The recent U.S. and NATO peacekeeping mission in Libya could serve as a touchstone for Air Force and Navy strategists working to develop a new, cohesive approach to air and maritime operations, according to a Navy officer who participated in that action.
Crew of USS Florida (SSGN-728) were deployed off the coast of Libya from March through April as part of the American military contingent assigned to enforce a United Nations mandate to protect Libyan civilians from government forces led by Col. Muammar Quaddafi.
During the time when American forces were leading the charge in operation Odyssey Dawn, the Florida launched over 90 Tomahawk cruise missiles against various targets in Libya, Commanding Officer Capt. Thomas Calabrese, said in an interview with Defense Daily.
After the shift to the NATO-led Unified Protector mission in April the submarine continued to perform support operations with members of the international coalition up until the boat’s return to home station at King’s Bay, Fla. in late April.
From the beginning of the deployment to the time the submarine docked off the coast of Florida– especially during the U.S.-led portion of the operation–Calabrese said the coordination between U.S. air, surface warfare and underwater assets was exceptional.
“I [saw] the e-mail exchanges, I [saw] the record message traffic and to me the leadership above . . . I think it was well coordinated, well planned [with] multiple contingencies planned,” Calabrese said. “As with most plans, it does not always happen that way exactly, but . . . leadership above the submarine was pretty dynamic, and they were able to be flexible, agile and respond to real-world situations [and] adjust our tasking.”
That coordination between field commanders across warfighting domains was already occurring, long before the buildup to operation Odyssey Dawn, according to Calabrese.
When situations regarding the various uprisings in the Middle East, aside from Libya, began to bubble up earlier this year, the ability for the services to “ramp-up” both air and sea-based assets – in conjunction with other international partners – to position forces in the region and “put ordinance on target” was a prime example of how a projected AirSea strategy should work in the future.
The AirSea battle concept, as envisioned by service leaders, would be to synch up Air Force and Navy specialties into a cohesive battle plan designed to attack adversaries across all domains seamlessly.
During the ongoing dialogue between the services, Navy and Air Force officials “are now able to look at what capabilities do we have to move” and in what warfighting areas should service investments be made, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead after a speech at a Credit Suisse-sponsored event in Arlington, Va. in March, just as the Libyan mission was unfolding.
In light of the Florida’s performance in Northern Africa, Navy leaders have already begun to explore options on integrating submarine and other underwater assets into the burgeoning AirSea battle doctrine.
From a tactical point of view, Capt. Calabrese also noted coordination between NATO command and control leadership coordinating the mission and the Florida—from targeting intelligence to post-battle damage assessments–was just as good.
In May, Capt. Mark Darrah, the Navy’s program manager for the F/A-18, said of the lessons learned from the Libyan operation, the need to bolster communication among the U.S. and international contingents was a key one.
While Darrah declined to go into details at the time, regarding what types of specific improvements were needed to bolster coordination in future coalition operations, he noted the sheer numbers of ships, airplanes and other assets moving above and around Libya required a higher level of coordination among allied forces.
While the need for increased coordination between American and NATO forces may have been more apparent higher on the chain of command, from the frontline those operations ran smoothly, Calabrese said.
“From my perspective . . . the communications on and off the ship were clear, concise [and] professional and there was never any doubt in my mind about what we were directed to do,” Calabrese said. “As a submariner . . . we are submerged the whole time and we are not sitting at some command center on a surface ship or on shore where you have a lot more input.”