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Briefing - WIP -

Briefing

During the briefing, the flight lead will clearly communicate to the wingman the flow of the planned mission, as well as the tasks to be completed. If the wingman does not fully understand any aspect of the mission, he must ask questions. The wingman must never leave the briefing room with any doubts as to mission flow, tasks, procedures used to accomplish those tasks, or the wingman’s responsibilities for the mission.

Mission Briefing.

  • The briefing sets the tone for the entire mission.
  • Establish goals and tailor the plan to achieve them.
  • Write the mission objectives on the board and establish a standard that measures successful performance.
  • Standard briefing items including start, taxi, take- off, and recovery, and relevant special subjects should be covered in an efficient manner. Elements of the mission, which are standard, should be briefed as “standard.”
  • Spend most of the time describing the “what” and “how to” of the mission. If adversaries, friendly players, or other mission support personnel are present, brief them first on only pertinent information and the mission. GCI/AWACS controllers, however, should receive the entire tactical briefing and must fully understand the game plan to include ROE review, identification procedures, and the communications plan.
  • Alternate missions should be less complex than the original mission but also have specific objectives.
  • The flight lead must control the brief and be dynamic, credible, and enthusiastic. The flight lead motivates and challenges the flight to perform to planned expectations, asking questions to involve flight members and determine briefing effectiveness.

Flight Objectives 

Preparation for any mission is based on specific objectives which are tailored to achieve desired outcomes. Objectives establish the performance standards by which pilot and mission effectiveness is measured, and should broadly define the purpose of the mission. Objectives must be established for both training and combat missions, and must be specific, measurable, and attainable.
Without these three characteristics, any evaluation of performance or effectiveness would be entirely subjective.

Objective

Structure In addition to the three characteristics discussed above, a valid objective has three discrete parts.

Performance. 

Identify explicit tasks or actions that must be accomplished by the pilot or flight during the mission. Use action verbs such as destroy, disrupt, suppress, clear, search, demonstrate, employ, and practice.

Conditions.

Describe the environment in which the task or action is to be accomplished. Use descriptions such as “IN THE CONTROL ZONE”, “OUTSIDE THE BANDIT’S TURN CIRCLE”, and “FROM WEDGE FORMATION”.

Standards. 

Establish how well the task or action must be performed. Use discrete time, accuracy, or quality criteria such as “TIME-ON-TARGET (TOT) WITHIN PLUS OR MINUS 30 SECONDS”, “HITS WITHIN 10 METERS”, and “DIVE ANGLE WITHIN PLUS OR MINUS 5 DEGREES”.

Defining Objectives 

Defining objectives also depends on contingencies and other planning considerations such as weather, sun angles, day or night, the threat environment, or the frag order. Incorporating well defined objectives based on the mission requirements and the particular mission’s lowest common denominator (e.g., weather, wingman experience) pays benefits in terms of combating mis-prioritization and increasing situation awareness.

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