Tanker Airlift Control Elements (TALCEs) and Contingency Response Units (CRUs) : Does Air Force Operational Doctrine Need to Change?

The Air Force has created Contingency Response Units (CRUs) without fully exploring the ramifications such units could have to existing air mobility support doctrine. The purpose of this paper is to determine if the Air Force should change its operational level doctrine about the support of mobility air forces. Various issues are addressed in the paper to develop a conclusion, specifically, the capabilities of both types of Mobility Support Forces (MSFs) in the form of the CRU and Air Mobility Command Tanker Airlift Control Elements (AMC TALCEs), the reasons behind the development of the CRUs, and possible alternate solutions for MSF force structure. Research consisted of a Delphi Technique to collect data in the form of interviews with selected experts familiar with the CRU issues from various Air Force Major Commands. The paper concludes that Air Force operational level doctrine does need to change; however, Air Force leadership must determine first both a strategy and structure for MSFs; Only if this is accomplished will the confusion about the roles of MSFs in the CRUs and AMC TALCEs be eradicated.Air Force Inst of Tech Wright-Patterson AFB OH is the author of 'Tanker Airlift Control Elements (TALCEs) and Contingency Response Units (CRUs) : Does Air Force Operational Doctrine Need to Change?', published 2001 under ISBN 9781423587224 and ISBN 1423587227.