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Archive for the ‘SOF’ Category

AFSOC to Resume CV-22 Flight Operations

Sunday, March 17th, 2024

Following the March 8, 2024 Naval Air Systems Command flight bulletin returning the V-22 Osprey to operation with safety controls in place, Air Force Special Operations Command is implementing a multi-phased approach to ensure our aircrew, maintainers and aircraft are ready to resume flight operations.

Lt Gen Tony Bauernfeind, AFSOC Commander, directed the operational standdown of the CV-22 fleet December 6, 2023 in response to preliminary investigation information indicating a materiel failure following the November 29, 2023 mishap near Yakushima, Japan. This was followed by NAVAIR issuing a flight bulletin grounding the V-22 enterprise.

Phase one of AFSOC’s return to fly plan includes ground and simulator training integrating planned flight controls, safety briefings, a review of maintenance records and refining by-squadron training plans to implement the new safety protocols.

Phase two is a multi-month program for aircrew and maintainers. Aircrew will focus on regaining basic mission currency and proficiency then expansion to full mission currency and proficiency. While maintainers have remained engaged conducting maintenance necessary to sustain the CV-22 during the standdown, they will receive training in line with the maintenance protocols directed by the NAVAIR return to fly bulletin. Each squadron will progress through this phase at different speeds based a variety of factors including maintenance requirements for aircraft, experience level of personnel in the squadron and weather impact to flight schedules.

Phase three will include resumption of full mission profiles, multi-lateral exercises and operational taskings and deployments.

This phased approach affords AFSOC the time required to maximize opportunities to learn as much as possible from the Safety Investigation Board and Accident Investigation Board to mitigate risk to our aircrew, maintainers, and joint partners. 

The NAVAIR flight bulletin announcement can be found at: www.navair.navy.mil/news/NAVAIR-returns-V-22-Osprey-flight-status/Fri-03082024-0553.

Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs

75th Ranger Regiment Medics Prove They’re the ‘Best of the Best’

Saturday, March 16th, 2024

Fort Liberty, N.C. — The 2024 Command Sgt. Maj. Jack L. Clark, Jr. U.S. Army Best Medic Competition was held from March 4-8, at Fort Liberty. This year’s winners are Staff Sgt. Patrick Murphy, 75th Ranger Regiment, and Staff Sgt. Ryan Musso, 75th Ranger Regiment, both of Hunter Army Airfield.

The Army Best Medic Competition is a two-Soldier team competition that physically and intellectually challenges the Army’s top medics in a three-day event that includes a realistic simulated operational environment. The competition pushes Soldiers to their limits to test their tactical and technical operational medicine capabilities — the skills required to bring the injured, ill or wounded warfighter home. More than 50 competitors squared off in teams of two for this year’s competition.

“This is about our Soldiers having combat ready care on the battlefield [in order] to be the most lethal force,” said Lt. Gen Mary K. Izaguirre, Surgeon General of the Army and commanding general of Army Medical Command, at the finish of the competition’s mystery event. “[Soldiers] are going to need everything we ask of you.”

The course tests medical skills and physical capabilities. However, the rigor prepares medics for combat deployments or any other demanding assignment the medics needs to do.

The competition is designed to simulate a realistic environment that includes emerging threats and to represent real-world combat conditions.”

“This competition makes me want to train harder,” said Musso. “To bring my [Soldiers] up to the level where we had to be over the last few days.” Musso said the hardest part was pushing himself farther than he had before.

The competition included events such as were foot marches, prolonged field care, weapons qualifications, day and night land navigation, knowledge test, and a mystery event and of a series of tasks the medics might face on the battlefield.

“Really glad to see all the hard work paid off,” said Murphy. “The hardest event for me was the dragging the Skedco for more than two miles.” (Editor’s note: A Skedco is a stretcher system used for transporting patients.)

Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Sprunger said to the competitors at the conclusion of the final event, “We were here to find the best of the best. Congratulations.”

Army medics serve as the first line of care for injured, ill or wounded Soldiers and ensures medical readiness. They must be ready when called upon to deploy, fight and win in combat.

“They put it all out there,” said Sprunger. “They did a great job.”

The Command Sgt. Maj. Jack L. Clark, Jr. Army Best Medic Competition is dedicated to the 13th command sergeant major of the U.S. Army Medical Command. Clark was one of the most respected leaders and noncommissioned officers in the history of the command who understood the important role of medics in the Army and the trust Soldiers and leaders of units in combat must have in the Army Medical Department.

The competition is open to all active duty, Army National Guard and Army Reserve medical soldiers who have earned the competitive Combat Medical Badge or Expert Field Medical Badge.

Both Musso and Murphy agreed that future medics considering the competition should, “put themselves in really hard situations and force themselves to not quit.”

By Ronald Wolf

US Army Special Operations Museum Launches New Exhibit

Sunday, March 10th, 2024

WASHINGTON — On March 14th, 2024, the U.S. Army Special Operations Museum will launch an exciting new exhibit, “Opening the Vaults” at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, formerly Fort Bragg.

Opening The Vaults: Treasures of the Fort Liberty Museums is a temporary exhibit that will present rare and never-before-seen artifacts from the Fort Liberty Museums and historical holdings.

The exhibition is a collaborative effort with the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum, 82d Airborne Division War Memorial Museum, U.S. Army Reserve Command History Office, and the 503d Military Police Battalion (Airborne).

ASOM, constructed in 2000, is the first U.S. Army Museum built outside the perimeters of an Army installation. Artifacts from the Fort Liberty Museum Enterprise as well as assets from the U.S. Army Center of Military History (John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum) will be housed together and accessible to the public, in the heart of downtown, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Jim Bartlinski, Director of the Fort Liberty Museum Enterprise, said, “we thought that this would be a good opportunity not only to showcase rare artifacts, and never before seen artifacts, that we have here at ASOM, but also to give folks who necessarily don’t know about the museums on Fort Liberty the chance to see what those museums offer.”

This exhibition tells the story of the Army Reserve, Special Forces, and the 82d Airborne Division.  “So, it is a great collaborative effort for all of us.”

Historical panels were designed for each museum’s section by the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum. The 503d Military Police Battalion, the only airborne military police battalion in the U.S. Army provided uniformed mannequins to “guard” the vault, while drawing in visitors to the exhibit.

The exhibit will also feature a “Seek and Learn” activity geared towards interacting with children to learn about the history of the U.S. Army, developed by ASOM’s Volunteer Coordinator, Laura Monk.

ASOM Curator, Jimmie Hallis, said, “The exhibit is a first of its kind at the Fort Liberty Army Museum Enterprise.”

“Everyone (involved in the exhibition) jumped right on board with it. Up until the artifact installation dates, I really didn’t even know what the other museums would bring. The selection of artifacts run the history realm, from the Civil War to the Global War on Terror, there is something for everyone to see,” Hallis said.

To see the exhibit, visit the U.S. Army Special Operations Museum web page for location and operating hours. Go to: history.army.mil and click on the Museums tab.

Story by CPT Janeen R. Phelps

Photos by James Bartlinski

Gentex Corporation Announces Additional Order for Ops-Core RAILINK Power and Data ARC Rail System

Wednesday, March 6th, 2024

Integrated Headborne Platform receives second USSOCOM order.

CARBONDALE, PA, March 5th, 2024 – Gentex Corporation, a global leader in personal protection and situational awareness solutions for defense forces, emergency responders, and industrial personnel, announced today that they have received a second-round order for the Ops-Core RAILINK power and data system from US Special Operations Command.

“When operating within the unique SOF environment, there is no margin for error. With a second delivery order coming immediately after completion of the first delivery order, it is clear that our nation’s elite SOF operators see that RAILINK delivers on the features and benefits they specified at the beginning of the RAILINK development program” said Tom Short, Vice President of Ground Systems at Gentex Corporation.”

The RAILINK platform facilitates integration of a broad range of unique functionality on the headborne system. Powered by a central helmet power center, feeding power to, and sharing data between, an array of smart nodes and a VAS/NVG interface   RAILINK improves protection and lethality by increasing the effectiveness of the user and reducing their burden.

To learn more about RAILINK, visit:  www.gentexcorp.com/introducing-railink

COMAFSOC Delivers Closing Remarks at SAWS

Wednesday, March 6th, 2024

HURLBURT Field, Fla. —  

Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, Commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, delivered a keynote speech concluding the Special Air Warfare Symposium on Feb. 29, 2024 at the Fort Walton Beach Convention Center.  

SAWS is an annual symposium focused on special air warfare, SOF aviation mission sets, their partners, and enabling technologies.  The symposium, co-sponsored by AFSOC, included keynotes and panels composed of AFSOC senior leadership, leaders from across the U.S. and international SOF aviation enterprise and industry experts.  

Throughout the two-day symposium the attendees were challenged to reimagine how SOF aviation needs to adapt from several decades of counterterror focused operations to a world of increasing strategic and geopolitical instability and competing with peer adversaries.  

Bauernfeind explained how 2023 AFSOC Strategic Guidance focuses the command on the need for accelerated transformation to meet the demands of combatant commands, theater air components, and theater special operations commands, with a focus on developing people as the key to success. 

