Special ops Airmen up to task of war on terror

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott Elliott
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON --  The war on terrorism has changed the way leaders think about managing conflict, but the commander of Air Force Special Operations Command said he is sure of one thing: His Airmen are right for the job.

“(Sept. 11) redefined some key concepts,” said Lt. Gen. Michael W. Wooley, AFSOC commander. “It wasn’t too long ago that a battlefield commander could point to a map and tell you exactly where the front lines were. Now it is not that simple -- the front lines are a blur.”

The word “victory” has also undergone a change of definition, the general said. Formerly, victory was defined as the unconditional surrender of an enemy.

“Terrorists don’t always subscribe to that definition. To a terrorist, the definition is just the opposite -- it’s not losing. They see their continued existence as victory,” he said. “It’s a different paradigm than the traditional military concern for limited casualties.”

General Wooley echoed the words of Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz’s testimony before Congress. The general said that the military is just one of four tools the president can use to fight terrorism -- the other three are diplomatic, information and financial. But when military use is necessary, the general said AFSOC is uniquely qualified with both its special operations and rescue capability.

“The United States faces two distinct types of terrorist adversaries -- states that sponsor terrorism and transnational terrorist organizations,” he said. “Our special operations forces are particularly valuable in terms of combating transnational (terrorists).”

Gathering intelligence by capturing terrorists is one of their most important missions, General Wooley said.

“Creating a smoking crater in the ground has its drawbacks,” the general said. “I’m sure you’re familiar with the adage that ‘dead men tell no tales.’ It’s true.”

General Wooley highlighted SOF’s ability to pinpoint the location of terrorist groups and their leaders. That intelligence gives U.S. and coalition forces the chance to capture and interrogate those leaders to make further gains in the war on terror. It was just such information that led to the capture of Saddam Hussein, the general said.

AFSOC forces are also uniquely suited to other behind-the-scenes work, such as working quietly with coalition allies when political sensitivities may prevent an ally from overt action, the general said.

“While the coalition may agree on the big issues, such as the need for the global war on terror itself, building consensus at the operational level requires both tact and the ability to compromise,” General Wooley said.

“For example, some of our coalition partners must often covertly support our operations,” he said. “Political realities in their countries may demand that their activities occur without fanfare. We in AFSOC are uniquely capable of working with these coalition partners clandestinely.”

Equally vital to supporting the war on terrorism is AFSOC’s combat search-and-rescue mission.

“About 8,000 of our 20,000 Airmen risk their lives to embody the motto, ‘That others may live,’” said General Wooley, referring to Air Force pararescuemen.

“CSAR forces … are force multipliers,” he said. “Every time one of our Air Force (or coalition) crews flies an operational mission, they know these rescue forces stand ready to recover them if something should go wrong.”

Besides the force-multiplying aspect of pararescuemen, General Wooley said AFSOC’s other battlefield Airmen, combat controllers and combat weather forces, allow air power to meet the requirements of the joint forces commander.

“Warfighting is often a catalyst for technological advances, and the military is always looking for that edge in battle,” General Wooley said. “AFSOC is working diligently on air-to-ground systems that will allow us to maintain the edge for future wars and conflicts.”

Some of those systems can be rather bulky. Some combat controllers in Afghanistan worked at 11,000-foot elevations carrying 160 pounds of equipment, General Wooley said.

The general said AFSOC officials are working with Air Force Research Laboratory scientists to develop equipment that cuts the combat controllers’ equipment weight by about half, yet increases their combat capability.

Specifically, General Wooley said they are improving coordination accuracy and precise targeting-information systems that digitally send coordinates from the combat controller through command and control systems to the strike aircraft.

“With machine-to-machine data links, our combat controllers are closing in on the ability to patch target coordinates directly from their hand-held targeting designators to their laptops, to the strike aircraft and command and control facilities, decreasing the required [time] to get bombs on target from an average of 30 minutes to less than five,” General Wooley said. “We demonstrated that capability in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“It’s an awesome capability,” he said.

Unmanned aerial vehicles are among the other capabilities AFSOC Airmen routinely use, including the 2-pound “bat cam.”

“We’re working very hard to ensure that every combat controller deploys with one of those small UAVs,” he said.

No special operations forces unit that has deployed with and used UAVs has been ambushed, the general said.