Many airpower proponents in and outside the Air Force believe that airpower is the dominant force in warfare today. The Air Force believes that centrally controlled, independent air operations can be decisive. The JFACC coordinates all aviation assets in theater in support of the Joint Force Commander's theater objectives. The doctrinal development of the JFACC has been heavily influenced by the Air Force's perspectives and Service doctrine in regard to the employment of airpower. With the publication of FMFM 1, Warfighting, in 1989, the Marine Corps officially embraced maneuver warfare as its doctrinal style of warfighting. The Marine Corps is organized to conduct maneuver warfare as an integrated air-ground combined arms team. Marine air is a critical part of the highly trained, tightly integrated combined arms team. The application of Marine air is timely and responsive to the fast developing ground battle and therefore, creates or exploits windows of opportunity that could quickly dissipate if air had to be coordinated from an outside agency. This monograph will examine maneuver warfare theory, the Marine Corps embrace of it, and the doctrinal development and application of the JFACC in order to determine if the two doctrines are compatible.

ADA 357712 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)