https://crsreports.congress.gov
June 24, 2024
Defense Primer: Agile Combat Employment (ACE) Concept
To inform and shape its planning, the U.S. Air Force
(USAF) has developed an operational concept known as
Agile Combat Employment (ACE). According to the Air
Force, ACE is a “proactive and reactive operational scheme
of maneuver” to enable U.S. forces to “increase
survivability while generating combat power.”
Background
An operational concept is a broad idea intended to guide the
organization and employment of military forces. The Air
Force describes ACE as a response to recent geostrategic
developments, including post-Cold War changes to U.S.
global posture, advances in adversaries’ weapons systems,
and domestic fiscal and political constraints. DOD has also
characterized ACE as part of its overall approach to
increased competition from Russia and China. Other
military services have developed similar concepts (e.g., the
Army’s Multi-Domain Operations, the Navy’s Distributed
Maritime Operations, and the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary
Advanced Basing Operations).
ACE Overview
The central idea of ACE is the distribution and dispersal of
units and capabilities across multiple and varied sites. Air
Force Doctrine Note 1-21 (AFDN 1-21)—the primary,
fundamental explication of ACE that is publicly available—
states that the concept “shifts operations from centralized
physical infrastructures to a network of smaller, dispersed
locations that can complicate adversary planning and
provide more options for joint force commanders.” Some
analysts have characterized it as a “hub-and-spoke”
approach, with an enduring location (e.g., an existing U.S.
or allied airbase) serving as a hub for a number of
contingency locations (e.g., civilian airports, austere or
standalone airstrips), between which aircraft can be shifted
and from which missions can be launched (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Hub and Spoke
Source: CRS analysis of Air Force Doctrine Note 1-21, “Agile
Combat Employment,” August 23, 2022.
Core Elements
In AFDN 1-21, the Air Force characterizes ACE as
consisting of “five core elements.” These are (1) posture;
(2) command and control (C2); (3) movement and
maneuver; (4) protection; and (5) sustainment. The five
core elements enable ACE’s operational framework and are
each discussed in brief below.
Posture. According to AFDN 1-21, “posture is intrinsically
tied to all other elements. It is the starting point from which
subsequent actions take place.” It entails securing sites and
facilities (e.g., runways, parking areas), as well as pre-
positioning equipment and supplies, and distributing or
redistributing forces. For overseas locations, ACE posture
objectives may include negotiating access, basing, and
overflight rights with foreign governments.
Command and Control (C2). Compared to more
centralized planning paradigms, ACE may create more
complicated C2 requirements for U.S. personnel and
weapons systems, particularly when operating from (or
moving between) contingency locations. AFDN 1-21
highlights the importance of redundant and resilient C2
methods for ACE and the broader DOD Joint All Domain
Command and Control (JADC2) initiative is expected to
play a role in meeting ACE-specific C2 requirements.
Movement and Maneuver. According to AFDN 1-21,
ACE-specific movement and maneuver requirements may
entail the “movement of forces to predetermined, dispersed
locations and flow of dispersed forces back to an enduring
location” before or during combat operations.
Protection. This element involves countering threats to
operating locations, personnel and weapons systems, and
logistical capabilities or assets. Protection, in the context of
ACE, would vary by location, but may involve the
integration of both passive and active defenses to counter
threats in domains such as ground, sea, air, space, and
cyberspace.
Sustainment. The Air Force states that “sustainment plans
should focus primarily on aircraft sortie generation” but
should also include the ability to execute C2 and base
operating support functions, which include providing
maintenance, dining, lodging, and medical support to
forces.
Visualizing and Executing ACE
Although the application of ACE may differ by mission set
and location, in further explication of its doctrine, the Air
Force has offered help visualizing the ACE concept in
terms of five phases. The five phases may not be sequential
but provide a general framework for ACE operations and
incorporate and/or align with the ACE core elements
allowing commanders flexibility and fluidity during
dynamic operations (see Figure 2).
