The Evolution of Time Sensitive Targeting

The nature of US military operations since DESERT STORM has gradually shifted from a conventional force-on-force scenario to one in which US forces likely will counter an adversary strategy of concealment, dispersal, and deception. Airmen at the operational and tactical levels of combat have adapted the US targeting cycle to accommodate targets discovered during Air Tasking Order (ATO) execution that cannot wait to be processed under the traditional 24-72 hour ATO targeting cycle. The highest priority target category of these emerging targets are defined as Time-Sensitive Targets (TST). This study will trace the requirement for and evolution of the TST process beginning with the Scud hunt in the first Gulf War. It will summarize the TST progress through Operations ALLIED FORCE and ENDURING FREEDOM, and then analyze the targeting process and results of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF).