one joint document that drives the entire close-air support process. from start to finish," Moffitt told aviators at the 2004 Tailhook Convention. "We now operate off the same procedures, with the same terminology and the same number of briefing lines."

The briefing lines are more commonly known as the "nine-line brief." It includes the nine pieces of standard information that a forward-air controller needs to send to the pilot who will strike a target. The nine-line brief also tells the pilot the position of friendly forces in the area.

Additionally, an executive committee has been tasked to figure out how to align different command-and-control programs from the various services. The goal, Moffitt said, is for "any service to communicate with any part of the close-air support business in any organization."

Moffitt noted that U.S. officials would like to see the common...