Air Force Museum
Close Air Support - Close Cooperation
Close air support succeeds only when aircrews and ground forces share a precise understanding of location, timing, and intent. Aircraft may arrive quickly, but safe employment requires reliable communications, identification of friendly forces, knowledge of the target, and coordination with artillery and other aircraft. The mission is therefore as much about cooperation as firepower.
In depth
History & service
On April 6, 2003, Lt. Col. Raymond Strasburger and Capt. Gregory Thornton, A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots in the 75th Fighter Squadron, were operating near Baghdad when they heard a ground forward air controller call out: "We are taking heavy fire, we need you now!" Strasburger and Thornton made multiple 30mm gun, rocket, and missile attacks through very heavy anti-aircraft fire and blinding sandstorms to decimate an enemy Republican Guard armored force.
When the 33-minute engagement was over, their two-aircraft flight, named “Demob 71” for this mission, had destroyed three T-72 tanks, six armored personnel carriers and several other enemy vehicles. For their gallantry in action, Strasburger and Thornton were both awarded Silver Stars.
Details that tell the story
Supports friendly forces in close proximity to the enemy · Requires detailed air-ground coordination · JTACs often provide terminal control
Readiness became a permanent condition
During the Cold War, aviation was organized around the possibility of a conflict that governments hoped to prevent. Bombers, missiles, interceptors, reconnaissance aircraft, warning networks, and tankers became parts of interdependent systems. Their value was judged not only by what they could do in flight, but by how reliably they could be maintained, alerted, launched, supported, and controlled.
This emphasis produced striking aircraft and difficult tradeoffs. Long range demanded fuel and support. High speed increased heat and mechanical stress. Sophisticated electronics offered new capabilities but created new maintenance requirements. A reconnaissance aircraft needed an effective camera and a workable route as well as altitude or speed. An interceptor depended on warning and guidance before its pilot could make an engagement.
The human experience included long periods of training and routine punctuated by crises. Crews and ground personnel practiced procedures whose purpose was to remain credible without being used in war. At the same time, military aviation carried out reconnaissance, transport, rescue, humanitarian missions, and conventional operations around the world. Linking these aircraft with civil airliners, research machines, and spacecraft reveals a history of shared technologies and different purposes. The machines embody technical accomplishment, but also the enormous resources and sustained human effort required to keep a global force ready.
