Why Not the Joint Fires Observer?

On today’s battlefield, air supremacy is the goal of the United States and Coalition Forces. Airpower continues to play a major role in today’s contemporary operating environment. On the tactical level, fixed-wing close air support (CAS) and air interdiction (AI) may be the primary means of fire support. So, who controls it – The Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) or the Joint Fires Observer (JFO)?

According to Joint Publication 3-09.3, a JTAC defined as “a qualified (certified) service member who, from a forward position, directs the action of combat aircraft engaged in close air support (CAS) and other offensive air operations.”

The Joint Fires Observer (JFO) defined as a trained service member who can request, adjust, and control surface-to-surface fires, provide targeting information in support of Type 2 and 3 CAS terminal attack controls, and perform autonomous Terminal Guidance Operations (TGO).

Even though the duty descriptions of the two sound extremely similar, the “certified” JTAC maintains the authority to request Type 1 CAS. The difference is that the JTAC is certified on the terminal attack controls, where the JFO is not. How difficult would it be certify and maintain the required level of proficiency of the JTACs as well as JFO on Type 1 controls.