Los Angeles Times
Some elements of the integrated battle space are taking shape, particularly with military operations in Afghanistan. For the first time, the commander of U.S. forces fighting overseas is running the operation from within the United States at the headquarters of the Central Command in Tampa, Fla.
Some military leaders have said Army Gen. Tommy R. Frank should be closer to action. Frank has defended the decision, saying he is getting all the information he needs, thanks to the advances in high-speed communications and information technology. The distant command center might represent the emergence of a new way of fighting, he said.
“We can view and we can access any battle space,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper said at a recent defense conference. “When air and space combine together in the right ways … we can find, fix, track, target, engage and assess anything of significance on the face of Earth.”
But Jumper added that, “Right now, I would argue, these are capabilities that exists in bits and pieces. It is our job to pull it all together, to be able to think in terms of integration.”
One vivid example was displayed in the fall when, for the first time, the White House was able to watch a live video feed of an attack on Taliban forces in Afghanistan transmitted by a flying spy drone. The video transmission was relayed by satellite to the Florida command center, which then sent it on to Washington, D.C.
In another mission, an Army special operations soldier was able to call in an air strike, communicating directly with an Air Force bomber. Previously, the Army would have had to request a strike through central command, which then would relay the information to Air Force command to carry out a strike, wasting invaluable time.
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