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ATO

GENERAL. 


The Joint Publication 1-02, Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, defines the Air Tasking Order as “a method used to task and disseminate to components, subordinate units, and command and control agencies projected sorties, capabilities, and/or forces to targets and specific missions. Also called ATO”. The air tasking order (ATO) articulates the tasking for joint air operations for a specific execution timeframe, normally 24 hours. The joint air tasking cycle is synchronized with the JFC’s battle rhythm. The JAOC normally establishes a 72- to 96-hour ATO planning cycle. The battle rhythm or daily operations cycle (schedule of events) articulates briefings, meetings, and report requirements. It provides suspense for targeting, air support requests, friendly order of battle updates, etc., to produce the air battle plan that includes the ATO message and other products. (Joint Publication 3-30, Joint Air Operations). The ATO is written in United States Message Text Format (USMTF). 

ATO Header 

OPER/505th TRS TRAINING// 
MSGID/ATO/USCENTCOM/ATO A/OCT/CHG/1// 
AKNLDG/NO// 
TIMEFRAM/FROM:010600ZOCT1998/TO:020559ZOCT1998/ASOF:302100ZSEP1998// 

The ATO header is the first portion of the ATO and includes information about the operation/exercise. 

OPER/505th TRS TRAINING// 

The first set OPER (or EXER) has one field only and it contains the name of the operation/exercise. 

MSGID/ATO/USCENTCOM/ATO A/OCT/CHG/1// 

The second set is MSGID (Message Identification) and contains: 

  • Field 1 – Message text format identifier (set to ATO by default)
  • Field 2 – Originator  
  • Field 3 – Message serial number  
  • Field 4 – Month name
  • Field 5 – Qualifier. If the message is a change CHG referred to a previous message this field value must be CHG.
  • Field 6 – Qualifier Serial Number. If Qualifier is CHG, this field is the change serial number. 

AKNLDG/NO// 

The third set is AKNLDG (Acknowledgement requirement) and indicates if acknowledgement is required for the message. Accepted values are YES or NO. 

TIMEFRAM/FROM:010600ZOCT1998/TO:020559ZOCT1998/ASOF:302100ZSEP1998// 

The fourth set is Effective Day-Time frame and contains: 

  • Field 1 – Beginning date-time (FROM:) 3
  • Field 2 – Ending date-time (TO:)
  • Field 3 – As Of Time (ASOF:) 

The day-time format is: 

  • 2 digits for the day
  • 4 digits for hours and minutes
  • 1 digit for time zone
  • 3 digits for month name
  • 4 digits for the year 

Task units and missions  
These blocks contain all the information about units and related missions.

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