The Group Foundations Course is a two-week course designed for Green Berets new to 10th SFG(A). During this two-week process, the new Special Forces Operators learn about the history of the group and cover the fundamentals of being an Original – which includes combatives, pistol and rifle marksmanship, physical fitness and in-depth military vehicle familiarization.
You’re probably seeing the earlier videos depicting the features of the iconic black over-dyed M65 Field Jackets which were modified for use by Delta’s Operation Eagle Claw rescuers.
The jackets are finished and ready for the Silent Warrior Foundation’s Whiskey & War Stories event and auction which kicks off tomorrow in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Big thanks to Alpha Industries for the jackets and Cory at Bergspitze Customs for making this happen!)
SWF President Dave Hall and Lona Spisso surprised Jim Fuller who donated a custom build AK for the auction with one of the Eagle Claw jackets. Greg Wong who works for Haley Strategic got a surprise as well as he was presented a jacket for his hard work behind the scenes at Whiskey & War Stories events over the years.
You don’t have to be at the event yo get in on the auction for some amazing items, visit whiskeyandwarstories2021.afrogs.org.
silentwarriorfoundation.com/pages/6th-annual-whiskey-war-stories
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla.– Special Tactics Airmen assigned to the 24th Special Operations Wing are currently responding to a request to augment humanitarian aid efforts in Haiti following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Aug. 14.
The Special Tactics Airmen responding to the relief efforts will be working with Joint Task Force-Haiti under Rear Admiral Keith Davids, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command South. While in country, the ST Airmen will be responsible for conducting various airfield surveys to determine suitability for bringing in humanitarian aid via airlift. Special Tactics teams are also postured and ready to establish airfield operations and conduct air traffic control if necessary.
“Our Special Tactics Airmen are trained and ready for a number of humanitarian missions that we may be called upon to accomplish,” said Col. Jason Daniels, 24th Special Operations Wing commander. “Our teams are looking forward to providing assistance to the people of Haiti while working alongside our joint teammates in U.S. Southern Command in support of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.”
In recent years, Special Tactics Airmen have responded to several natural disasters including Hurricanes Eta and Iota in Honduras, Hurricane Michael in Florida and Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana.
Special Tactics Airmen fall under Air Force Special Operations Command and U.S. Special Operations Command and are trained to execute global access, precision strike, personnel recovery and battlefield surgery operations across the spectrum of conflict. Special Tactics operators are experts in air-ground integration and have the ability to assess, open, and control major airfields to clandestine dirt strips in any environment.
More information will be released as it becomes available.
For more information on Air Force Special Tactics visit our website, www.airforcespecialtactics.af.mil
GUAM — Two C-130s launch from Yokota Air Base, Tokyo, into midnight darkness on course to deliver airborne personnel with U.S. Army Special Forces and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members to Guam.
History is being made as Green Berets with 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), and members of JGSDF, execute their first bilateral airborne operation outside of Japanese territory. On board, both units know well the commands and procedures that lead up to exiting a high-performance aircraft.
The operation begins with a call from the drop zone control party. The pilots check in and wind calls are made. The JGSDF exits on first pass with the Type 13 parachute. On second pass, special operations forces exit with the steerable MC-6 parachute. Directly below is a flight line—which guarantees a hard landing—and grass off to the sides.
On July 30, 2021, a Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha (ODA) assigned to 1st SFG (A) and approximately 80 members with JGSDF conducted bilateral operations in Guam as part of Defender Pacific 21.
DP21 is a U.S. Army Pacific exercise designed to operationalize the national Defense Strategy through realistic, iterative training across all domains—land, sea, air, cyber and space.
Following the airborne infiltration, U.S. Special Forces and the JGSDF conducted an air assault in vicinity of their first objective near Naval Base Guam, said the Special Forces ODA team leader assigned to 1st Bn., 1st SFG (A). After destroying the first objective, which were anti-air weapon systems, the bilateral force reconsolidated and moved toward their follow-on mission.
