Special Tactics Airmen Maintain Readiness Through COVID-19

Special Tactics Airmen from the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron conducted interoperability training with the 14th Weapons Squadron assigned to the U.S. Air Force Weapons School detachment at Hurlburt Field, Florida, for a special operations force exercise.

U.S. Air Force Special Tactics operators spread out on a berm to provide security at the landing zone and observe their target during operability training with 14th Weapons Squadron air assets at Eglin Range, Florida, April 22, 2020. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Rose Gudex

“The recent training event was done in conjunction with the14th Weapons Squadron as part of their curriculum to produce weapons officersfrom various aircraft in (Air Force Special Operations Command),” said Maj.Blake Jones, director of operations for the 23rd STS. “Their scenarios and fullmission profiles necessitate the role of ground force as they train to conductand support airfield seizures, noncombatant evacuations, hostage rescues andcounter weapons of mass destruction operations. The 23rd STS picked up thisgreat training opportunity after COVID-19 travel restrictions prevented otherunits from participating as planned.”

The exercise is a part of the 14th WPS’s demanding five-and-a-half-monthsyllabus, exposing students to a wide range of joint special operations andcombat air force capabilities. Being able to move forward with the trainingallowed the iteration of Weapons School students to stay on track with theirtraining timeline.

“Our students require close interaction with skilled groundforces throughout their training to graduate them as the recognized experts in(special operations forces) and (combat air forces) integration,” said. Lt.Col. Jacob Duff, 14th WPS director of operations. “Our planned trainingpartners, a different Special Tactics squadron and multiple Army special forcesunits, were unable to travel to Hurlburt (Air Force Base) and the 23rd STSimmediately stepped in to fill that gap. Without them, it would have beensignificantly more difficult to meet our training objectives and graduate thenewest class of SOF weapons officers and enlisted advanced instructors.”

The SOFEX also provided a unique opportunity for localSpecial Tactics Airmen to conduct multifaceted training with a volume ofaviation assets otherwise not easily replicated outside of a larger exercise.

“Our recent participation allowed us to evaluate individualpersonnel and conduct training in mission planning, tilt-rotor assault,airfield seizure, landing zone establishment and control, terminal attackcontrol, close quarters combat, personnel recovery and battlefield traumacare,” Jones said. “This was important because it gave many junior enlisted andjunior officer (Special Tactics) personnel a crucial repetition missionplanning with some of the best aviators in AFSOC as well as the opportunity toexecute, work through contingencies and lead in a high-fidelity scenario.”

The units not only trained on the necessary skill setsneeded to conduct a wide-range of special operations missions, increaselethality and maintain joint warfighting capabilities, but they were alsotested on their ability to plan complex missions amid COVID-19 preventivemeasures.

“The combat capabilities we are tasked to provide are notchanging, but the constraints are different now, so we must adapt,” Jones said.“We are adapting how we train, but also adapting how we resource and plan thattraining over teleconferences and web-based planning applications.”

In addition to reducing in-person mission planning, SpecialTactics squadrons have implemented several techniques to maintain readinesswhile keeping health of operators at the forefront, including sanitizingequipment, using face coverings when needed, conducting internal evaluations onprioritization of missions, staffing smaller training groups and takingadvantage of local training opportunities.

“Stopping all training is not a feasible course of actionbecause the second and third order effects months down the line are far toocostly in terms of readiness,” Jones said. “Our squadron commits and deployspersonnel operationally year-round, so we focused on ensuring we are still ontrack to field combat ready forces on time.”