Who’s flying the best SOF units into harms way?

JSOCs TF 160th, that’s who.

Helicopter pilots in general are often the black sheep of the military aviation community.  I saw this first hand as an H-60 Search & Rescue Swimmer Crew Chief (AW) before I went into the SEALs.  A lot of Jet jocks would shun their nose at the Helo pilots.  I’d like to see their fucking eyes go big watching the Bad Ass pilots of TF 160. I have a feeling their jet egos would shrink up and the pitch in their voice would get real high……

From USASOC’s Sine Pari Magazine
“On Oct. 16, 1981, the Department of Defense officially recognized a unit dedicated to providing helicopter support to the nation’s Special Operations Forces. That small formation has evolved into today’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne).”

I’ve always had a love of aviation and myself have a measly 500 hours of flight time and my instrument rating.  I love to fly, I have ever since NSW gave me the time to get pilot trained seven years ago.  My hours are NOTHING compared to what most military pilots have. It takes 3-5 years for a TF 160 pilot to get Fully Mission Capable (3-5 years!).  These guys have more hours flying on Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) than most airline pilots will have in a career of flying.  And for those of you that are in the aviation know, that’s a pretty damn substantial fact.  Airline pilots log tens of thousands of hours, however, TF 160th pilots log this much and more, all on NVGs.

So who’s the best? TF-160th Helicopter Pilots that’s who….

I’m just wondering who’s flying these AT-802s and crop dusting bad guys for JSOC.

I heard about this through my friend “Gimli”, a former SF soldier. The concept is a pilot/gunner in a dual seat AT-802. It would take a ground crew of 1-2 people. It would be able to land on rough strips/roads near ODA/SEAL FOBs and be a CAS asset for them.