The Arm in Forward Arming and Refueling Point
Pvt. Jeff Runge, assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division, carries a rocket to a waiting Apache AH-64D during gunnery certification for 3rd Sqdn., 6th Cav. Regt., CAB, 1st AD, pilots at Doña Ana Range, N.M., Jan. 25, 2017. DVIDS.
Introduction
If you were to go up to the average Soldier and ask if you know anything about Operation Iraqi Freedom, they would say it is something they read about in the history books. And they would be correct, but for a few of us, it is a memory that has shaped many of our careers. March 20, 2003, marked the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom with airstrikes on Saddam Hussein’s Presidential Palace and military targets around the country. Of the many Soldiers who participated in the 2003 invasion, those from the iconic 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) are familiar with two Forward Arming and Refueling Points: SHELL and EXXON (Rapid Refuel Point). The helicopter brigades in the initial invasion provided lift and attack capabilities, allowing the division to lift maneuver forces greater distances with more flexibility and creating infrastructure for collation aviation assets to move far north to shape battles early in combat operations. These forward refueling and arming points had a survivability advantage with a collation force that maintained air superiority and was out of the Iraqi Armed Force's indirect fire range. An advantage that has quickly disappeared in today’s Russo-Ukrainian War with advanced and skill-crafted technology.
Forward Arming and Refueling Points
The techniques publication for Forward Arming and Refueling Points (FARP) provides a definition as
“A FARP is a temporary facility organized, equipped, and deployed as far forward, or widely dispersed, as tactically feasible to provide fuel and ammunition necessary for the sustainment of aviation maneuver units in combat. Establishing a FARP allows commanders to extend the range of their aircraft or significantly increase time on station by eliminating the need for aircraft to return to the aviation unit’s central base of operations to refuel and rearm.”
Commanders and staff plan for operational reach to ensure Army forces accomplish their missions before culminating forces under multidomain operations. Commanders continually strive to extend operational reach in operations, assessing the strength of friendly forces and comparing them to the enemy forces to ensure victory and consolidate gains while planning for operational pauses as needed. Using Forward Arming and Refueling Points can sustain the operational reach of aviation assets and friendly forces. When FARPs are discussed, it is often in the context of refueling to extend reach. Aircraft fuel distribution is accomplished through rapid refuel points (RRP) and Forward Arming and Refueling Points (FARP). When RRPs are established, it is used to rapidly refuel large numbers of aircraft during surge periods, such as the initial invasion during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Figure 1. 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) established Rapid Refueling Point (RRP) Exxon in Iraq’s southern desert. B/3-187th Infantry air assaulted further north in order to establish a Forward Area refueling Point (FARP) Shell near Najaf, Iraq.
There are usually four types of Forward Arming and Refueling Points: active, silent, jump, and rolling. Which are employed to support and sustain missions and are manned and equipped to refuel and rearm aircraft under combat conditions using various types, setups, and refueling equipment. The active FARP is generally located in close operations to provide the fuel and ammunition necessary to employ aviation units in combat. For longer missions, units deploy multiple FARPs, active and those that remain inactive or silent until activation occurs at predetermined times or decision points. When scope, assets, and time are limited, a jump FARP provides the commander with rapid refuel/rearm capability when normal operations are not tactically sound. Jump FARPs use Advanced Aviation Forward Area Refueling System (AAFARS), 500-gallon collapsible fuel drums, heavy expanded mobility tactical truck (HEMTT) Tanker, M978, and ammunition as necessary, transported dictated by METT-TC factors. Lastly, rolling FARP allows aircraft providing convoy security to refuel and rearm at the convoy’s location, reducing the travel time associated with returning to an established FARP. Refueling operations can be accomplished through various equipment with colloquial names such as Fat Cow and Hawk. But just as important as refueling is that of arming aviation assets in support of battles and engagements.
Arming Operations
Ammunition storage at Forward Area refueling Points is unique to the situation and that of land component operations. One of the ammunition storage areas identified by techniques publication for Forward Arming and Refueling Points (ATP 3-04.17) is that of the ready ammunition storage area (RASA). The RSA contains ammunition required to support the mission beyond the minimum for one load at rearming pads. The RASA requires separate areas for the assembling and disassembling of rockets, aircraft flares, and malfunctions involving ammunition. Next is the basic load storage area (BLSA), another separate area away from the RASA. The BLSA contains ammunition required and authorized to be on hand at the unit to support three days of combat, including aircraft-specific ammunition. Current publications do not lay out the munitions area, but if you go back to 1994 with tactics, techniques, and procedures for forward arming and refueling points, illustrations present one of the best ways to conduct ammunition operations within a FARP.
