The readiness and relevance of our force is for naught if we neglect our physical, mental, spiritual, and social fitness. Utilizing USSOCOM’s Preservation of the Force and Family (POTFF) and the Air Force’s Comprehensive Airman Fitness programs, we ensure that our Air Commandos, including our brave gold star families, have access to every possible tool to achieve resiliency every day and we exploit every opportunity to encourage our airmen to use these tools.

POTFF enables us to deliver human performance programs designed to meet the unique needs of our warfighters. It delivers psychological performance programs to improve our cognitive and behavioral performance. It integrates family resilience initiatives into social performance programs, enhancing service-provided programs. POTFF allows us to deliver spiritual performance programs to enhance core beliefs, values, awareness, relationships, and experiences. Our team is grateful for [the] resolute support of AFSOC, as the continued funding of USSOCOM’s POTFF program is vital to the long-term psychological, spiritual, social, and physical resiliency of the nation’s bravest warriors. After all, the invisible wounds of war can be just as debilitating as physical injuries.

The readiness and relevance of our force is for naught if we neglect our physical, mental, spiritual, and social fitness.

AFSOC is on a glide path to meet the Secretary of Defense’s goal of 1:2 deployment-to-dwell for the active force and 1:5 for reserve forces. Currently, 17 percent of deployed AFSOC personnel have a deployment-to-dwell of less than 1:2 and there are no individuals deployed below 1:1. To balance the insatiable global demand for specialized airpower, we are consistently working towards a maintainable deployment tempo for the long-term health of our force, while enhancing focus on recruiting, retention, and preservation of the force initiatives.

Do you envision any changes in AFSOC organization or structure to better meet these future challenges?

AFSOC is working with USSOCOM and Air Force Space Command to increase interoperability. As the Department of Defense’s lead component for the space warfighting domain, the Air Force aims to advance space-based technology to maintain superiority in the ultimate high ground. The joint force’s reliance on these space effects, such as GPS, ISR, and communications capabilities will grow exponentially, despite increased threats in the domain. We have adopted a resilient space enhancement strategy to ensure these capabilities are available for AFSOC missions throughout the conflict spectrum. Future employment opportunities include alternative beyond-line-of-sight options during operations and resilient positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems in denied environments.

AFSOC heavily leverages both Air Force and USSOCOM research and development investments, but also tracks key Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, (DARPA), Office of the Secretary of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office, (SCO), and industry projects that align with our innovation focus. For example, we are partners with USSOCOM, AFRL, and industry for Project MAVEN. This Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence initiative leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities to free precious human capital from labor-intensive ISR categorization work. AFSOC leverages USSOCOM’s SOFWERX network to reach largely untapped non-traditional sources of innovation in the commercial markets. SOFWERX recently facilitated assessments for AFSOC of new systems and technologies, like reducing the size, weight, and power of the equipment carried by our Special Tactics operators. AFWERX is a similarly-scoped Air Force program that is relatively new, and is beginning to work other issues related to Special Tactics.

This interview was originally published in the 2018-2019 edition of Special Operations Outlook.