Air Force Special Operations Command

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Air Force Special Operations Command
- AFSOC -

Shield of the United States Air Force Special Operations Command.svg


Association badge ( Shield )
Lineup May 22, 1990
Country United States
Armed forces United States Armed Forces ( United States Armed Forces )
United States Air Force Main Command United States Air Force
Type United States
Strength 12,900 (9,300 active duty soldiers, plus around 1,100 civilians and an additional 2,800 reservists)
Insinuation US Special Operations Command
Hurlburt Field Okaloosa County ( Florida )
motto "First There ... That Others May Live" (Eng. "First there ... so that others live")
Butcher Second Gulf War
Operation Desert Shield , Operation Desert Storm (August 1990 to February 1991)

UNITAF Somalia

Operation Restore Hope (1992)

Haiti

Operation Uphold Democracy (1994)

Bosnian War

Operation Delibrate Force (1995)

Afghanistan

Operation Enduring Freedom (2001)

Iraq war

Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003) a. a.
commander
Commanding General ( Commander, Air Force Special Operations Command ) Lieutenant General

Marshall B. Webb

Deputy Commanding General ( Vice Commander, Air Force Special Operations Command ) Major General

Eugene Haase

Aircraft
Transport aircraft /
helicopter
Lockheed C-130 (AC / HC / MC-130) u. a.

The Air Force Special Operations Command ( AFSOC ) is one of ten main commandos of the United States Air Force (USAF) with headquarters in Hurlburt Field , Florida , USA . As a component command, it is subordinate to the US Special Operations Command .

history

The Air Force Special Operations Command has existed since May 22, 1990 as an independent main command of the USAF. Previously, the special forces of the 23rd Air Force were grouped under the Military Airlift Command (MAC).

assignment

The mission of the Air Force Special Operations Command is to carry out special operations, the operational methods of which mainly fall into the field of unconventional warfare ; These include search and rescue operations (SAR S earch a nd R Escue) and search and rescue operations under combat conditions (CSAR, C ombat S earch a nd R Escue) behind enemy lines and in areas where there is no "official" military action can or may take place, as well as special reconnaissance , secret infiltration and exfiltration , psychological warfare (e.g. through radio broadcasts in the area of ​​the enemy) and targeted air strikes .

organization

organization chart

AFSOC are subordinate to the following active associations:

  • 1st Special Operations Wing , Home Base: Hurlburt Field, Florida
  • 24th Special Operations Wing, Home Base: Hurlburt Field, Florida
  • 27th Special Operations Wing, Home Base: Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico
  • 352nd Special Operations Wing, based at RAF Mildenhall Air Force Base, England
  • 353rd Special Operations Group, based at Kadena Air Base , Okinawa, Japan
  • 492nd Special Operations Wing, Home Base: Hurlburt Field, Florida

The following Air National Guard associations :

  • 137th Special Operations Wing, Home Base: Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, Oklahoma
  • 193rd Special Operations Wing, Home Base: Harrisburg Air National Guard Station, Pennsylvania
  • 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, Home Base: Louisville International Airport, Kentucky
  • 125th Special Tactics Squadron, Home Base: Portland Air National Guard Base, Oregon
  • 209th Civil Engineer Squadron, Home Base: Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center, Mississippi
  • 280th Combat Communications Squadron, Home Base: Dothan Regional Airport, Alabama

and the following associations of the Air Force Reserve :

  • 919th Special Operations Wing, Duke Field, Florida

At the end of September 2006, the AFSOC had around 9,300 active service soldiers, plus around 1,100 civilians and an additional 2,800 reservists. This makes it the smallest main command in the USAF.

On March 23, 2015, the 352nd Special Operations Group was converted to the 352nd Special Operations Wing and the 752nd Special Operations Group and the 352nd Special Operations Maintenance Group were activated.

24th Special Tactics Squadron (24th STS)

A specialty is the 24th Special Tactics Squadron (24th STS), which administratively belongs to the AFSOC, but is operationally subordinate to the Joint Special Operations Command , the combined command for combating terrorism .

Guide bar

equipment

Air fleet of the
6th Special Operations Squadron's 1st Special Operations Wing

The equipment includes various variants of the C-130 (AC / HC / MC-130) along with some C-27 and 20 short-haul aircraft of the type Dornier D328-100 , U-28A and various helicopters ( UH-1 , MH-53 , HH- 60 ) and V-22 , all more or less modified for the respective purpose. In total, around 160 aircraft are available to the AFSOC.

As of July 29, 2015, 37 new AC-130Js will be gradually introduced.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ AFSOC ( Memento of November 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). Special tactics. Accessed June 22, 2010
  2. www2.afsoc.af.mil ( Memento of November 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Library - Heritage of the Special Operations Professionals. Accessed June 23, 2010
  3. ^ Stacia Zachary: 352nd SOW, two groups activate at RAF Mildenhall. In: www.afsoc.af.mil. March 23, 2015, accessed March 25, 2015 .
  4. www.af.mil ( Memento from July 24, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ). Accessed June 22, 2010
  5. www2.afsoc.af.mil ( memento from October 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). Accessed June 23, 2010
  6. ^ Lieutenant General Marshall B. "Brad" Webb. In: af.mil. US Air Force, accessed March 18, 2018 (American English).
  7. C-146A Wolfhound Transport Aircraft. Retrieved July 5, 2018 .