The 353rd SOG received two significant awards in 2012. The Secretary of the Air Force awarded the group the Meritorious Unit Award for maintaining a continuous combat presence in Afghanistan and the Philippines between Oct. 1, 2010, and Sept. 10, 2012, while also carrying out Operation Tomodachi, the relief operation following the tsunami in Japan conducted in 2011. The group was the first to open and operate airfields, bringing in the first relief airlift operations for much of the devastated area. With its nine MC-130H/P aircraft, the group accomplishes great things, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines and exercise training throughout the Pacific. Recognizing the amazing reach of the 353rd with its small fleet, the USAF awarded the 353rd Special Operations Maintenance Squadron the Maintenance Effectiveness Award for 2011.

 

Expand the Global SOF Network

The numbers and sustainability of AFSOC airmen employed in the mission of advising and assisting foreign air forces has grown over the past five years since SOCOM altered previous skepticism about this mission. Projected growth of the 6th Special Operations Squadron, the only AFSOC unit with the specific mission of training and employing aviation advisers, from 110 to 300 and finally to 600 people has increased its capability but has set goals that have been difficult to meet. Finding, training, and retaining that number of active-duty airmen and providing them career paths that will allow them to remain in the mission of building partner capacity would require a population of qualified people considerably larger than the desired strength of 600 people. Consider also that the entry-level requirement for aviation advisers calls for already-experienced special operators who are older, and the sustainment of such numbers becomes even more problematic – if that population is on active duty.

In 2012, AFSOC made a major change to deal with these realities of long-term commitments of people to the aviation adviser career field by associating the AF Reserve Wing at Duke Field, Fla., the 919th Special Operations Wing, with a primary mission of Aviation, Foreign Internal Defense (AvFID). As explained by Maj. Gen. George F. Williams, AFSOC mobilization assistant to the commader, career reservists assigned to AvFID can develop very long-term language skills, cultural knowledge, and habitual relationships with foreign partner air forces and personnel. As reservists do not move or have to change aircraft or missions over their 20-plus-year career, the vision is that relationships and training of foreign airmen will see the building of relationships with the eventual leaders of their respective services. These relationships can show benefits in providing training and influencing foreign militaries in opposing common foes such as terrorist networks, and in gaining basing and operations permissions for U.S. forces in time of crisis.

Williams further explained that significant additional benefits accrue from AFSOC’s decision to associate a Reserve wing with AvFID by including the base services and support functions. Hence, base airfield operations, air traffic control, air component command and control, air operations management, base civil engineers, security police forces, food services, supply, and even billeting personnel can be part of the AvFID mission, providing expertise in all home base and deployed support functions.

With its new association with the 919th Reserve SOW, the 6th SOS also received orders to move from Hurlburt to Duke Field, where it will live and work together with other AvFID units. As the 919th divests itself of legacy aircraft like the MC-130E Combat Talon I, it will receive a new aircraft, the C-145 Skytruck, that will now have AvFID as its primary mission, teaching other air forces about airlift operations in austere and bare-base environments. AFSOC plans to use the C-145s as multirole aircraft in the future as well, perhaps even providing instruction in gunship operations to selected partner nations.

Also of note in 2012, AFSOC and the 6th SOS were ordered to cease AvFID operations in helicopters. The last helicopters in AFSOC were therefore retired to the USAF’s boneyard, and the mission of building partner capacity in helicopters transferred completely to the U.S. Army.

As a final effort, the 352nd SOG, supported by aviation advisers of the 6th SOS, achieved a milestone in Europe, which has had no organic U.S. SOF helicopters since 2007. At Exercise Jackal Stone 2012, the group integrated Croatian and Slovakian Mi-17 helicopters that conducted their first-ever NVG heliborne assault operation during the exercise. The inter-operation of several NATO countries forces on the ground and in the air support operations, while the 352nd provided the preponderance of effort to create a Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component (CJSOAC) staff, accomplished several goals of the exercise in creating what SOCOM has called the Global SOF Network.