Figure 1. Two typical layouts for helicopter rearm points
Figure 2. Three-dimensional view of a plan for a helicopter rearm point
While the figures present a close approximation between areas it is not the case. As the current publication lists the minimum distances permitted between rearm points, RASAs, and non-ammunition related activities that require safety distances such as inhabited buildings that include tents used as living quarters.
Table 1. Rearm point and ready ammunition storage area minimum safe distances (in feet)
One location that would be most catastrophic should an accident occur is that of Armament pads. The setup affects the overall aircraft turnaround times. And during combat there should be enough ammunition for at least one arming sequence before an aircraft arrives. The ammunition should be laid out in the order that it will be loaded, and a full load should be ready in case the aircraft has expended its entire initial load. The layout would be dependent on armament configurations of the aircraft and mission at hand.
Figure 3. AH-64 armament configurations
The 1994 publication even provides an example of tactical emplacement in urban areas. The publication provides examples of opportunities, including many places to hide FARP equipment and supplies in or around buildings. The buildings also can mask aircraft movement and provide a caution not to create road networks in an urban area as vehicle movement and resupply may reveal the location of the FARP. Resupply vehicles should pick alternate routes to the urban FARP.
Figure 4. FARP operations in urban terrain
Munitions Sustainment
Munitions Sustainment for FARP operations requires planning and coordination of various elements. Brigade and battalion staff must anticipate Class V needs and coordinate with sustainment commands to ensure requirements are met with resupply operations. The enemy will have a say in the battle's pace and tempo. Planning and preparation are internal to each person, team, and section of the FARP. Resupply actions should start as soon as the operation permits and are affected by variables such as:
Unit resupply assets,
Combat operations,
Expenditure Rates,
Culmination points,
Distances and road networks.
The most common resupply is the supply point distribution method, where the supporting unit issues supplies to units at an ammunition supply point. Units move Class V supplies with organic transport vehicles. The distribution platoon moves to the ammunition transfer and holding point and transports Class V supplies to the FARP locations.
Conclusion
Forward Arming and Refueling Points increase the time on station for the commander by reducing the turnaround time associated with refueling and, just as importantly, rearming. The rearming gives the commander more time to apply continuous pressure on the enemy with various munitions that aircraft can employ. FARPs are employed in support of deep attacks when the distance covered exceeds the normal range of the aircraft. Additionally, FARPs are employed during rapid advances, as seen with the use of Shell and Exxon in the Iraqi desert. One must not forget the munitions in FARP operations.
References:
ATP 3-04.17, Techniques for Forward Arming and Refueling Points, JUNE 2018.
https://armypubs.army.mil/ProductMaps/PubForm/Details.aspx?PUB_ID=1004645
FM 1-104, Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Forward Arming and Refueling Points, 12 SEPTEMBER 1994. https://www.bits.de/NRANEU/others/amd-us-archive/FM1-104%281994%29.pdf
The New MEU Forward Arming and Refueling Point
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2022/april/new-meu-forward-arming-and-refueling-point
Performance Evaluation of a Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) Using Discrete Event Simulation
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA442595.pdf
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division - Air Assault. March 19, 2020
https://www.facebook.com/TheRakkasans/posts/onthisdayinhistory-in-2003-seven-months-after-their-return-from-afghanistan-the-/3212567218771531/
FARP Operations: Sustaining the chaos of LSCO
https://www.army.mil/article/249254/farp_operations_sustaining_the_chaos_of_lsco
Don F. Pratt Museum-101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). March 22, 2020.
https://www.facebook.com/DonPrattMuseum/posts/pfbid02HnBA4BJuvAz9zmZCpu4ES5PCUL91KnCf4XvMxhr2E71T7VddiCpGboHJ9MdVLwqjl
Maximizing FARP Efficiency in Large Scale Combat Operations
https://armyaviationmagazine.com/maximizing-farp-efficiency-in-large-scale-combat-operations/
Forward Arming and Refueling Points for Fighter Aircraft
https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/ASPJ/journals/Volume-28_Issue-5/F-Davis.pdf
How to Seize Islands, Set Up a Forward Refueling Point: Marine Corps Recipes for Expeditionary Operations
https://news.usni.org/2019/09/13/how-to-seize-islands-set-up-a-forward-refueling-point-marine-corps-recipes-for-expeditionary-operations