“It’s going to be our people, our Air Commandos, that make this happen,” said Bauernfeind.  

From establishing an Outreach Squadron to assist the Air Force Recruiting Service in exciting young Americans to join the military, to reducing initial qualification training by 50% while investing in augmented and virtual reality to enhance training, to developing a robust certification, validation and verification process that includes high-end readiness training and develops a culture of mission command before Air Commandos deploy, AFSOC is taking steps to develop its people throughout their service.  

Bauernfeind also outlined changes to better align AFSOC’s Wings with regional challenges and encompass all four mission areas: SOF mobility, SOF strike, SOF ISR and SOF air-to-ground integration.  

“All of our wings will be mission oriented with all our AFSOC capabilities. They will be theater focused… as we align our wings to get after regional problems for the joint force.” 

This includes establishing Theater Air Operations Squadrons focused on long-stare intelligence, multi-domain operations, air advising, and developing concepts of operations for the toughest problems. 

Looking to the future fight, Bauernfeind stated, “We know our Air Commandos had been wildly successful over the last few decades, but how are we going to ensure success for tomorrow?”  

Initiatives like developing modern high-speed vertical take-off and lift platforms to build out the ability to operate independent of traditional runways, returning focus to electromagnetic spectrum operations and enhancing precision effects through systems like small cruise missiles and reimagining how the MQ-9 is utilized through the Adaptive Airborne Enterprise. 

Bauernfeind concluded with why he is confident AFSOC will be successful in all these efforts.  

“We have an amazing team whether it be active duty, guard, reserve, our government civilians—that are focusing on pathfinding for the future, and I am excited to see what our people can do.” 

By Maj Jessica Gross, Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs

SOFWERX STEM Showcase 2024

Monday, March 4th, 2024

The SOFWERX STEM Showcase 2024 is an opportunity for high school juniors and seniors and college-age students to see a variety of technology demonstrations and discover career pathways and internship/employment opportunities. SOFWERX, in collaboration with the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Industry Partners, and local Universities, Colleges, and Trade Schools will host?a 1-day STEM Showcase for students on 10 May from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM ET at the SOFWERX facility in Tampa, FL (Ybor City).

Request to Exhibit NLT 22 March 2024 11:59 PM ET

Students RSVP NLT 03 May 2024 11:59 PM ET

Special Operations Warrior Foundation Announces Scholarship Funded by Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund in Honor of John Magness

Thursday, February 29th, 2024

Tampa, FL, Feb. 29 – The Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) is proud to announce a $250,000 scholarship grant for the 2023/2024 academic year, generously funded by the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund (JMSF) in memory of John Magness, a revered patriot, and distinguished Special Operations helicopter pilot.

John Magness, whose legacy of bravery and dedication continues to inspire, played a pivotal role in critical military operations, including leading a troop of attack helicopters during the Persian Gulf War and participating in the historic Battle of the Black Sea in Mogadishu, Somalia, as part of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

Tragically, John Magness passed away on February 5, 2023, after summiting Mount Aconcagua, undertaking this formidable challenge to raise awareness and funds for the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, a cause he passionately supported. As an Ambassador for Special Operations Warrior Foundation, John’s commitment to the children of our nation’s fallen heroes was unwavering.

The Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, in collaboration with SOWF, aims to honor John’s legacy by supporting the educational aspirations of students who, despite facing significant challenges, have demonstrated a remarkable commitment to their academic and personal growth.

Both JMSF and SOWF are honored to contribute to the educational journey of future leaders. It reflects a shared commitment to nurturing the dreams of our fallen SOF Warriors’ children and empowering them to achieve their fullest potential.

The Special Operations Warrior Foundation and the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund encourage the scholarship recipients, and all students, to pursue excellence in their endeavors and to remember the strength and support of the community that stands behind them.

We look forward to witnessing the remarkable achievements our scholarship recipients will accomplish and are confident that they will continue to honor the legacy of heroes like John Magness.

Enforce Tac 24 – Heckler & Koch G39

Tuesday, February 27th, 2024

Yesterday, Heckler & Koch posted this image and message to Instagram:

Neu im Arsenal unserer Kommandosoldaten. Sonderwaffe #G39 im Kaliber 300 Blackout. Leichter. Besser. Unschlagbar. Sniper Grey.

New in the arsenal of our Special Forces. #G39 in caliber 300 Blackout. Lighter. Better. Unbeatable. Sniper Grey.

Recently adopted by the KSK, the G39 is based on the HK437, a 300 BLK version of the modular rifle, the HK433 unveiled in 2017.

Below is a HK437 in 300 BLK with a 9″ barrel.

Note the three white dots in several locations which tell the operator the carbine is chambered in 300 BLK.