HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- AFSOC held the 2023 Weapons and Tactics Conference led by the command’s Operations directorate, 2-11 Aug.
Weapons and tactics experts from across the AFSOC enterprise gathered to participate in mission focused working groups to produce warfighter driven solutions to tactical problems. The conference also facilitated an academics portion as well as a Tactics Review Board to evaluate current practices, to ensure the command is postured to defeat threats now and in the future.
Brig Gen Rebecca Sonkiss, AFSOC deputy commander, kicked off the conference explaining the importance of continuously improving weapons and tactics.
"As America’s Air Commandos, we must be Ready to Fight Tonight and be Pathfinders for Tomorrow. Ready tonight means that we consistently and realistically train and train hard,” said Sonkiss. “It is important that you build expertise and toughness through challenging and complex scenarios and continue to iterate and innovate to stay ahead of our adversaries across the spectrum of conflict.”
Working groups during the conference included focus areas such as precision strike, irregular warfare, specialized mobility, information warfare, and small unmanned aerial systems tactics.
Weapons and tactics experts were able to work together to identify solutions and objectives to effectively improve Special Operations tactics, techniques, and procedures in highlighted focus areas prioritized by AFSOC.
On the last day of the conference, Lt Gen Tony Bauernfeind, AFSOC commander and command’s leaders were briefed on Tactic Improvement Proposals from the TRB in addition to proposed solutions gathered from the working groups.
Bauernfeind concluded the conference by energizing the weapons and tactics experts in the room with gratitude and intent on the way forward.
“It is going to be this team of experts that will make us more effective against our adversaries,” said Bauernfeind. “We must continue to tackle these hard problem sets, drive for solutions, and then go faster so we are postured to best enable the joint force. The solutions we work through during WEPTAC conferences are imperative to shaping our tactics and the mission effectiveness of our Air Commandos for tomorrow.”