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                                         ~FTER ~CTION

               ITEM:  Battlefield Coordination Element

               OBSERV~TION:  The Marine Liaison Team to CENT~F was an ad hoc
               staff assembled from a wide variety of sources.  No doctrinal
               guidance existed that could be used to determine staffing/support
               requirements or specify responsibilities/authority.  The initial
               cadre had to determine their role and additional staffing
               requirements based on the situation at hand.  Had hostilities
               broken out shortly after MEF `5 arrival, we would have been unable
               to effectively support MEF objectives.

               DISCUSSION:  In a joint operatiori-we can expect the
               air component to rapidly proceed with its air campaign planning.
      - --  - fIf we are to ensure that air plans support the ground scheme of
              `~maneuver, that scheme, at least in general, must be rapidly
           -W½communicated to~the air planner.    The ground componen~t should
  -. -    -$;~`{~be continuously represented in air planning. In Desert
           ~~;~~?~Shiel d/Desert Storm the USMC ground perspective was available but
  -~ -    ~¼~~`~J~~5 hampered' by a lack of communication and lack of authority to
          - )%~~$speak for the comman~r. The ground representative had no
      - -   -;$charter to represent the M~GTF commander.  In addition we were

               on down in regards to what the present "Marine Situation" was.
      -~  -   -~ often tasked with giving `hip-pocket" briefs to General Officers
              - Though we usually had the basic situation we were often giving
                hese briefs with limited knowledge of the overall scheme of what
          ~-~~~Marine units were doing on the ground.

              `-LESSONS LE~RNED: The US'~rmy has a permenently staffed Battle
  - --  -   :`y-~~field Coordination Element (BCE) complete with Table of      -
  - - -:---.:- Organization (T/O) an-d a Standard Operating Procedures (sop).
      -`   ~~r:WHile ~rmy requirements differ from those of the Marines, their
              - concept may be a useful framework for creating a Marine BCE. -
           -  - :WHile USMC manning policies may preclude permanent staffing, the

      -`    `I creation of an SOP and Concept of Operations (CONOPS), combined
      -     -  with participation in exercises, could prove invaluable in
            `)4uturejoint operations.

    -: -  -    RECOMMEND~TION:, That the USMC Warfighting Center develop    -
               additions to MEF and MEB T/O's to provide a USMC BCE equivalent
               and develop an SOP to support it.  Th~s BCE Rep should be
               chartered and vested with some authority to speak for the M~GTF
               commander.  The commander must recognize the role of this
               representative and keep him fully appraised of the ground scheme
               of maneuver and commander's priorities and intent.

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