This month, the LeMay Center highlights the first joint force air component commander (JFACC).
General (then Lt Gen) Charles Horner commanded 9th Air Force from 1987 to 1992. In this role, he also served as the commander, Air Force forces (COMAFFOR) to US Central Command (CENTCOM). After Iraq invaded Kuwait in the summer of 1990, the CENTCOM commander, Gen Norman Schwarzkopf, appointed Lt Gen Horner to be his JFACC. As JFACC, he maintained his COMAFFOR responsibilities while running Operation DESERT STORM’s air campaign.
Consolidating lessons learned from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, a dual-hatted COMAFFOR and JFACC embodied the idea that Airmen work for Airmen, and the senior Airman works for the joint force commander (JFC—in this case, Gen Schwarzkopf). This marked a turning point in Air Force Doctrine—for the first time, an air component commander was vested with centralized authority and responsibility to integrate airpower for a JFC’s campaign at a theater level.
As both COMAFFOR and JFACC, Lt Gen Horner had operational control of CENTCOM’s Air Force forces, and tactical control of other Services’ air assets available for tasking. Furthermore, leading a coalition of nations, Lt Gen Horner also acted as the combined forces air component commander (CFACC). As the CFACC, he was authorized to task assets from other nations (e.g., Great Britain, France, and Saudi Arabia) made available to the JFC. In this capacity, Lt Gen Horner combined the air efforts of the entire coalition and demonstrated the doctrinal centralization of command under a single air component commander.
As the first COMAFFOR / JFACC / CFACC, Lt Gen Horner had unprecedented authority to implement a combined air strategy in a complex, multinational environment. To set conditions for success, he spent significant time simultaneously working four main efforts. Those efforts were the adoption of the US Tactical Air Control System for seamless allied forces coordination; building trust in the JFACC’s ability to meet the Services and functional commanders’ airpower needs; establishing a clear and effective command channel with Gen Schwarzkopf; and optimizing the Combined Air Operations Center’s responsiveness and control across distributed TACS elements in the area of operations.
Gen Horner’s synchronization efforts set the foundation for the coalition’s astounding success during DESERT STORM. In addition, his work validated the air component commander model and built the framework for today’s operations. Specifically, he understood the value of flexibility, and he delegated significant control to provisional air divisions and coordinated supporting task forces though specific support relationships. His legacy remains an integral part of our current joint and Service doctrine.
Why it matters today: Building on the proven success of the air component commander model, current doctrine emphasizes the centralized role of the air component commander while incorporating the mission command philosophy and framework to enable decentralized operations. Gen Horner’s actions eventually validated a doctrinal evolution that changed the C2 framework from “centralized control-decentralized execution” to “centralized command, distributed control, and decentralized execution.” For more information on the air component commander and C2 framework, see Air Force Doctrine Publication (AFDP) 3-0, Operations, AFDP 3-0.1, Command and Control, as well as Joint Publication 3-30, Joint Air Operations. [CAC required]. For more on mission command, see AFDP 1-1, Mission Command. Also check out our doctrine podcast library on DVIDS, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, or at www.doctrine.af.mil.