AFSOC

AFSOC airman welcomed home with unique corn maze

By Oriana Pawlyk on November 7, 2013 Air Force, Photos

Any welcome home gesture can take you by surprise, especially when the token of appreciation is a 2 ½ acre corn maze. Staff Sgt. Charles Snover, 23rd Special Tactics Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., came home to this whopping sign etched into a corn field in Allamuchy, N.J. It reads, “Welcome home Chuck” and then “Above all” with the American flag underneath. In place of the 50 stars was the Air Force emblem. “I was blown away! I thought it was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me,” Snover said in an email to Air Force…

Former CSAF Inducted into AFSOC Order of the Sword

By Markeshia Ricks on February 6, 2013 Uncategorized

Former Chief of Staff of the Air Force retired Gen. Norton Schwartz has received the highest honor the enlisted force can bestow upon an individual. On Feb. 1, nearly 700 enlisted Air Force Special Operations Command airmen from around the world inducted Schwartz, the 19th Chief of Staff of the Air Force, into The Order of the Sword at the Emerald Coast Convention Center in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Schwartz is the AFSOC Order’s eighth inductee, according to a release from the 1st Special Operations Wing. He was nominated for the honor in November after his retirement. According to Air Force…

Check out this week's Air Force Times: Religion in the Air Force, no iPads for AFSOC, SERB board and more

By Jeff Schogol on February 27, 2012 Air Force, Uncategorized

In this week’s Air Force Times: The Air Force continues to struggle with the role of religion in the military. The new head of the Defense Information Systems Agency recently gave a presentation at his first commander’s call that told airmen to “Always put God first, and stay within His will.” This comes after Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz issued a memo in September warning service leaders to avoid even the appearance of proselytize. “My intervention on this issue related to the very special relationship that commanders have with their subordinates,” Schwartz said at last week’s Air…

Check out this week’s Air Force Times: Religion in the Air Force, no iPads for AFSOC, SERB board and more

By Jeff Schogol on February 27, 2012 Air Force, Uncategorized

Air Force One-Star to Lead Pakistan Border Probe

By Markeshia Ricks on November 29, 2011 Uncategorized

Brig. Gen. Stephen Clark of Air Force Special Operations Command has been tapped to get to the bottom of a NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on Nov. 26. Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, appointed the rated command pilot as the investigating officer who will lead the probe and deliver a report by Dec. 23, according to the Pentagon. Clark has been in the Air Force for about 25 years and previously served as the commander for the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base, according to his service biography. He…

Top honor for combat controller?

By Scott Fontaine on September 27, 2011 Uncategorized

Columbist Robert F. Dorr wrote last week about Staff Sgt. Robert Gutierrez, the combat controller who stared down death to call in airstrikes and save his Special Forces A-team. Dorr, who knows a thing or two about the Air Force, was unequivocal in his writing: “His heroism was unrelenting; his dedication to his service and his country, indisputable. For his actions, Gutierrez is nominated for an Air Force Cross, the service’s second highest valor award. He should, however, receive the Medal of Honor. Only the nation’s highest distinction is appropriate for the combat controller, who lost half his blood from…

Hollywood comes to AFSOC

By Scott Fontaine on July 5, 2011 Uncategorized

Start with a CV-22 Osprey. Throw in an experienced combat controller. Lots of stuff goes bang. A JSOC mission into Pakistan? Nah. Try the latest edition of Transformers. The folks at AFSOC helped make “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” even more action-packed than a usual Michael Bay flick. And people appear to hoover up the action; the movie opened with a $116.4 million showing over the holiday weekend. About 50 airmen from headquarters AFSOC, the 1st Special Operations Wing and other units helped with the filming at Hurlburt Field, Fla., last September. Shooting also took place at Edwards Air Force…

It’s what the new AFSOC commander didn’t say

By Scott Fontaine on June 27, 2011 Uncategorized

Air Force Special Operations Command has a new top officer, and in AFSOC tradition, the new guy is shrouded in a bit of mystery. This much we do know: Lt. Gen Eric Fiel arrived at Hurlburt Field after a stint as the vice commander of U.S. Special operations Command. Previous jobs include plenty of other positions at SOCOM, the deputy gig at the Joint Special Operations Command, 58th Special Operations Wing commander and commander of Air Force Special Operations Forces. But it’s a quote in the press release that makes us think Fiel might want to keep AFSOC’s actions in…

Chicken feet, bloody canings and night-vision goggles

By Scott Fontaine on June 6, 2011 Uncategorized

Just remember to smile when you’re chewing the fish head. The public affairs folks at Air Force Special Operations command had an interesting piece about Raven Claw, a week-long exercise at Duke Field, Fla., that helps deploying advisors tackle situations they might face. The trainees are dropped into “Palmetto Land” to enhance the country with the tactical employment of its aircraft, which the Palmettoites (Palmettitonians? Palmeteors?) will use to fight an insurgency. The 371st Special Operations Combat Training Squadron conducts the exercise. “The SOF combat aviation advisor environment is one in which a country is teetering on full-out civil…

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