All USAF special operations are under the command of AFSOC. AFSOC is an Air Force major command and constitutes the Air Force component of the unified USSOCOM. AFSOC is organized into one active component Special Operations Wing, two active Special Operations Groups, one active Special Tactics Group, and two reserve Special Operations Wings. AFSOC forces are apportioned and assigned by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to USSOCOM and theater Commanders in Chief (CINC). AFSOC has OPCON of CONUS-based forces while theater SOCs exercise OPCON of assigned or OCONUS assets. Only USCINCPAC and USCINCEUR have theater assigned AFSOC forces.

Air Force SOF consists of uniquely equipped fixed and rotary wing aircraft operated by highly trained aircrews whose missions include insertion, extraction, resupply, aerial fire support, refueling, combat search and rescue, and PSYOP. Weapons systems operated by AFSOC include:

The Special Tactics Group is comprised of Air Force Combat Control, Pararescue and Combat Weather personnel capable of providing terminal guidance for weapons, control of assault zone aircraft, fire support, medical support, and weather support. They also operate expeditionary airfields, conduct classified missions, and support combat rescue missions.

AFSOC is America's specialized air power. It is a step ahead in a changing world, delivering special operations combat power anytime, anywhere. The command is committed to continual improvement to provide Air Force special operations forces for worldwide deployment and assignment to regional unified commands, conducting the full spectrum of Special Operations principal missions and collateral activities.

The wing's mission is to organize, train, and equip Air Force special operations forces for global employment. The 16th SOW focuses on unconventional warfare, including counterinsurgency and psychological operations during operations other than war.

The 16th SOW is the largest Air Force unit under the Air Force Special Operations Command, the Air Force component of the US Special Operations Command. The 16th SOW deploys with specially trained and equipped forces from each service, working as a team to support national security objectives. The 16th SOW manages a fleet of more than 90 aircraft with a military and civilian work force of nearly 7,000 people. It includes the 6th Special Operations Squadron (SOS), the 4th SOS, the 8th SOS, the 9th SOS, the 15th SOS, the 16th SOS, the 20th SOS and the 55th SOS.

Unique equipment on these modified C-130s enables crews to provide highly accurate firepower in support of both conventional and unconventional forces, day or night. Primary missions include close air support, armed reconnaissance, and air interdiction. Other missions include perimeter defense, forward air control, night search and rescue, surveillance, and airborne command and control.

It flies clandestine missions into sensitive territory to provide air refueling for special operations aircraft. A secondary wartime mission for the Combat Shadow includes airdrop of small bundles and special operations teams.

AFSOF logistics support is focused on keeping the aircraft flying, just as in the conventional Air Force. Logistics and maintenance emphasis is placed on the cycle of launch, recovery, service, rapid repair, and re-launch. The cycle may be compressed into relatively short time periods, 12 hours or less. This places a significant burden on the support infrastructure, given the level of sophistication of the avionics and the requirement to operate from austere locations.

The parent wing, group and/or squadron are responsible for determining equipment, spares, and personnel requirements. This determination will be based on the length of the deployment and amount of logistic support available at the deployed location. Once deployed, the AFSOC logistics officer will coordinate and manage logistic support, vehicle requirements, POL, billeting, messing, and establish connectivity with the Theater and CONUS logistic support systems.

If time permits prior to deployment, the wing or group logistic planning cell will develop a plan to support deployed flying operations and concomitant logistics objectives. Short term employment will normally be supported by drawing from readiness spares packages. Longer term employments will be supported by established supply lines.

These aircraft are equipped with in-flight refueling equipment, terrain-following, terrain- avoidance radar, an inertial and GPS navigation system, and a high-speed aerial delivery system. Some MC-130Es are also equipped with the surface-to-air Fulton recovery and helicopter air refueling systems.

