SITREP

Greetings Teammates,

Thank you for your continued support of the Air Commando Association, the Foundation, the membership, and mostly your support of Air Commandos deployed around the world...and the families and other loved ones who support them. As we sit in relative comfort pondering Coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, our warriors are standing the watch in Afghanistan, Iraq, several countries in Africa, and other international hot spots. There are no breaks in the combat zone.

Our maintenance, ops, and support teams are working tirelessly to maintain pressure on the enemy and, when necessary, permanently remove them from the battlefield. Back at home station, Air Commandos are training to maintain specialized special operations fixed wing, tilt rotor, and ISR platforms, and our aircrew and special tactics warriors continue to hone their armed overwatch, ISR, close air support, infil and exfil, SOF mobility, JTAC, combat rescue, personnel recovery, static line and freefall jump quals, and a whole host of other skillsets needed to fight the enemy at a time and place of our choosing. Those that are not the next to go, are supporting the training mission back home.

Also at home station, commanders and senior enlisted leaders are trying to keep pace with emergency health protection conditions and ever-changing guidance and preventative measures issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health, and the Commander in Chief, to hold the line against COVID-19. This is no small task. Just as they always do, AFSOC’s leadership teams have the guidance, intent, and the full support of Lieutenant General Jim Slife and Command Chief Master Sergeant Cory Olson, and the headquarters staff. They are consuming volumes of information and making factbased, informed decisions, and every day they are taking back more ground.

The special ops bases have been in lock-down mode for the better part of 60 days. The 0-6 level leadership teams are among the best I have ever seen, and they are making hundreds of decisions every day with a multi-pronged focus of keeping Air Commandos and their families safe, supporting the war fighters downrange, and training for whatever threat is on the next ridgeline. On Monday, 11 May 2020, the 1st SOW re-started continuation flight and other readiness training to maintain their lethality and alert posture to answer the call Anytime, Anyplace.

Due to COVID-19, Air Force Special Operations Command and the Air Commando Association have had to defer or cancel many significant historical celebrations that were planned for this year. November 21st will be the 50-year anniversary of the Son Tay Raid, April 25th was the 40-year anniversary of EAGLE CLAW, and May 22nd was the 30-year anniversary of the standup of AFSOC. These seminal events helped shape the Services’ special operations commands into the lethal formations they are today. Celebrations are not what is important, it is the acknowledgement of the sacrifices made by our forbearers and the Air Commando tab each of them wore when it was their time to enter into the belly of the beast. Each of these events served to ready the leaders and their formations borne of necessity to stand the watch and carry the colors into battle.

Today, with the battle streamers of yesteryear weighing heavy on the flagbearers and bolstering their confidence and commitment, the force is the most lethal it has ever been, and they are operating the most sophisticated weapons platforms the world has ever known. Air Commandos can swing from personnel recovery to armed overwatch to close air support to humanitarian operations in a fast moving, dynamic retasking environment where they leverage innovations in technology to bridge the information gaps and seams to maximize C4I wherever they are.

The tactical level leaders who run the squadrons are the heartbeats of the command. They cut their teeth in the days, weeks, months, and years following 9/11—combat is all they have ever known. With this as a backdrop, there is intense pressure on the force and families, and your Air Commando Association and Foundation stand ready to help wherever we are needed to reinforce the resiliency of past, present and future Air Commandos.

Again, it is an honor to be part of the past of AFSOC and I am excited to watch today’s Air Commandos as they continue to bring great honor to the United States Air Force, SOF, and to our nation. To all of those who are waiting in the wings—so to speak—and waiting for their opportunity to make a difference, I say come on…what are you waiting for? Every day is a great day to be an Air Commando!