Airborne Operations Fm 90 26

This manual discusses the employment of airborne brigades, battalions, and regiments in airborne operations within the context of the AirLand Battle. It sets forth tactical and administrative support doctrine for the employment of Army forces in joint airborne operations. It discusses command and staff procedures, tactics, and techniques used in the planning and execution of parachute operations at brigade and lower echelons.

This publication, Army Field Manual FM 3-99 Airborne and Air Assault Operations establishes doctrine to govern the activities and performance of Army forces in forcible entry (specifically airborne and air assault operations) and provides the doctrinal basis for vertical envelopment and follow-on operations. This publication provides leaders with descriptive guidance on how Army forces conduct vertical envelopment within the simultaneous combination of offense, defense, and stability. These doctrinal principles are intended to be used as a guide and are not to be considered prescriptive. FM 3-99 encompasses tactics for Army airborne and air assault operations and describes how commanders plan, prepare, and conduct airborne and air assault operations by means of joint combined arms operations. This publication supersedes FM 90-26, Airborne Operations and Army Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures 3-18.12, Air Assault Operations. To comprehend the doctrine contained in this publication, readers must first understand the principles of war, the nature of unified land operations, and the links between the operational and tactical levels of war described in Joint Publication (JP) 3-0, Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 3-0, and Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 3-0. The reader must understand the fundamentals of the operations process found in ADP and ADRP 5-0 associated with the conduct of offensive and defensive tasks contained in FM 3-90-1 and reconnaissance, security, and tactical enabling tasks contained in FM 3-90-2. In addition the reader must also fully understand the principles of mission command as described in ADP 6-0 and ADRP 6-0 and command and staff organization and operations found in FM 6-0. The principal audience for FM 3-99 is the commanders, staff, officers, and noncommissioned officers (NCOs) of the brigade, battalions, and companies within the brigade combat team. The audience also includes the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command institutions and components, and the United States Army Special Operations Command. It serves as an authoritative reference for personnel developing doctrine, materiel and force structure, institutional and unit training, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for airborne or air assault operations. This publication applies to the Active Army, the Army National Guard/Army National Guard of the United States, and the United States Army Reserve unless otherwise stated.

This pamphlet was written for the Historical Division, EUCOM, by a committee of former German officers. It follows an outline prepared by the Office of the Chief of Military History, Special Staff, United States Army, which is given below: 1. a. A review of German airborne experience in World War II. b. An appraisal of German successes and failures. c. Reasons for the apparent abandonment of large-scale German airborne operations after the Crete operation. 2. a. German experience in opposing Allied and Russian airborne operations. b. An appraisal of the effectiveness of these operations. 3. The probable future of airborne operations. It is believed that the contributors to this study represent a valid cross-section of expert German opinion on airborne operations. Since the contributors include Luftwaffe and Army officers at various levels of command, some divergences of opinion are inevitable; these have been listed and, wherever possible, evaluated by the principal German author. However, the opinions of General-feld-marschall Albert Kesselring are given separately and without comment wherever they occur in the course of the presentation.

Army Field Manual (FM) 3-99, Airborne and Air Assault Operations, establishes doctrine to govern the activities and performance of Army forces in forcible entry (specifically airborne and air assault operations) and provides the doctrinal basis for vertical envelopment and follow-on operations. This publication provides leaders with descriptive guidance on how Army forces conduct vertical envelopment within the simultaneous combination of offense, defense, and stability. These doctrinal principles are intended to be used as a guide and are not to be considered prescriptive. FM 3-99 encompasses tactics for Army airborne and air assault operations and describes how commanders plan, prepare, and conduct airborne and air assault operations by means of joint combined arms operations.

The first 50 years of the US Army airborne arm is a story of continuing battles with the nation's enemies, of battles within the Army's hierarchy, of change, and of adaptation. If there is any single attribute the airborne soldier can claim as his most sterling, it is his uncanny ability to adapt – his flexibility. The very nature of a paratrooper demands this ability to adapt. The motivation and ésprit de corps it develops within these units is something not to be taken lightly. The first class pairing of Gordon L. Rottman and Ron Volstad bring to life the history of these remarkable troops.

Given the focus on the Brigade Combat Team as the Army’s primary combat unit, the limited availability of U.S. Air Force airlift assets, and the U.S. Army history of employing predominantly medium sized airborne units, future airborne operations in support of operational level objectives will likely center around the Airborne Brigade Combat Team (ABCT). The combat airborne operations of the 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment will provide a case study to assess the elements of risk, surprise and the operational context of how the airborne unit contributed to the achievement the operational and strategic outcomes. The combat airborne operations discussed are the jump to re-take the island of Corregidor in the Philippines in February 1945, Operation Junction City in February 1967, and the airborne insertion of the 173d Airborne Brigade onto the Bashur airfield in Northern Iraq in March 2003. The intent of this monograph is to provide insights into the possible employment of the current ABCT and how to best use the resources and organization that we have, not necessarily to advocate a radically new airborne organization, propose new equipment, or recommend a new mission for airborne forces.

Contents: The Prewar Experience; Evolution of Airborne Forces During World War II; Operational Employment: Vyaz'ma, January-February 1942; Operational Employment: Vyaz'ma, February-June 1942; Operational Employment: On the Dnepr, September 1943; Tactical Employment; The Postwar Years.