Thirty-six hours elapsed from when mission planning started to when the second objective — an enemy command and control node — was destroyed.
Despite tropical heat, humidity and lack of sleep, the bilateral force conducted a high-performance mass-tactical airborne operation and executed two targets with zero major injuries, said the team leader. The airborne operation sends a clear message that the United States and Japan share a commitment to freedom and security and can employ a combined force in support of these principles.
“This experience provided valuable insight into JGSDF capabilities and maneuver techniques; giving insight into how we can better support their operations in the future,” he continued. “Furthermore, this operation allowed the team to create valuable relationships with JGSDF [members] and leadership that will serve as the foundation for future bilateral operations.”
Throughout the operation, the ODA team leader made sure bilingual Green Berets and JGSDF members were placed strategically in the formation to ensure communication and commands were understood.
“Joint operational capability is important for us to defend [Japanese] territory,” said Capt. Ryosuke Taki, lead U.S.-Japan bilateral operations planner for JGSDF.
For six months, Taki coordinated with the JGSDF and 1st SFG (A) on making this training opportunity a reality.
“I had to overcome many obstacles to accomplish this mission,” he said. “As far as airborne operations go, [U.S. Army] uses many words we don’t know. Language sometimes [created] misunderstandings making coordination difficult…[however,] our members wanted to coordinate with 1st Special Forces Group.”
“Special Forces are experts in military freefall and close-quarters combat, as well as static-line jumps,” Taki said. “We have more lessons to learn from their rich experiences.”
The Indo-Pacific region is the most consequential theater on the planet and DP21 provides opportunities necessary to create, refine, and deploy new options and solutions for the challenges our nation, allies and partners face. This exercise anticipates requirements to support regional alliances and the existing security architecture to exploit opportunities.
By Anthony Bryant
Air Commandos from Air Force Special Operations Command hosted a weapons and tactics conference here, July 6 – 16, 2021.
This annual conference was a gathering of special operations forces and combat air force’s tactical experts to meet and identify and improve tactics, techniques and procedures with the purpose of conducting Mission Area Working Groups (MAWGs) and the annual Tactical Review Board (TRB) to bolster AFSOC’s Tactics Development and Improvement Program (TDIP).
The theme for the 2021 WEPTAC conference is “Competing Now and in the Next Conflict – SOF Operations in the Joint Fight.” Operators and tacticians identified potential deficiencies and worked to develop TTP’s for future fights while advancing AFSOC’s creativity and capability.
“This is a great opportunity for teammates to come together and discuss how we can and must help AFSOC change for any future challenges,” said Maj. Gen. Eric Hill, deputy commander of AFSOC. “Our command has faced various inflection points in its history, and WEPTAC is a forum where some of our best minds develop ways for us to stay relevant in the fight.”
Since 9/11, AFSOC has largely focused on a counter-violent extremist organizations fight, but this year’s WEPTAC shifted the conversation towards implementing new strategies in the peer and near-peer adversarial competition.
“If history has shown us anything, change is inevitable,” Hill said. “I know that each one of you here will do your part to help push the conversation and develop changes needed far into the future.”
After Hill’s opening remarks, conference attendees broke out into the MAWGs, which were built using a combination of subject matter experts from operations and intelligence, that had industry knowledge and air and ground tactical expertise, with the goal of working through potential future problem sets.
The TRB’s addressed specific tactical improvement ideas in both mobility and strike functional areas, and combined with the MAWG’s, worked towards helping push forward innovative thoughts.
The conference was an opportunity for Airmen to focus on joint MAWG’s that provide relevant near-peer planning in line with the NDS and AFSOC strategic guidance. WEPTAC is aligned with generating advantage in competition by enabling the joint force to respond to crisis and to win.
“Our human capital is our ultimate weapon,” Hill said. “The ideas and tactics we come up with during WEPTAC will make sure that our Airmen remain the competitive advantage.”
