Last week, AFSOC added a statue of a Special Tactics Operator to the memorial park at Hurlburt Field, Florida. Considering the 24th SOW is a major portion of AFSOC’s combat power, and Special Tactics Airmen have been instrumental in the joint fight, its about time their contributions are recognized.
Special Tactics, the Air Force’s ground special operations force, has been engaged in every major conflict since 9/11, continuously deployed for more than 5,000 days to more than 73 locations. As a result of their actions in combat, the Special Tactics community has earned the highest number of valorous medals in the Air Force since the Vietnam War.
In the last 40 years, only ten Airmen have received the Air Force Cross, the service’s highest medal it can bestow for valor in combat. Eight of those recipients were Special Tactics Airmen.
Beside the statue are two plaques which include the names of those Airmen who have earned the Air Cross Cross as well as the 8 ST operators who have fallen in training and the 19 who perished in action.
In true Special Tactics fashion, the dedication ceremony ended with memorial pushups.
Photos courtesy of North American Rescue.
