‘Quiet Professionals’ praised by AFSOC commander

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Chuck Roberts
  • Air Force Print News
SAN ANTONIO --  The leader of the “Quiet Professionals” had plenty to say about the contributions Air Force Special Operations Command’s nearly 20,000 Airmen have made to the war on terrorism.

“The men and women we have in our command are awesome, and it shows,” said Lt. Gen. Michael W. Wooley, AFSOC commander.

General Wooley said command Airmen are “a very capable force” that is making a difference in the war on terrorism by providing special operations forces and combat search and rescue capabilities for U.S. forces worldwide. He said command Airmen are doing “worthy work and making a contribution.

“It’s written on their faces that they love what they're doing,” General Wooley said. “There’s not one of our people (who) goes home at night, kicks back, and has to think very long and hard about what he or she did, not only for our country, but our world society.”

He praised the command’s “battlefield Airmen” -- pararescue, combat control and weather troops. The Airmen remain at the forefront in Afghanistan and Iraq supporting sister services’ special forces. He said they bring much enabling to the fight.

“They are air power enablers like we never experienced before,” General Wooley said.

The general said although the term battlefield Airmen may be new, AFSOC troops have been filling those combat jobs for many years. They are best known for their current roles in the war on terrorism, but their service dates back as far as the 1983 terrorist attack against the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. The blast killed 241 U.S. servicemembers.

General Wooley also highlighted the role of other AFSOC troops who often remain in the background. One such group is the 6th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Its mission is to interface with the aviation arm of allied forces. The combat aviation advisory unit offers them some of the lessons learned by the U.S. military. And it also helps establish a footprint from where AFSOC forces could later work.

The strong ties developed through such combined relationships allow U.S. forces to “get right off the plane and right to work” when real-world contingencies arise, the general said. Such cooperation also helps provide partnership countries more capability in areas such as policing their borders against terrorists.

General Wooley also commended the command’s combat search and rescue forces for their untiring efforts. About 2,000 Airmen rejoined the command a year ago to perform this key mission in the war on terrorism. He said they are “great contributors” to the command mission, and “we’re glad to have them back.

“I could tell you stories upon stories about their heroics,” General Wooley said. “It’s incredible to talk to the people” involved in this critical mission.

The general said AFSOC has a great partnership with its reserve search and rescue components.

“I talked to one of our rescue components in California that just two weeks ago logged their 314th rescue,” he said.

Although General Wooley emphasized the importance of people versus hardware, equipment improvements are a must for AFSOC Airmen. For example, efforts are under way to reduce by half the 160 pounds of gear battlefield Airmen use in mountainous terrain at 11,000 feet. The aim is to reduce the weight, but increase the capability, he said.

Even though AFSOC Airmen conduct combat search and rescue or infiltrate behind enemy lines, they conduct many of their missions with ordinary Air Force equipment. However, these troops excel at taking off-the-shelf technology and adding a little “Airmen ingenuity” to make it more suitable for special operations.

But AFSOC troops do have a few special items of choice in their rucksacks. General Wooley named the “bat cam” as an example. This is a small unmanned aerial vehicle with a camera. The tiny UAV has proven valuable on the battlefield.

In Iraq, for example, he said a command combat controller used one while on patrol with Army special forces. The patrol was following a river bed. When it reached a bend in the river, they needed intelligence about what lay ahead.

“The combat controller pulled bat cam out of his rucksack, started the engine and launched it by hand to see what was ahead,” the general said. When the bat cam spotted terrorist forces, the Airman called in a close-air support strike to remove the threat.

The general said his command will not stop pursuing the enemy. And though AFSOC’s role is not always at the forefront of public attention, it will be remembered in the fight against terrorism.

“This is a critical time in world history,” General Wooley said. He predicts Airmen involved in today’s war on terrorism will find mention of their endeavors in the texts of future world histories.

“The United States Air Force, as well as AFSOC, will have a huge chapter in that history book,” he said.