Lightning Strike: Aviation Employment Concepts from the Battlefields of Iraq

Photo By Staff Sgt. Bryanna Poulin | An OH-58 Kiowa Warrior Helicopter provides security for Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, as they prepare to clear a building during a training exercise on Contingency Operating Base Speicher Iraq. The combination of soldiers and helicopters provides Task Force Lighting a powerful option against the enemy. Counter improvised explosive device emplacement is a major focus of the Lightning Strike Team however, the team trains to accomplish a variety of obstacles they may face while performing missions in Iraq.  

IRAQ

09.04.2007

Courtesy Story

25th Combat Aviation Brigade

by Col. A.T. Ball and Lt. Col. Frank Tate
25th Combat Aviation Brigade

IRAQ - A large dark sedan races down a canal road in the Diyala River Valley. Inside, the number five high value individual (HVI) in the province is traveling with five of his closest lieutenants including a sniper team leader and a master bomb maker. They are studying a detailed map of a nearby Iraqi security force compound and preparing for their attack. All avenues into this part of Diyala are covered with deep buried improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and early warning networks are ever watchful for approaching coalition patrols. Insurgents operate with impunity after dark.

Suddenly, they hear the roar of two UH-60 Black Hawks bearing down on their car. Within seconds, the car is shaking from the rotor wash and the air is filled with thick dust. Bright white lights are shining into the windshield. The helicopters are difficult if not impossible to clearly distinguish in the dark moonless night. The sedan slows to a crawl and weaves in the road as the terrified insurgent fighters begin to throw their rocket propelled grenades, hand grenades and machine guns from the car in a fruitless effort to disguise their intent. The car, riddled by the lasers of a dozen weapons, slows to a stop. The enemy fighters are greeted by the voice of an interpreter yelling through a bullhorn for them to step out of the car with their hands in the air.

Through the settling haze they can now distinguish the silhouettes of an Infantry Platoon, ready to attack at the slightest provocation. They hear the menacing sound of the Kiowas circling overhead – they are overwhelmed, shocked, and confused. The HVI is the first one out of the car with his hands in the air. Having eluded an intense manhunt for more than two years, he drops to his knees. His eyes scan the front seat of the car, which still contains videotapes and documents that reveal the composition and future plans for his entire network. HVI number five and his crew had been the object of a "Lightning Strike" operation; a highly trained and uniquely configured small unit developed to seize the initiative from the enemy and attack at the time and place of our choosing, and named for its keep role and rapid strike capability in Task Force Lightning, 25th Infantry Division.

Anatomy of the Lightning Strike Element

The concept for Lightning Strike was to go beyond a traditional air reconnaissance force, capitalizing on new technologies and capabilities inherent in unmanned aviation. So the Combat Action Brigade built a team that maximized the capabilities of both manned and unmanned aviation systems, as well as the capabilities of a dedicated and specially trained ground force, in one package. It became readily apparent once employed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, that the ability to move and secure an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team around the Division Area of Operations (AO) to reduce caches and IEDs would be a tremendous combat multiplier, so this capability was also incorporated.

The biggest challenge the team faces is maintaining robust and redundant communications across the vast Division battle space to command and control (C2) the Lightning Strike package. Blue Force Tracker (BFT) text messages provided one means of communication but it is not ideal for dynamic situations. The solution comes from the Hunter Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), organic to the 25th CAB UAS Company, equipped with a Communications Relay Package (CRP), rendering clear FM secure voice communications across the Division battle space. Additionally, the Hunter gives Lightning Strike teams the ability to maintain constant surveillance on prospective targets without detection, and the ability to remotely designate for precision munitions from Army and Joint platforms.


Employment Options for Lightning Strike Elements

Once formed, the 25th CAB determined there were three primary methods of employment. The first method is in direct support of a brigade combat team. A second method of employment is as part of a Division Task Force, organized with other Division enablers for a specific mission such as route clearance activities. A third employment concept provides an economy of force effort in an area where a continuous ground presence is not possible or required. This is the most typical utilization of the Lightning Strike team in Multi-National Division-North (MND-N).

Although many areas of the Iraq battle space are truly non-contiguous, with large sections unpatrolled by coalition forces on a routine basis, the CAB needed a graphic control measure to delineate our "layered maneuver" concept. Special Operations Forces routinely establish short duration Joint Special Operations Areas (JSOA) to de-conflict their operations with other coalition forces and establish C2 over an area for a specified period of time or a specified operation. When their operation is complete, the JSOA collapses and responsibility for the AO reverts to the owning ground unit. We thought the same construct would work for Aviation units conducting Lightning Strike operations for the Division; hence the beginning of the Combat Aviation Brigade Operating Area (CABOA).


Combat Aviation Brigade Operating Area

The CABOA made sense for Multi-National Division–North's fight in Iraq. The Lightning Strike team operates in a Division economy of force role in areas where the Division Commander has chosen to accept risk by pulling ground forces in order to mass in other portions of the Division battle space. By conducting vehicle interdictions, traffic control points (TCP), and small scale air assaults in a specified area, the Lightning Strike element presents the illusion of a much larger coalition presence. By establishing the CABOA, ground units are relieved of the responsibility for C2 of these operations, thus allowing them to focus on other core responsibilities. In order to effectively C2 the CABOA, a Tactical Command Post (TAC) is co-located with the nearest ground unit. This facilitates rapid coordination and de-confliction with any ongoing ground operations and ensures easy clearance of fires using existing mechanisms already in place for forces already in the CABOA.

For the last nine months the 25th CAB conducted operations nightly in at least one of seven separate CABOAs based on MND-N directives. The Hunter UAV, Scout Weapons Teams (SWTs), and UH-60 Black Hawk team conduct reconnaissance separately to cover a larger area. Once any member of the team identifies a potential target they notify the TAC and the elements of the team converge and initiate the Lightning Strike battle drill. The CAB's organic communications capabilities, including the CRP on the Hunter UAS, coupled with well placed TACs, ensures seamless C2.


Find, Fix, Finish, Exploit

The Lightning Strike team is uniquely organized to find, fix, finish, and exploit enemy forces for any items of intelligence value they may possess. Without ground forces, there is no way to exploit a site after an aviation engagement. In many cases, even with highly suspicious activity, aviation forces could not engage because of the limitations of the rules of engagement. The team had one option – a kinetic strike.

The Lightning Strike package solves both of these problems. If the SWT successfully engages a vehicle full of IED emplacers caught in the act, the Lightning Strike ground team, specially trained in sensitive site exploitation, inserts to inspect the site. If the enemy activity is simply suspicious, the aircraft work as a team to stop the target in an appropriate area and then inserts the ground team. The ground element conducts tactical questioning and searches the area for intelligence or contraband. If released, the Iraqis are sure to tell the story to everyone they know contributing to the perception of a heavy coalition force presence in the area.


The Road Ahead

The Lightning Strike element operating in a CABOA with Aviation units in a maneuver role as a battle space owner is no longer just a novel idea. This is a combat tested and proven solution to tactical problems that face the 25th Infantry Division in Iraq. As more units gain combat experience with Lightning Strike TTPs and CABOA operations, it is hoped that more aviation formations will assume this maneuver role, so relevant to the contemporary operating environment.

• Date Taken: 09.04.2007
• Date Posted: 09.04.2007 16:28
• Story ID: 12182
• Location: IQ