Air And Space Power Support of Humanitarian Assistance Operations

<p>Two separate doctrinally defined US Armed Forces' missions accomplish humanitarian assistance operations (HA). Outside of the US and its territories Foreign Humanitarian Assistance (FHA) provides relief from the results of natural or man-made disasters. The United States Armed Forces provide support for FHA operations under the direction of US civil authorities and in concert with multi-national coalition partners and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).1 Within the United States military support to civil authority (MSCA) operations provide support to federal state and local authorities when civil authorities cannot respond adequately to an emergency. The United States Armed Forces provide support for MSCA operations to the Department of Homeland Security under the direction of the lead federal agency (LFA) the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).2 The purpose of this paper is to describe how guided by current doctrinal principals the Commander Air Force Forces (COMAFFOR) or Joint Force Air Component Commander (JFACC) utilizes air and space power functions to accomplish military and political objectives during FHA and MSCA operations. The paper will examine historical applications of air and space power functions in humanitarian assistance operations in order to discover lessons that can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of future operations.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>