text: Chapter 5
  (cid:122) Aircraft requirements. The backbriefof thelandingplanidentifies aircraftrequirementsforeach
  subordinate unit. If there are not enough aircraft available to lift the entire assault force at one
  time, commanders must decide the units that should be lifted first, and then allocate aircraft
  accordingly. In making this decision, he analyzes the priorities dictated by the mission and the
  highercommander.
  PRIORITIES
  5-6. Commander must set the priorities for each assault objective to determine the delivery sequence for
  units that are to secure these objectives. This does not necessarily match the sequence in which the units
  secureobjectives.Thecommandermustknow—
  (cid:122) Priorities for deliveries on each drop zone (personnel drop, container delivery system, and
  heavydrops).
  (cid:122) Thedropzonesequence.
  (cid:122) Prioritiesfordeliveringtheremainderoftheforces.
  (cid:122) Methodofdeliveryforeachunitanditsequipment.
  (cid:122) Thelocationoftheheavyequipmentpointofimpact,andthe personnelpointofimpact.
  (cid:122) Abortcriteria(Go/No-Go)andbumpplan.
  5-7. Airlift plan. The USAF airlift planners responsible for the airlift plan develops the plan, in
  coordination with ABNTF planners, to best support the ground tactical plan. This plan includes aircraft
  formations and the sequence of personnel drops, and heavy drops. ABNTF planners choose the sequence
  and the time intervals between serials, which are groups of like aircraft (C-130s, C-17s) with the same
  deliverymethod(personneldrops,heavydrops,)goingtothesamedropzone.
  5-8. Landing area study. Division or corps staff, working with U.S. Army topographic engineers and the
  USAF,developsthelandingareastudyand provides ittosubordinate units.Thisstudyenablessubordinate
  unitstoselectthelocation,size,andorientationofdropzonestobestsupporttheirschemeofmaneuver.
  5-9. Subordinate unit landing plans. Subordinate commanders should develop landing plans to support
  their own respective schemes of maneuver. Subordinate units then backbrief their landing plans so that
  higher headquarters can finalize their plans. Units must know the initial locations of sustainment assets.
  Thisinformationshouldbecomeavailableassubordinateunitsbackbrieftheirgroundtacticalplan.
  SECTION II – DELIVERY ELEMENTS
  5-10. A designated lodgment area in a hostile or potentiallyhostile territory, when seized and held, makes
  the continuous landing of troops and materiel possible and provides maneuver space for the transition to
  follow-on operations. The five elements of the landing plan include: sequence of delivery, method of
  delivery,placeofdelivery, timeofdelivery,andassemblyplan.Assemblyandreorganizationarediscussed
  inSectionIVofthischapter.
  SEQUENCE OF DELIVERY
  5-11. The ABNAFC’s priorities within the ground tactical plan determine the sequence of delivery, with
  the initialassaultdesigned tosurpriseand concentrate overwhelmingcombatpower againstthe enemyand
  to protect the assault force. Neither aircraft allocations nor the availability of aircraft should influence
  thesedecisions.Hedeterminesfinalaircraftallocationsafterthelandingplanconfirmationbrief.
  5-12. Advance serials mayprecede the mainairliftcolumn to drop USAFcombatcontrol teamsand Army
  long-range surveillance teams. The combat control team places and operates navigation aids on the drop
  zones and landingzones;the long-range surveillance teams provide surveillance on named areasofinterest
  and reports to the ground force commander. Insertion location of advance serials whether within the
  objective area or some distance away from the objective area are always METT-TC dependent, as the
  commanderstrivestoachievesurpriseregardingexactobjectives withintheairborneoperations.