Air Force Special Operations
The United States of America is a powerful and well known force throughout the world. It has become a superpower of nations in just about three hundred years, being one of the newest nations in existence today. Its military reaches out into several countries in the globe and holds a presence as a peacekeeper and wielder of democracy. Of the US military’s five branches, the Air Force is the ruler of the skies, keeping control of the earth’s aerospace. Without the Air Force Special Operations, the military could not complete operations as effectively or efficiently as it potentially could. The United States Air Force is a key part of America’s mission to spread and assist democracy throughout the world.
Air Force Special Operations Command, or AFSOC, is the elite force of the United States Air Force. The assistance of AFSOC is vital to the Air Force’s duties as well as the entire US military. The presence of special operations teams, working with foreign militaries, in Central Asia before the 9/11 terrorist attacks aided the US in gaining Air force bases in that region. AFSOC teams had made connections with the foreign militaries in several places, one of which led to the use of Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan, as a major mobility hub (Air Force Magazine). The AFSOC teams have been working all over the globe to help the US in its foreign affairs. By being active with Central Asia, AFSOC has been able to set up mobility command in Kyrgyzstan before the terrorist attacks from Al Qaeda. From theses connections, we were able to begin our Middle Eastern Operations with better ease. Lieutenant General Donald Wurster speaks about AFSOC’s cooperation with other countries saying "It seems there are places where effectiven...
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In Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Iraqi forces fired 93 Scud missiles at coalition forces in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. (Rostker) Air Defense Artillery (ADA) played an immensely significant role in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm with units from 11th Brigade Air Defense Artillery and the 32d Air Defense Command rapidly deploying into theater. The effectiveness of the units and their roles in fighting this war proved that Air Defense Artillery was critical to the success of the campaign. Although Patriot Batteries placed strategically throughout Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Israel played a tremendous tactical role in these wars, High-Medium Air Defense (HIMAD) was not the only type of surface to air missile system in place to protect ground forces and valuable military assets. Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD) units also deployed with the air defense units. These weapon systems, integrated with ground forces, provided air defense to dominate against aircraft and Tactical Ballistic Missiles (TBM) on the front lines.
A third character, the Ambassador Gilbert MacWhite, is a patriotic diplomat who lives up to many of the SOF Imperatives, but fails at one. His intent is admirable and the Ambassador realizes the actions required to combat the communist threat. One of the SOF Imperatives that he abides by is to ensure the legitimacy and credibility of Special Operations. ADRP 3-05 defines this as “legitimacy is the most crucial factor in developing and maintaining internal and international support. The United States cannot sustain its assistance to a foreign power without this legitimacy.” The publication also elaborates that decisions and actions that comply with U.S. and international laws foster legitimacy and credibility. This concept ties into several
Thesis. Air War College, 1987. http://www.airwar.edu//a>. Maxwell, Alabama: United States Air Force, 1987. DTIC Online -.
September 11, 2001, Osama Bin Laden decided to “wake the sleeping giant.” The US immediately sent SOF units and CIA officers to recon the area and meet with the Northern Alliance. The primary battle leading up to this operation was Tora Bora, which was absent of conventional forces. Up until this point, the war on terror was predominantly a Special Operations fight along with Air Force for overhead support.3 SOF and the Northern Alliance had already displaced Taliban forces out of many towns and villages in northern Afghanistan to gain control of key terrain. Key towns in northern Afghanistan including Taloqan, Konduz, Herat, and Mazar-e Sharif took only three weeks to clear.4 The SOF units were making huge impacts across the country calling in air strikes. At the same time the SOF units were diligently...
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In 1987, the US Special Operation Command was established in order to carry out classified missions which includes gathering intelligence, capturing high-value targets, and training foreign troops (Turse). Each branch of the military have their own special operations force that operates under the command of Special Operation Command. Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, SFOD, and Green Berets are the few special operation forces that part of Special Operation Command (Turse). The expansion and the increase use of US Special Operation Force would allow special operators to continue to conduct operations in global hotspots, to train with their international partners more often, and to respond to a critical situation at any moment notice.
This research paper will briefly examine the inception, timeline, training, and results Close Air Support (CAS) has on the battlefield. Opinions and facts will be provided to justify the continued need for and outstanding results of CAS through research of various sources to include books, regulations, videos,
Lawson, Robert L., and Barrett Tillman. U.S. Navy Air Combat: 1939-1946. Osceola, WI: MBI Pub., 2000. Print.
N.A. Operation al-Fajr (Dawn), Operation Phantom Fury [Fallujah]. Global Security. 7 May 2011. Web. 8 March 2014. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/oif-phantom-fury-fallujah.htm
Lowe, A. (1998). Air Marshal William Avery Bishop. [WWW Document]. Retrieved May 2nd, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.billybishop.net/zone/bishop.html
I have organized this paper into five distinct sections; mission, task organization, capabilities, limitations, and finally the conclusion. After the reading and comprehension of this paper, you should have gained a basic understanding of the Special Forces (SF) Chemical Reconnaissance Detachments (CRD). The following paper is mixed with Unclassified (UCI) and For Official Use Only (FOUO) information. FOUO is annotated at the beginning of all For Official Use Only information, the rest of the paper is UCI. If you wish to share this information paper with others, please at a minimum; confirm identity of the person prior to providing (FM 380-5, 2000). For further handling instructions please refer to FM 380-5, or contact me, I will gladly answer all questions.
The Technical Escort Unit (TEU) now provides the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to include the Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with an immediate response capability for chemical and biological warfare material. Its mission is to provide a global response for escorting, packaging, detection, rendering-safe, disposing, sampling, analytics, and remediation missions. This does not only include chemical weapons for which it was originally created, but now incorporates biological weapons, state sponsored laboratories, small independent laboratories and small non-weaponized radioactive materials. Most recently, they have been task organized to assist Brigade Combat Teams (BCT) as a force multiplier; the objective of this is to give the Battle Field Commander instant on the ground intelligence regarding Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) hazards within their Area of Operations (AO). With this new mission with the BCT, the TEU is becoming an expeditionary force.
Tice, Brian P. (1991). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – The Force Multiplier of the 1990s. Airpower Journal.