A United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party, commonly abbreviated TACP, is an individual or team of United States Air Force Special Warfare Airmen with AFSC 1Z3X1, who are aligned with conventional, Special Operation Forces, and Tier 1 combat maneuver units. They provide precision terminal attack control and terminal attack guidance of U.S. and coalition fixed- and rotary-wing close air support aircraft, artillery, and naval gunfire; establish and maintain command and control (C2) communications; and advise ground commanders on the best use of air power.
An Air Liaison Officer with the 14th Air Support Operations Squadron, parachutes to the ground during a joint forcible entry exercise 31 May 2013, at the Nevada Test and Training Range at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
USAF TACPs in the Battle of Do Ab. In the battle, a scout platoon from the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, United States Army, 20 Afghan soldiers, and two United States Air Force TACPs were ambushed by over 300 Taliban near the village of Do Ab. With assistance from close air support, the coalition forces repulsed the ambush, killing approximately 270 Taliban.
Six GBU-38 munitions are dropped by a B-1B Lancer aircraft onto an insurgent torture house and prison in Northern Zambraniyah, Iraq, 10 March 2008. The munitions drop was cleared by a USAF TACP from Fort Cavazos, Texas, and deployed with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
The United States Air Force Combat Control Teams, singular Combat Controller (CCT), are an elite special operations force who specialize in all aspects of air-ground communication, as well as air traffic control, fire support, and command, control, and communications in covert, forward, or austere environments.
Two Combat Controllers watching an A-10 Thunderbolt II landing on the Jägala-Käravete Highway in Estonia, 2017
A Combat Controller wearing desert digital camouflage during MOUT training
The 101st Airborne Division's pathfinder unit setting up radar equipment during the Battle of the Bulge