"Visual Friendlies, Tally Target: Surges continues the story of the role of forward air controllers (JTACs) and Close Air Support (CAS), picking up in 2006 and continuing through 2013. This volume covers the evolution of Joint Fires through the colloquial 'second phase' of the War on Terror—the 'surges' of Iraq in 2007 and Afghanistan in 2010–2011. Vol. II recounts the evolution of air power during the rising counterinsurgencies, as well as the psychology and mental makeup of these exclusive tribes. Notable accounts include the recovery mission of EXTORTION17, the first withdrawal from Iraq, previously unreported missions against insurgent strongholds, and instances where the situational awareness and decision-making of forward air controllers prevented civilian casualties and fratricide.
The story carries with it a continuation of the strategic lessons learned from America's longest war: where tactical successes and innovation failed to achieve a strategic outcome amidst ambiguous grand strategy, flawed policy and a failure to understand the new battlefields of the twenty-first century, as recounted by the men whose air power tribes went into the breach again and again. Volume II concludes as the 'War on Terror' nominally ended in 2013, as the final phase of the post-9/11 wars transitioned to the 'Train, Advise, and Assist' missions in Iraq and Afghanistan."
"'Brown has taken an incredibly complex subject and made it accessible and readable, all while retaining the gravity of history and the sheer intensity of these battlefields. Airpower became a fundamental warfighting tool in the Global War on Terror, and its success depended on the community of JTACs whose experiences populate this important work. They are the unsung heroes of the post-9/11 wars America needs to meet.' —David L. Goldfein, General (Ret.), USAF, 21st Chief of Staff
With a new century and a new enemy came a new kind of war: low intensity and civilian-dominated, blending austere rural and dense urban environments alike. Into this new kind of war, the American military launched two invasions against terrorist networks and military rivals, relying on airpower—close air support (CAS)—at a scale never before seen.
The Global War on Terror was the 'CAS war.' Forward Air Controllers were on the front lines, directing airstrikes against enemies in their safe havens, safeguarding friendly forces and civilians alike to their utmost, and achieving unprecedented success with limited resources. This volume captures the heroic accounts of the first Tactical Air Control Party (TACPs) in Afghanistan and Iraq, and how Close Air Support fundamentally reshaped the American war machine in the first five years of the War on Terror."
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