Jeanne M. Holm Officer Accession and Citizen Development Center

A Proposal to

Three Leader Development Seminars (LDS)Using the Technology and Techniques of

GCMF’s Virtual Staff Rides (VSR)

for

Proposal

Contract between GCMF & Holm Center:

For three LDS tracing evolution of air-ground cooperation:

(1)AEF 1918; (2) Mons Pocket 1944; (3) ANACONDA 2002

Each: 2 historians/authors (one air, one ground)

4 qualified authors hired (3 new, @$60k, co-funding)

AETC furnishes 2 active duty authors

Thereafter:

AETC accesses LDS via Beyond Campus

(GCMF copyright, fully leased gratis to Holm Center)

The Evolution of Air-Ground Cooperation: I

The U.S. Army Air Service in the AEF, 1918 Gen. J.J. Pershing and Brig. Gen. W.L. “Billy” Mitchell

Cantigny, May 1918

Early Air-Ground Cooperation

Battle for Air Space Control, 1918

GCMF Mentoring files.ppt by Tom Bowers

Authors: USAFA historian and Tom Bowers

Problem: Artillery Target

Acquisition

French Spad VII

French 75 mm Artillery Battery in Action in 1914

Aerial Photographer

sample cadet read-ahead

One major problem for the artillery was to develop a better means of target acquisition than that in the print lower left. Shown is the famous French 75mm gun, probably the best weapon of that caliber used during the war, designed to support infantry attacks in a war of maneuver. But the method depicted for identifying targets and adjusting fire --an observer standing on a platform next to the guns-- proved irrelevant for trench warfare.

One solution was aviation. Airborne observers were more efficient, and aerial photography provided excellent means for targeting fixed trench systems.

Problem: Artillery Target

Acquisition

French 75 mm Artillery Battery in Action in 1914

Aerial Photographer

sample cadet read-ahead

Aerial Observation

CLICK

sample read-ahead chart

9

Lighter than air vehicles also proved to be valuable. The photo upper left shows a German aerostat, or tethered balloon. Both sides used these to elevate artillery observers above the battlefield so that they could locate targets and adjust fire. Communications were essential between the observer and the firing unit.

At lower left is a simulator devised by the Germans to teach telegraphic communications between the observer (on the ladder) and a fire plotter at the battery (at the table),

Above is a French aerostat observer equipped with a telephone. The cables holding the balloon in place also served to provide a telephone line.

Back to the Future• Although Europeans had led development of lighter-than-air aviation, U.S. use 1862-65 of mobile hydrogen generators and airborne telegraph apparatus proved the military worth of aerial reconnaissance

• In WWI, as the opposing armies disappeared into trenches, the need for persistent aerial observation fostered the deployment of aerostats on both sides, and accelerated the evolution of airplanes.

T.S.C. Lowe’s Ballon 1862

• But it was the arrival of the AEF that provided the major stimulus to aviation as a major component of field armies:

● By the end of the war, the Americans had twice as many aerostats aloft as all the other belligerents combined●The AEF then had nearly as many fixed-wing observation squadrons (18) as it had pursuit (fighter) squadrons (20)● The only American-manufactured combat airplane fielded in large numbers was the DeHaviland-4 observation/day-bomber.

Training to Adjust Artillery Fire

CLICK

Like the Germans, U.S.Army observers were trained with simulation to adjust fire from an aerial observation post.

Each seat in the gallery represents an observer’s cockpit. The height above the “battlefield” below is scaled to present each learner the view from 2000 meters (6500 feet). The instructor designates a target, and then manipulates an apparatus that marks the “explosion” of artillery rounds on the terrain. The observer must locate these precisely on his map, then enter the map coordinates into a radio telegram to the fire direction center on the ground, together with corrections of range and azimuth to bring a subsequent volley onto the target. These data are then transmitted wirelessly in Morse code to the fire direction center.

But countermeasures against airborne artillery adjusters were inevitable, and led to intensified air to air combat.

AEF Air Observers

sample cadet read-ahead

10

Observer Jumps From

Flaming Balloon

Nieuport Fighter

World War I Combat Aircraft1914 1918 Prod.

