Air Mobility: A Brief History of the American Experience

Terms and Abbreviations

xi Terms and Abbreviations This list includes terms utilized in multiple chapters of this study. Terms used in only one chapter are defined at the first point of use. All terms are defined and presented with their abbreviations at the first point of use in each chapter. Some of the following terms correspond to terms defined officially in the U.S. Department of Defense Joint Publication 1-02, Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, November 8, 2010. But, here, they are defined in reflection of their use in this study and for consistency with earlier forms of use. Administrative This is an airlift performed under secure conditions, usually at main bases and/or in aircraft loaded to take maximum advantage of their available hold volume. Air assault During World War II an air assault referred to the delivery of troops into combat by parachute of gliders. Since the 1950s it also denotes the delivery of assault forces by helicopter. Air mobility Air mobility refers to the movement and delivery of personnel , cargo, or fuel by air transport and air-refueling aircraft. Air Reserve The ARC comprises the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard. Air transport As used in this study, this refers to the administrative movement of individuals or small groups of passengers and cargo by air, usually in support of operations by military forces deployed already. Air Transport The Air Transport Command was the strategic air transport arm of the United States from 1942 to 1948. An earlier Air Transport Command (1941–1942) was responsible primarily for supporting army airborne training. Airborne The definition of “airborne” is generally the same as for “air assault.” Airdrop An airdrop is the delivery of personnel and cargo from aircraft in flight, either with or without parachutes. Components (ARC) airlift Command (ATC) Terms and Abbreviations xii Airland This refers to the delivery of personnel and cargo from an aircraft that has landed or, in the case of helicopters, that remains in a hover. Airlift As used in this study, this refers to the operational movement of military units into combat zones or theaters. Army Air Corps The Army Air Corps directed the equipping and training of all U.S. Army air units from 1926 to 1941. From 1935 it relinquished operational control of field units to General Headquarters Air Force. Assault airlift Used through the 1960s, this term generally referred to the delivery of passengers and cargo into very short and minimally developed assault zones by fixed-wing aircraft. Assault zone An assault zone was used for the landing of aircraft, usually helicopters, but was used also to describe short, rough fields suitable for use by fixed-wing assault transports. Battlefield This term is used in this study to indicate U.S. Army Aviation forces and/or operational movements of ground combat forces by airlift units controlled organically by the moving units or by higher-level ground commanders. Channel airlift A channel airlift is a regularly scheduled airlift mission or cargo, generally moving between established bases. Combat These are air commands in the United States and overseas responsible for training air combat forces and commanding them overseas. Currently these include the Air Combat Command and air components of unified combatant commands, such as United States Air Forces in Europe and Pacific Air Forces. Combatant A combatant command is a unified or specified command with a broad, continuing mission under a single commander reporting directly to the president through the secretary of defense. Common-user A common-user airlift is airlift and/or aerial refueling forces operated by a single organization to provide air mobility support to multiple user organizations in accordance with priorities and directives established by a superior military command. airlift air forces command airlift xiii Terms and Abbreviations Director of This is a senior officer with extensive air mobility experience serving as the agent for air mobility operations within a combatant command or joint task force and who links the local air operations center and the Tanker-Airlift Control Center of the Air Mobility Command. Drop zone A drop zone is an area designated to receive personnel and cargo from airborne aircraft. General This controlled army air combat units within the United States from 1935 to 1941 and served as a template for expeditionary air forces, should they be required. Global airlift This term was coined in the early 1960s and connotes the ability...