SOUTHWEST ASIA -- In today's joint combat operations, Army Ground Liaison Officers are trained in offensive air support activities and translate ground commander air requests into a language aircrews can understand before engaging in joint combat or training operations. The synchronized forces are critical to reaching the ground commander's mission objectives.
Lt. Col. Scott Mathna, deployed from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard division headquarters, recently finished a year of coordinating the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing's assigned air assets. He is part of a ten-member GLO team coordinating air taskings throughout the area of responsibility.
"This has been a real unique opportunity to be able to work with the Air Force. I have learned a tremendous amount about the Air Force. Not just the fighter, but the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. It has been a real eye-opening experience," said the Watsontown, Penn. native.
When a ground commander submits a Joint Tactical Air Request, or JTAR, it is the GLO's responsibility to ensure the crews are briefed on what the maneuver commander's intent is for each JTAR submitted.
One of the overall challenges working here is the acronyms, he said.
"It is amazing that everyone has a different way as far as acronyms. They are just a living nightmare," said Colonel Mathna. "I have been here a year and I still have to look up some acronyms."
Translating the different terminology ensures aircrew have a very good understanding of what they are expected to perform, said Colonel Mathna, who was in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm working with A-10 Thunderbolts and F-16 Fighting Falcons as a fire support officer.
"We support security forces, convoys, brigade and company operations. Once we find out what aircrews are assigned, we contact the Joint Tactical Air Controllers or the Fire Support Cells with those units to clarify the intent," said Colonel Mathna.
JTARs do not have as much specific information as aircrews would like, which is why GLOs coordinate with the JTACs to understand what the aircrew needs to do once they get on station. Once on station, the aircrews can talk to the JTACs as the situation can be fluid, said Colonel Mathna.
"This is a joint operation. We work with every branch of the service in one way or another," said Colonel Mathna. "Here, we work primarily with the B-1B Lancers because they fly a whole realm of operational support."
Since the GLOs began working with the B-1s in 2007, the bomb squadrons have improved cohesion with ground forces compared to when aircrews where only working directly with JTACs on station, the colonel said.
"Providing overwatch and identifying hotspots is a vital mission these guys perform. Just in Afghanistan from 2007 to 2008, the IED events increased 52 percent," said Colonel Mathna.
"I have heard it more than once, in the short time I have been here, how appreciative the ground forces are of the B-1s and their capabilities," said GLO Lt. Col. Craig Fox, who is deployed from the Kansas Army National Guard. "The B-1s have been requested specifically for missions because the guys on the ground know they have a great reputation supporting ground elements and working well with them. They like to have them. If they can get them, they will take them."
In addition to working directly with aircrews, GLOs provide the wing commander and his staff an updated situational awareness of overall operations on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We try and keep them abreast of all the current force movements, all the major operations that are going on because there are a lot of other assets in the wing that support different missions," said Colonel Mathna.
The mission here is a little bit different than for GLOs who work in Iraq and Afghanistan because of all the ISR assets that are here, Colonel Mathna said. There is almost no mission here that the GLOs do not touch at the beginning and sometimes following mission return.
"I try to give them additional information as to the area of operation in the past 48 hours. Anything that might help them do their job better," said Colonel Fox, who volunteered for this assignment.
"With the counter-insurgency operations that we are doing now, it is a totally different war. We are in the asymmetric battle now. It is not a fixed enemy that we can just go and attack. There have been a lot of changes the Army has had to do since September 11 to adapt to some of these changing environments. I think the Air Force has done that too. They play a vital role in supporting the guys on the ground. Without all the ISR assets that support the maneuver guys it would make our fight a lot more difficult," said Colonel Mathna.
Colonel Fox, who hails from Topeka, Kansas, added "this is not a difficult challenge but a rewarding challenge. There is a slight difference from the Air Force to the Army but everybody wears the uniform and has the same goals."