The mission of the MC-130E Combat Talon I and MC-130H Combat Talon II is to provide global, day, night, and adverse weather capability to airdrop and airland personnel and equipment in support of US and allied special operations forces. The MC-130 conducts infiltration, exfiltration, resupply, psychological operations, and aerial reconnaissance into hostile or denied territory using airland and/or airdrop. Both Combat Talons are capable of inflight refueling, giving them an extended range limited only by crew endurance and availability of tanker support. The MC-130E Combat Talon I is capable of air refueling helicopters in support of extended helicopter operations. MC-130 missions may be accomplished either single- ship or in concert with other special operations assets in varying multi-aircraft scenarios. Combat Talons are able to airland/airdrop personnel/ equipment on austere, marked and unmarked LZ/DZs, day or night. MC-130 missions may require overt, clandestine or low visibility operations.

The special navigation and aerial delivery systems are used to locate small drop zones and deliver people or equipment with greater accuracy and at higher airspeeds than possible with a standard C-130E/H aircraft. The following equipment has been installed on the standard C-130E/

H aircraft to comprise the major components of the MC-130 aircraft configuration:

These heavily armed aircraft incorporate side-firing weapons integrated with sophisticated sensor, navigation and fire control systems to provide surgical firepower during extended loiter periods, at night and in adverse weather. Spectre has an impressive combat history. During Vietnam, gunships destroyed more than 10,000 trucks and were credited with many life-saving close air support missions. AC-130s suppressed enemy air defense systems and attacked ground forces during Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada. This enabled the successful assault of Point Salines airfield via airdrop and airland of friendly forces.

Gunships had a starring role during Operation Just Cause in Panama by destroying Panamanian Defense Force Headquarters and numerous command and control facilities by surgical employment of ordnance in an urban environment. As the only close air support platform in the theater, Spectre was credited with saving many friendly lives.

The AC-130 Gunship is a basic C-130 modified with side mounted guns and various sensors that make it highly adaptable to a variety of special missions. The Gunship can provide sustained and surgically precise firepower in a variety of scenarios. Within permissive environments, the AC-l30 is effective in the following roles:

The side-firing gunship delivers ordnance while in a pylon turn around the target. Targets are visible and can be attacked throughout the entire orbit and attack run-in headings are usually not desired. The gunship is particularly effective at troops in contact (TIC) fire support.

Firing altitude depends on terrain, threat environment, and weather. Gun selection depends on target type and damage desired. To limit collateral damage, a live-fire area may be required to boresight weapons prior to employment. The gunship weapons do not have a hard-kill capability against heavy armor or bunkers. However, the 105mm has Superquick fuses with both point detonation and 0.05 sec delay, concrete penetrators, and proximity fuses for airburst. All 20mm, 25mm, and 40mm have point detonate fuses.

The ground forces commander must accept responsibility each time ordnance is requested inside of the Joint Munitions Effectiveness Manual (JMEM) Danger Close range.

Although the AC-130H and AC-130U use very dissimilar avionics and other systems, fire support to the ground party is generally comparable. The capabilities of the AC-130U will not be required for most fire support missions, but provide benefits under certain circumstances. The following describes some of the most important employment differences:

Marking devices can expedite identification of friendly forces, improving fire support responsiveness and limiting the exposure time for the gunship. Beacons provide a rapid means to identify and update the friendly position. During instrument meteorological conditions beacons are the only way for the AC-130H to locate friendly positions. Radar reflective items may also be used with the AC-130U radar. These are line-of-sight methods, and are normally used with OFFSET firing mode. Beacon/reference point offsets should not normally exceed 1500 meters (1000 meters for Dual Target Attack - AC-130U only). Offset firing is not as accurate as direct mode of fire and are normally used in poor weather conditions with the ground commander or team leader calling misses and corrections to the aircraft. As a rule, the shorter the offset distance, the more accurate the weapon. The AC-130U can track the PPN-19 and SST-181 beacons using the strike radar. The AC-130H can track the PPN-19, SST-181, PRD-7880 (TEMIG) and personal locator system (PLS) beacons, but TEMIG and PLS are poor for offset firing.

