Air-Land Battles

Military doctrine developed during the 1970s that changed the U.S. Army's focus from a defensive mentality to an active-defense mind-set. This doctrine eventually found expression in the 1991 Gulf War, in which U.S. and coalition forces defeated Iraqi military forces.

Air-land battle was the post–Vietnam War change in U.S. Army military doctrine, based on the Army's notion of “active defense.” It recognized a change in military operations: that the modern battlefield is multidimensional and therefore requires a doctrine that supports that reality. This doctrine was expressed in the 1982 edition of the Army Field Manual 100-5, which emphasizes offense, a high degree of mobility, and “deep strikes” far into enemy territory behind the frontlines of battle.

Active defense emphasized that U.S. and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) forces should meet advancing Soviet forces, force them to deploy, and then retreat after the Soviet forces were weakened. When Soviet forces were sufficiently weakened, massive counterattacks would be launched that would result in the destruction of the invading forces. The concept included using airborne units, together with deep-strike air and artillery strikes, to enable NATO forces to defend forward areas without retreating and, at the same time, prevent Soviet second-echelon forces from entering the battle.

Air-land battle doctrine recognized that the U.S. Army faced a number of challenges in the 1980s and must be equipped to fight, according to the Army Field Manual, “light, well-equipped forces such as Soviet-supported insurgents or sophisticated terrorist groups. The Army must also be prepared to fight highly mechanized forces typical of the Warsaw Pact or Soviet surrogates in southwest or northeast Asia (the Middle East or Korea). In the areas of greatest strategic concern, it must expect battles of greater scope and intensity than ever fought before. It must anticipate battles fought with nuclear and chemical weapons.”

[Page 13]The key to air-land battle is to seize the initiative and disrupt the opponent's fighting capability with deep attack, firepower, and maneuver. The doctrine, components of which NATO adopted in 1984, was expected to use chemical and nuclear weapons to strike deep into enemy territory to destroy infrastructure and logistical support. By extending the battlefield and integrating conventional, nuclear, chemical, and electronic means, forces can exploit enemy vulnerabilities anywhere.

The doctrinal change generated some protests from political groups in Europe throughout the 1980s. However, these protests died out with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Air-land battle facilitated future changes in U.S. Army and military doctrine, and the same elements proved important in other post–Cold War conflicts.