Fr 138 4,500 67,987Br 113 3,300 58,144US 55 740 15,000

Ger 232 2,390 48,537

11

BALLOON SHOOT

While artillery could counter aerostat-borne observers by attacking ground handlers, the primary means to destroy observation balloons was the fighter airplane, which became more effective when nose-mounted machine guns were synchronized with the propeller blade.

The table shows the number of combat aircraft in operation in 1914 and 1918 and the total produced during the war. The AEF used mainly European-produced fighters. With the development of air vehicles, additional specialized roles were emerged, such as strategic bombing; London, Paris, and Berlin were struck during the war, but the technology of the era limited range and capacity, so such raids produced only meager results.

Lt Col, USAF Asst Prof ,USAFA

Marshall Library’s Holdings

G.C. Marshall papers900 aerial photos of Meuse-ArgonneWWI French & US topo maps5000 SC photos

An Eminent USAFAuthor

Suggestion:

The Evolution of Air-Ground Cooperation: IIThe Battle of the Mons Pocket, Sep 3—5, 1944

VII Corps and IX TACMG “Lightening Joe” Collins and MG “Pete” Quesada

Early AirGround Cooperation

Photos from Belgian inhabitants during battle (914 snapshots on hand) ~25,000 POW, unk German KIA — remnants of 20 German divisions851 motor vehicles, 50 armored vehicles, 652 horse drawn vehicles*

* Blumenson, M. Breakout and Pursuit. OCMH, 1960. P. 684.

Authors: Jacob Neufeld and Dr. Stephen Bowman

Pursuit to the German Border

25

The Mons Pocket

VSR Assets: (1)1944 maps and aerial photos; (2) 4 albums of snapshots ( 900+pics) by Belgian VSR Assets: (1)1944 maps and aerial photos; (2) 4 albums of snapshots ( 900+pics) by Belgian citizens, 1st week Sep 44; (3) 1st Inf Div records; (4) Hadsel (GCMF) interviews 3AD citizens, 1st week Sep 44; (3) 1st Inf Div records; (4) Hadsel (GCMF) interviews 3AD

Air Support Communications 1944IX TAC and VII Corps

368th FG

28

33rd Photo Recon SquadronIX TAC

F-5 Photo Lightning

The Evolution of Air-Ground Cooperation IIIOperation ANACONDA, OEF 2002

Early Air-Ground Cooperation

Authors: AWC expert and Tom Donnelly

VSR Prepared from Open Sources

• Operation Anaconda: An Air Power Perspective. Hq, USAF, 2005• MacPherson, M. Roberts Ridge. Dell, New York. 2006• Naylor, S. Not a Good Day To Die. Berkley, New York, 2005• Inside the Pentagon, article on air support for Operation Anaconda, Oct

2002• “Interview with Major General Franklin L. Hagenbeck, Commanding

General, 10th Mountain Division (Light), Fort Drum, New York, and Commanding General, Coalition Joint Task Force Mountain in Afghanistan.” Field Artillery , Sep-Oct 2002.

• “Inside Operation ANACONDA”, PowerPoint presentation by MGen Hagenbeck to AUSA, Feb 2003.

• Davis, M. G. (Maj, USA) Operation Anaconda: Command and Confusion in Joint Warfare. Masters Thesis, Air War College, 2006.

AF/XOL

10 ID Naylor

Shaded Reliefby GCMF

Image generatedwith MICRODEM™

fromUTM.asc in GridASCII

format and UTM coordinates

(Grid Zone 42 North). 30 meter spacing

post-to-post

DEM derivedfrom Russian

1:50,000 scale topographic line maps by Eastview Cartographic,

supplied without copyright restriction.

AO ANACONDA

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Shaded relief

Russian DEMFiles Geo-registered

ForDEM, Lon-Lat, UTMGCMF procured; no©

Russian DEM

Google Earth Pro © TBD

Google Earth Pro

Tactical Takur Ghar

Proposal

Contract between GCMF & Holm Center:

For three LDS tracing evolution of air-ground cooperation:

(1)AEF 1918; (2) Mons Pocket 1944; (3) ANACONDA 2002

Each: 2 historians/authors (one air, one ground)

4 qualified authors hired (3 new, @$60k, co-funding)

AETC furnishes 2 active duty authors

Thereafter:

AETC accesses LDS via Beyond Campus

(GCMF copyright, fully leased gratis to Holm Center)