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  • A U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Operator marshals an F-15 Strike Eagle to a forward arming and refueling point mission with USAFE aircraft during Operation Rapid Forge at Ämari Air Base, Estonia, July 18, 2019. Special Tactics is a U.S. Special Operation Command's tactical air and ground integration force, and the Air Force's special operations ground force, leading Global Access, Precision Strike, Personnel Recovery and Battlefield Surgery operations on the battlefield. The F-15E Strike Eagle is a dual-role fighter designed to perform air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, with the capability to fight at low altitude, day or night, and in all weather. Operation Rapid Forge involves NATO territories in order to enhance readiness and improve interoperability between U.S. allies and partners in Europe. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Rose Gudex)

    Special Tactics partners with conventional forces and allies in USAFE-led Operation Rapid Forge

    Over 400 Airmen, including two Special Tactics troops from different units, joined forces with partner nations for Operation Rapid Forge, from July 8 to July 26, across the European theater. Operation Rapid Forge is a United States Air Forces in Europe-led mission to enhance readiness and tests the ability to function at locations other than main air bases. The mission is intended to enhance interoperability with NATO allies to improve combined capabilities.
  • Family members and teammates of U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin pose in front of the #43 Coca-Cola Chevy, which bares Elchin’s name on the windshield, before the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Miles of Remembrance race on May 26, 2019, Concord, North Carolina. Elchin, a Special Tactics combat controller, was killed in action when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, Nov. 27, 2018, while deployed in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Rachel Yates)

    NASCAR honors fallen Special Tactics Airman

    Family members and teammates of U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin attend the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Miles of Remembrance race on May 26, 2019, Concord, North Carolina. Elchin, a Special Tactics combat controller, was killed in action when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, Nov. 27, 2018, while deployed in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Special Tactics operators are U.S. Special Operations Command’s tactical air-to-ground integration force and the Air Force’s special operations ground force leading global access, precision strike, personnel recovery, and battlefield surgery operations.
  • U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. J Hall, a Special Operations Surgical Team surgical technician with the 720th Operations Support Squadron, receives the Bronze Star Medal from U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Kevin Webb, the director of operations for SOST, during a presentation ceremony at the Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education, Miami, Florida, May 23, 2019. Hall was presented a BSM for his life-saving battlefield surgery actions while deployed in 2016. Special Operations Surgical Teams are highly-mobile, tailorable teams of surgical and emergency specialists trained to provide life-saving surgical care and trauma resuscitation on or near the battlefield. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Rachel Yates)

    SOST member awarded Bronze Star Medal for life-saving actions

    U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. J Hall, a Special Operations Surgical Team surgical technician with the 720th Operations Support Squadron, receives the Bronze Star Medal from U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Kevin Webb, the director of operations for SOST, during a presentation ceremony at the Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education, Miami, Florida, May 23, 2019. Hall was presented a BSM for his life-saving battlefield surgery actions while deployed in 2016. Special Operations Surgical Teams are highly-mobile, tailorable teams of surgical and emergency specialists trained to provide life-saving surgical care and trauma resuscitation on or near the battlefield.
  • U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Airmen with the 24th Special Operations Wing perform avalanche training at Moran, Wyoming, Dec. 13, 2016. Special Operations Weather Team Airmen have been an integral piece of Special Tactics with unique training to conduct multi-domain reconnaissance and surveillance across the spectrum of conflict and crisis. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Sandra Welch)

    Air Force transitions enlisted specialty, grows Special Tactics capabilities

    Enlisted Airmen have been analyzing weather since the very beginning of American military flight in 1917. Decades of hard-earned experience led to Special Operations Weather Team Airmen being designated with their own Air Force Specialty Code in 2008. By combining the core skills of Special Operation Forces with their meteorology skills, SOWTs have been a critical asset to the War on Terror. Alongside Special Tactics teammates from forward deployed locations, SOWTs would gather, assess, and interpret environmental data in order to forecast weather impacts to operations. In a location like Afghanistan, this was vital to successful air-ground operations.
  • U.S. Air Force Brig. General Claude K. Tudor Jr., commander of the 24th Special Operations Wing, relinquishes command on the back of an MC-130H Combat Talon II, Hurlburt Field, Florida, April 19, 2019.

