text: Air Assault Planning
  task force manages combat power to support the AATF and keeps the staff informed of any
  limitations.
  (cid:122) Time. Refers to three distinct subjects: light and darkness, planning time, and fighter
  management.
  Light and darkness. U.S. armed forces gain a significant advantage over most military
  (cid:132)
  forces in the world by operating at night. Night operations may increase aviation
  survivability, but may increase accidental risk in periods of low illumination. The aviation
  task force standard operating procedure specifies illuminationthresholdsrelated to mission
  approval.
  Planning time. In general, less planning time equates to increased risk. Time-sensitive
  (cid:132)
  operations should be preplanned to the greatest extent possible and should rely on
  establishedstandardoperatingprocedures.
  Fighter management. Aircrew fighter management may impact the air assault timeline if
  (cid:132)
  the mission is delayed or extended. The aviation task force standard operating procedure
  specifiesapprovallevelformissionextension.
  (cid:122) Missionessentialcombatpower. Airassault missionplannersuse missionvariablestodetermine
  the minimum combat power (to include Infantry, field artillery, and aviation) needed to ensure
  mission success. Use abort criteria to ensure friendly forces have the required combat ratio for
  theoperation.
  (cid:122) Missioncriticality. Thesuccessof unitsand futureoperations maydepend onthe success ofthe
  air assault mission. Therefore, some air assault operations may proceed despite the presence of
  circumstancesthatnormallywouldabortthemission.
  (cid:122) Enemy. Certain types of enemy activity, especially along air routes or near landing zones or
  objectives, mayabort an air assault mission. Abort criteria usually is stated in terms of the size
  or type of an enemy unit, the type of enemy equipment (especially air defense), and the
  proximityoftheenemytopresentorfuturefriendlylocations.
  SECTION V – CONTROL MEASURES
  9-51. Acontrolmeasure isa means ofregulating forcesor warfighting functions(ADRP 6-0). Conductof
  air assault operations is inherently complex and requires unity of command. Complexity of the operation
  necessitateskeepingtheoperationassimpleaspossible withcontrolmeasures.
  FORCE-ORIENTED CONTROL MEASURES
  9-52. Coordinated force-oriented control measures are crucial and allow for maneuvering ground and air
  elementsto operate withconfidence. Controlmeasuresare preplannedstepsthat establishboundaries of an
  areaofoperation.
  9-53. Commandersuse boundariesto assignunitstacticalresponsibilityof a designated geographicalarea.
  They use control measures to govern airspace control and clearance on the ground of a diversity of fire
  support ranging from artillery and naval gun fire (to close combat attacks and close air support.
  Commanders try to use easily identifiable terrain as a reference aid to enhance fire support coordination
  measures(FSCMs)andeasilyrecognizableterrainfeaturesonthegroundtoexpeditemaneuver.
  9-54. Animportantpointonmaneuvercontrol graphics;is thatstaffsmustbeknowledgeableregardingthe
  different maneuver control measures and their impact on clearance of fires. For instance, boundaries are
  bothrestrictiveandpermissive,whilecorridors,routes,anddirectionofattackarerestrictive.
  9-55. Sinceboundariesserveasboth permissive and restrictive measures,the decisionnotto employthem
  has profound effects upon timely clearance of fires at the lowest possible level. This is important,
  especiallyifmaneuverunitsarenotgivenareasofoperations meaningthatnoboundariesareestablished.
  9-56. The higher echelon may coordinate all clearance of fires short of the coordinated fire line, a time-
  intensive process. It allows the unit to maneuver successfullyand to engage targets ina swift and efficient
  manner.Itrequirescoordinationandclearanceonlywithinthatorganization.