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File: 082696_d50035_013.txt
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capabilities (e.g., antlair, reconnaissance,  interdiction/deep
air support)  should be under Air Force control.  The focus is on
interdicting well beyond the fire support coordination line
(FSCL)  those enemy warfighting components vital to the prosecu-
tion of war.

        (b)  Marine Corps operators and planners see the battle-
field I~vertically;1 emphasizing integrated combined arms opera
tions in relationship to the MAGTF area of responsibility (AOR).
The MAGTF commander executes a ground scheme of maneuver, with a
supporting air plan that includes extensive close air support
short of the FSCL,  and reconnaissance, interdiction, and air
defense that extend well beyond the FSCL.

  (3)   The Air Force and the Marine Corps have different
doctrinal world views and alignments.

        (a)  Air Force doctrine tends to be aligned with interna-
tional doctrine.   The Air Force has maintained a significant com-
mitment to defense of NATO Europe since 1945, and its doctrine
understandably is linked closely to high-intensity, coalition
warfare on a crowded battlefield.

        (b)  Marine Corps doctrine is oriented to the naval cam-
paign and to expeditionary operations of varying intensity in
which widely dispersed, operational maneuver forces are more the
norm.   Nonetheless, its doctrine, organization, and systems are
designed to be flexible and able to interoperate with other
forces on the high intensity, coalition battlefield; e.g., the
Marine Corps Air Command and Control System, which interoperates
with Naval forces afloat, Air Force, and neighboring Allied
systems, such as NATO Air Defense Ground Environment (NADGE).

  (4)   Flowing from the above, the philosophy of joint integra-
tion of force for combat differs between the two Services.

        (a)  The Air Force subscribes to a functional organization
for battle (air,  land, sea) in which tactical, fixed-wing air
support is integrated, organizationally, no lower than the joint
force level.   It holds a philosophy that joint force mission
attainment can be best achieved by the application of all fixed-
wing, tactical air power--regardless of Service componency--by a
designated, functionally-oriented, air component commander exer-
cising OPCON over all TACAIR assets.

        (b)  The Marine Corps subscribes to a philosophy of joint
operations which focuses on overall joint force mission attain-
ment through employment of Service components consistent with
their designed warfighting capabilities and in a manner designed
to exploit those capabilities.   It supports the integration of
force at the joint level through mission planning, coordination,
and direction of forces, rather than through consolidated command

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