    24th SOW commander relinquishes command, performs final military free fall jump

    Various leadership with Air Force Special Operations Command and the 24th Special Operations Wing perform a military free fall jump out of an MC-130H Combat Talon II at Hurlburt Field, Florida, April 19, 2019. U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Claude K. Tudor, Jr., former commander of the 24th SOW, relinquished command on the Talon II. Tudor has commanded the 24th SOW since March 2018, leading U.S. Special Operations Command's tactical air-to-ground integration force and the Air Force's special operations ground force in global access, precision strike, personnel recovery, and battlefield surgery operations.
  • A Special Tactics Airmen with the 24th Special Operations Wing salutes a baton carrying the name of a fallen brethren during the Special Tactics Ruck March Memorial Ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Florida, March 4, 2018.

    Special Tactics Airmen culminate 830-mile ruck march to honor fallen brethren

    Aches, blisters, exhaustion, pain…830 miles, five states, 11 days…are a minute price to pay to honor the fallen. The push to continue on for these Air Commandos come from their communities’ legacy of never forgetting a fallen comrade, from the pride instilled within themselves, and from reaching down and grabbing one of 20 batons that contained an inscribed name of a fallen teammate. Air Force Special Operations Command Special Tactics Airmen, along with a mission support force of 19 Air Commandos assigned to the 24th Special Operations Wing, began the 5th iteration of the Special Tactics Memorial March in the pre-lit dawn, Feb. 22 at Medina Annex at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, to pay tribute to U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan J. Elchin. 
  • An independent duty medical technician with the 24th Special Operations Wing bandages a Special Tactics Airman’s foot during the Special Tactics Memorial March Feb 26, 2019, near Eunice, Louisiana.

    Behind the scenes of the Special Tactics Memorial March

    Alongside highways and back roads of the southern U.S. states, there are two Special Tactics Airmen trekking in the name of their fallen brethren killed in combat. What most people won’t see, is the Individual Duty Medical Technicians putting moleskin on painful blisters, or the communication Airman ensuring the operators are following the correct route, or supply Airmen servicing safety vehicles and the list goes on. A support force of 19 Air Commandos from nine different career specialties are working around-the-clock, 24/7, behind the scenes of Air Force Special Operations Command’s Special Tactics Memorial March, as 10 two-man teams ruck 830 miles to Hurlburt Field.
  • More than 60 friends, teammates and family gathered at the newly renamed Master Sgt. Joshua M. Gavulic Human Performance Center at Fort Benning, Ga., Feb. 23, 2019.

    17th STS dedicates building to late TACP operator

    The life and legacy of an Air Force Special Operations Command tactical air control party operator was forever cemented into Special Tactics and Fort Benning history with a building dedication in his namesake. On Feb. 21, 2014, U.S. Air Force Joshua M. Gavulic, who was an ST TACP operator with the 17th Special Tactics Squadron, was killed in a parachute accident while conducting a military free-fall proficiency training mission in Eloy, Arizona. Today, more than 60 friends, teammates and family gathered during a ceremony at the newly renamed Master Sgt. Joshua M. Gavulic Human Performance Center, here.
  • Hundreds of Special Tactics Airmen, trainees, and supporters perform memorial pushups to kick off the Special Tactics Memorial March Feb. 22, 2019, at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

    11-day, 830-mile ruck march honors fallen special tactics Airmen

    Twenty special tactics Airmen began an 11-day ruck march at 2:00 a.m. Feb. 22 at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Medina Annex, Texas, and will be traveling 830 miles to Hurlburt Field, Florida. The Airmen are rucking to pay tribute to Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin, who was killed in Afghanistan Nov. 27, 2018, and 19 other special tactics Airmen who have been killed in action since 9/11.
  • Special Tactics Airmen carry 20 batons during a memorial march to Hurlburt Field, Fla., Oct. 13, 2015. The team of 20 Special Tactics Airmen started at 2 a.m. on Oct. 4, from Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, and marched 812 miles through five states to meet with the gold star families and end the memorial march with a ceremony on Hurlburt Field. Each two-man team walked approximately 90 miles during the 10-day trek while carrying a 50-pound ruck sack and a commemorative baton engraved with a fallen Special Tactics Airman's name. The memorial march is only held when a Special Tactics operator is killed in action that year, but honors all 19 Special Tactics pararescuemen and combat controllers who have been killed in action since 2001. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Kai White/Released)

    U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Airmen plan 830-mile ruck in honor of fallen

    Twenty Special Tactics Airmen will ruck from Medina Annex at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas to Hurlburt Field to pay tribute to Staff Sgt. Dylan J. Elchin, a Special Tactics combat controller, who was killed in Afghanistan on Nov. 27, 2018, and in honor of the other 19 Special Tactics Airmen who have been killed in action since 9/11.
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