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AFSOC hosts Popular Mechanics, launches Special Ops mobile app

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Melanie Holochwost
  • Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  A reporter from Popular Mechanics embedded with Special Tactics Airmen here Sept. 28-29 to learn about Air Force Special Operations Command’s mission.

Due to the growing need for qualified Special Operations members, Air Force Recruiting Service invited Jay Bennett, a journalist and associate editor for Popular Mechanics, out to Hurlburt Field. The goal was to raise awareness about AFSOC to a national audience and to launch the “USAF Special Ops VR” mobile application.

This app features 360-degree videos for seven main missions in special operations including a High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) jump, rescue and infiltration. There are also videos of both the pilot in the cockpit and the gunner on the CV-22 Osprey.

Bennett was given the opportunity to compare a mission in the app to the real thing. So, he started his tour at Hurlburt Field with a tandem jump out of an MC-130H Combat Talon II.

“That was awesome,” Bennett shouted as he landed. “It only felt like I was falling for a second, then it was like we were floating. I almost passed out during a sharp turn, but it was great. I’d definitely do it again.”

Bennett watched the HALO video in the app before he jumped.

“The VR gets you prepared for stepping out to the edge,” he said. “Standing on the edge was cool, I was ready for it … I was ready to jump.”

Once he was in the air, it was a different story.

“It was quite the rush,” Bennett said. “The app didn’t prepare me for that feeling … I don’t think anything could. So much of it isn’t what you see … it’s other senses.”

The remaining parts of his tour were designed to show Bennett the latest advanced technology special operators are using on the battlefield. Almost immediately after the jump, he met with pararescuemen and learned some medical techniques with an $85,000 medical manikin. An instructor could control it through a tablet. It could scream, talk, breathe and bleed on command.

That night, he joined Special Tactics Airmen for tactical vehicle training with night vision goggles on the Eglin Range. And the next day, Bennett tried out the Joint Terminal Air Control simulator, which is like a 360-degree video game in a controlled environment.

The free “USAF Special Ops VR” app is available for Apple and Android devices.