By Senior Airman Brandon Esau, AFSOC Public Affairs
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. —
A new unit has been generated on base in support of mission readiness and efficiency. Mission Sustainment Team 1 is a group of individuals with diverse skill sets selected from the 27th Special Operations Mission Support Group, with the intent that they will cover and provide every asset required to sustain livable conditions in austere locations for an extended period of time.
The Mission Sustainment Team concept provides a way forward in building small, scattered teams capable of operating independent of main operating bases – a focus area highlighted by Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, Air Force Special Operations Command commander, during his 2021 Special Operations Forces Imperatives Forum earlier this year.
“This idea is not new or unique to the Air Force as a whole, but it is to the Air Force Special Operations Command,” said Senior Master Sgt. John Spencer, 27 SOMSG, Detachment 1 MST 1 team lead. “AFSOC is used to providing for the operators for a short duration, but something like this has never been done before in this Major Command.”
AFSOC currently does not have an on-demand capability to provide and sustain a livable environment in areas without pre-established facilities. To fix this issue, the MST consists of Airmen from different MSG specialties, and trains them all on necessary expeditionary functions.
“We are taking roughly 60 people from different shops in the MSG and making them work together to create livable conditions for a base worth of personnel,” Spencer said. “We have to try these things, see where they fail, then learn from our failures and do it better the next time.”
There are many unknowns surrounding the MST, as with any new unit. The team hopes to benefit from these unknowns however, documenting their experiences and applying the lessons learned to ultimately teach and train those who follow in the future.
The team had the opportunity to test themselves recently in an Operational Readiness Exercise. Select individuals from Cannon AFB were involved in a mock deployment to an austere location and required support from MST 1. This entirely new scenario helped participants as it was an ideal testing ground for the capabilities of sustained support for multiple personnel.
Within a limited resourcing environment, MST 1 gives AFSOC the ability to enable the larger joint force with unique capabilities; things that no one else can do.
The opportunities to blaze new trails are plentiful for MST 1. As the first of its kind in AFSOC, there is no manual or guidebook to follow. Instead, the team will take the knowledge and practices of similar groups in other MAJCOM’s and tailor them to their needs.
During the 2021 SOF Imperatives Forum, Slife spoke on the necessity for the development and continuous acceleration of SOF and AFSOC forces, including those a part of MST 1.
“The standards of yesterday were applicable to yesterday,” Slife said. “The question is, what are the standards of tomorrow and how do we build the force we need, to be most effective in the future? Our competitive advantage will continue to be the men and women who make up our formation, but the challenge for leadership is ensuring… those men and women in AFSOC know that they are relevant to the nation.”
Not many in support roles have the opportunity to see how their work directly affects the mission downrange. The work of this new unit provides Airmen a tangible link between their efforts and the final product, something that boosts morale while transforming them into a team of lethal, multi-faceted Airmen.
“It brings me real joy to see how folks who, before joining this group, had never worked with a services Airman, and then see them training on a field kitchen three days later,” Spencer said. “This is what I like to do. I like building teams, being out in the field, and doing what the Air Force trained me to do in defending airfields. Seeing all this [come together] from my personal perspective is unique and amazing. It also helps the Air Force as a whole as it takes someone from their regular unit for a while, and then returns them 100% better than when they left because they got to learn all the things they would normally never do.”
MST 1 may be new, but they have their work cut out for them. Providing support for active personnel at austere and un-furnished locations is no easy feat, but it means the work done by MST 1 will be vital in helping similar units in AFSOC for years to come.
Story by Senior Airman Christopher Storer, 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
Photos by Senior Airman Vernon R. Walter III
“There must be within our U.S. Army a sense of purpose, and a dedication to that purpose. There must be a willingness to march a little further, to carry a heavier load, to step into the dark and unknown for the safety and well-being of others.”
General Creighton Abrams, 26th Chief of Staff, United States Army.
Rangers Lead the Way!
(Video produced by SPC Jonathan Bryson/Multimedia Illustrator/75th Ranger Regiment Public Affairs.)
