Avoiding the Seam

This study analyzes Army-Air Force cooperation during the previous twenty-five years in an effort to derive an analytical framework that the two services can use as the basis for future cooperative efforts....The focus is on deep operations because of the potential for the two services to create a seam during deep attack in which neither service can target enemy installations or forces effectively. The study begins with five proposed characteristics of an analytical framework: (1) Standardize terms; (2) Achieve full potential of combined effects; (3) Provide mutual protection; (4) Mitigate the possibility of fratricide; (5) Eliminate the creation of seams. It then tests this proposed analytical framework using two historical case studies....[T]he evolution of Airland Battle doctrine and the relatively effective interservice dialogue that occurred through the 1980s...[and] the operations of the Israeli Defense Force in the Bekaa Valley.