The missions, classified in all cases, are critical to SOF success in the field and meaningful in participation to the flyers. Still, crews flying direct combat while working a normal duty day in New Mexico are separated from the urgency of the battlefield and assurances of the proper mindset to supported units can only go so far. Eventually, AFSOC will probably develop means to deploy and co-locate RPA crews with SOF teams to ensure integration and relationships. Former 27th SOW Commander Brig. Gen. Stephen A. Clark, stated that the habitual relationships and face-to-face trust of SOF ground and air units must be achieved in all SOF aviation units. “Aircraft are aircraft,” he said, “whether the people flying them are aboard or not, and we need to consider deploying them, aircraft and people, in the same manner as any others.”

 

First-time Deployments for Two NSAVs – Non-Standard Aviation Aircraft Smaller than C-130s

In 2011, the Cannon wing received deliveries of two aircraft types that are new to AFSOC – and to the U.S. military. According to an AFSOC staff member, these aircraft are also “the simplest and easiest airplanes to fly.” In contrast to the high tech on most other AFSOC aircraft, the Sikorsky M-28 Sky Truck (manufactured by PZL in Poland) was designed for austere environments, short takeoffs and landings on rough terrain, and easy maintenance. Similarly, the mid-sized Dornier 328 is a commercial aircraft made to carry about 30 passengers with cargo and baggage while being inexpensive to operate.

The wing leased aircraft before its newly procured aircraft were delivered, in order to accomplish crew training and reach IOC as quickly as the aircraft arrived. The 318th SOS, commanded by Lt. Col. Dave Cox, acquired its first three M-28s (of 11 programmed), configured and tested them for airdrops (something they could not do with the restrictions on leased aircraft), declared IOC, and deployed the three planes to Afghanistan.

Pilot Maj. Clayton Pasco commanded the deployment of the low, slow, and unpressurized airplanes that took more than 60 hours of flying time and made 17 refueling stops to cross the United States, the Atlantic, and 19 other countries to make their way to the combat zone.

Once there, Pasco and his crews conducted “customer visits and liaison” with the SOF units and the load riggers in order to begin their work of resupply and personnel movements. Previously, contractor aircraft, which were configured differently, conducted airdrops. Because of the short and rough terrain capability of the M-28s, more of the deliveries could be made by air-land methods, and they could also include personnel moves that the contractor could not accomplish. By September, the contractor was told there was no longer a requirement for them and the contract was cancelled, saving several millions of dollars each month.

Receiving the initial Dornier 328s is the 524th SOS, commanded by Lt. Col. Andrew Maas. Also deploying as soon as reaching IOC, the squadron supports deployments to several places at once, sending the mid-sized mobility platform to locations in Africa and Latin America. With only five of the programmed 17 aircraft delivered by the end of 2011, four aircraft were sent to three separate deployments. At a couple of these, the larger Dornier is paired with the small Pilatus PC-12s of the 318th in order to provide both sizes of aircraft to service multiple locations of the overall deployments.

Maj. Chris Ayre led a deployment in Latin America, and Maj. Gary Howell took one to Africa. Both told of challenges of working with embassy country teams, of satisfying foreign militaries to obtain air traffic clearances, and of meeting all the mission requirements of the ground SOF units there to help train indigenous forces and build partner nation counterinsurgency (COIN) capability. They support when downrange from the theater SOC air component staffs, but have many mission tasks and local requirements to bring together to get everything accomplished, with just one or two aircraft often to cover operations across three or four countries in strange environments with very young flight crews, about 60 percent of whom are on their first flying assignments.

Lt. Col. Keith Chauret calls these missions the best ones some of these crews will see in their flying careers. One airplane with a crew, getting the support they need without getting excessive oversight or scrutiny, are flying missions across exotic continents, learning about faraway cultures, and making their missions happen. “It’s great to have missions, reliable airplanes, and to be out there making the right things happen every day while juggling schedules, requirements, mission loads, and flying your monthly limit in flying hours.” As an aside, Chauret goes on to say that the most demanding self-deployment for some of the young pilots is “that eight-hour flight in a PC-12 from Alaska across the northern Pacific to the closest airfield in Japan. That’s a lot of cold water to look at for two young pilots with not a drop of extra gas and only one engine.” Even though single-engine ocean crossings are followed by rescue-equipped C-130s with Pararescue men (PJs) aboard, those long and lonely flights will rapidly age young crews.

 

AC-130W Combat Spear/Stinger II: Warfighting and Developmental Testing

AFSOC deployed the MC-130W Combat Spear as a mobility platform and helicopter tanker for the first time in 2010. In 2011, the aircraft was reconfigured, achieved IOC, and conducted its first deployment – as a gunship. For a period of time, crews and maintenance of the aircraft were conducting combat missions as a mobility asset, training crews in the gunship mission, and conducting tests on gunship modifications.