Air Force Special Ops Faces Hard Transition After Middle East Wars
Air Force special operations are currently at an inflection point. How they handle it will partly determine their effectiveness against near-peer competitors.
AFSOC
The Myth of the Air Commandos
Whether foreign mothers portray them as monsters to scare their children or as saviors who dispatch the monsters, the Air Commandos’ myth is created in the shadows.
Air Force Pararescueman Michael Rogers Awarded for Mass-treating Special Forces Team
“Those men I was with are our absolute heroes, and I would fight alongside them any day, anywhere,” Michael Rogers said.
Anywhere, Anytime: Rearming Spec Ops Aircraft Behind Enemy Lines
The ability to refuel and rearm close to the front, by utilizing a Forward Arming and Refuelling Point (FARP), is key to an operation.
Air Force Special Operations Will Have to Flex to the Great Power Competition
Air Force Special Operations has been key in the War on Terror the past 20 years, but it will have to pivot as the we enter a new paradigm.
AFSOC Wants Congress to Approve Armed Overwatch Plane
A request from Air Force’s Special Operations Command for a new armed overwatch aircraft shows how AFSOC will operate in future SOF missions.
Two Air Force Pararescuemen Awarded Bronze Stars
The Airmen were attached to two separate Special Forces ODAs in Afghanistan that were executing raids deep inside Taliban-controlled areas.
Mandated Safety Measures Not Followed in Special Tactics Airman’s Death
The Air Force reports that the March 19 training death of Airman Keigan Baker was due to a failure to implement standard safety measures.
Special Tactics Airmen refine their diving capabilities
For years, Air force Special Tactics operators have trained with and utilized open-circuit dive gear. While this is a great capability and allows for diversity within their mission-set, any savvy tactical individual knows that open-circuit dive gear creates a ton of bubbles. This completely negates the stealth factor, which is often at the heart of […]
Leadership failures & lack of attention to detail caused the death of Combat Controller
On November 5, 2019, Staff Sergeant Cole Condiff, a Combat Controller (CCT) assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron out of Hurlburt Field, Florida, was accidentally pulled out of an MC-130 aircraft during a static-line parachute jump over the Gulf of Mexico. As he was dragged out of the aircraft, the Combat Controller hit the […]
SEAL Teams are getting a new and improved delivery vehicle
Naval Special Warfare is in the process of taking delivery of the new Mark 11 SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. According to SOCOM’s maritime program executive officer, Captain Kate Dolloff, two of these Mark 11s have already arrived, allowing SEAL SDV operators to begin the familiarization process. The Mark 11 will replace […]
Special Operations close air support aircaft questioned by Congress
The plan for a Special Operations aircraft that would provide close air and overwatch support to American commandos is under question by Congress. The idea for the Armed Overwatch program spawned from the need to provide sufficient platforms to support Special Operations troops and their partner forces in low-intensity conflict scenarios. The inability of the […]
