Army Aviation Intratheater Lift Operations and Its Relevance and Capability to Support the Future Force

The US Army's aviation force is undergoing major organizational and doctrinal employment changes in order to continue to be relevant and capable in the contemporary operational environment (COE) and to prepare to be effective on the battlefields of the future. The Army's organic intratheater lift fixed-wing and rotary-wing assets, specifically the C-23B Sherpa cargo airplane and the CH-47D Chinook cargo heavy-lift helicopter, have been heavily employed in the high operations tempo (OPTEMPO) in Iraq and Afghanistan. This thesis focuses on analyzing current and projected Army organic intratheater lift assets including the future cargo aircraft (FCA) and the improved cargo helicopter (ICH) program. Also, a review and analysis of projected aviation transformation organization plans will be considered in order to make conclusions and recommendations to determine if the Army's intratheater fixed-wing and rotary-wing cargo assets will be relevant and capable to support the Future Force.