The AC-l30 is an excellent low threat, night CAS platform. The gunship can provide surgical fire support with limited collateral damage, and it can remain on station for extended periods of time. The visual sensors and radar (AC-130U) provide real-time reconnaissance of the employment area. Unlike other fixed-wing aircraft, CAS assets which must have qualified forward area controllers (FAC) for ordnance delivery in proximity to friendlies, the AC-130 self-FACs, so ordinance delivery can be controlled by fire support officers, team leaders, etc. Since the AC-130 delivers ordnance through a pylon turn, the target is usually visible and may be engaged throughout the entire orbit. As a result, run-in headings are not appropriate. The first consideration for CAS missions is to positively identify the friendly position. Various marking devices may be used by friendly forces to expedite acquisition. Radio contact with the ground forces will be maintained at all times during firing, unless preplanned comm-out procedures are coordinated in advance. The following CAS guide is a briefing guide designed specifically for the gunship. To reduce communications during preplanned missions, coordinate as much of this information as possible in advance. The J-Fire "nine-line" briefing may be used, but it is inefficient and less desirable.

Air Interdiction is defined as air operations conducted to destroy, neutralize, or delay the enemy's potential before it can be brought to bear effectively against friendly forces. At such distances that detailed integration of each air mission with the fire and movement of friendly forces is not required. The gunship is best suited to strike small targets in a permissive environment where limited collateral damage is required. The gunship's accuracy, low yield munitions, and target identification capability reduces the risk of collateral damage. However, the gunship lacks both great hitting power and area coverage capability, which limits the potential for damage to hardened or large area targets.

Armed Reconnaissance is flown with the primary purpose of locating and attacking targets of opportunity (i.e. enemy material, personnel, and facilities) in assigned or general areas or along assigned lines of communication (LOC), and not for the purpose of attacking specific briefed targets. The gunship can effectively search LOCs, however the narrow field of view of the sensors limits the gunship's ability to search large areas. The time required to perform armed reconnaissance must be considered with respect to the threat.

The gunship can provide escort, LZ/DZ security, and fire support for helicopter operations. Mission accomplishment is achieved through a joint pre-brief of route, special procedures, and establishment of a communications net (fire support coordination net). The gunship can assist helicopters in search and rescue missions as necessary. Helicopter use of beacons greatly aids in vectoring. The gunship can provide LZ/DZ weather and threat updates to all participating aircraft. The gunship can also destroy unrecoverable loads that have landed off a DZ and should not fall into enemy hands.

Fighters can operate with the gunship as part of a strike package. Fighter assets provide additional strike capability with greater standoff, hard-target kill capability, and larger area suppression weapons. Fighters can also provide real time threat suppression in the target area and during enroute portions of the mission. Operations with fighter aircraft require effective teamwork between the dissimilar aircraft and increases the complexity of crew coordination on the gunship. Flexibility and situational awareness must be maintained at all times. The gunship normally acts as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) for its fighter escort, and may be used to control other strike aircraft. The gunship's FAC capabilities include:

This mission is essentially a preplanned CAS mission. The situation may allow for in-depth planning and coordination, but procedures are the same as for any CAS scenario.

Another version of CAS is escort. The gunship can provide convoy, naval, train, helicopter escort/vectoring surveillance and limited protection of friendlies from enemy ambush. Communications with the supported commander are essential. Mission accomplishment is achieved through a joint brief of route, special procedures, and establishment of a communications net. Ground parties using electronic beacons greatly aid in force vectoring.

The night capabilities of the gunship, combined with its range and endurance make the gunship a viable reconnaissance platform. The gunship has the capability to record all the sensors, with audio and video imagery. The gunship is more vulnerable to enemy threats than other tactical reconnaissance platforms.

The gunship can support combat recovery operations in a permissive environment. These missions include combined operations with helicopters and fighters. Because of the potential complexity of these missions, thorough mission planning is essential.

The gunship can be used to relay information between ground parties, or as a ground-to-air or air-to-air liaison on a limited basis. Planners must realize that any planned use of the gunship in this capacity could adversely affect the gunship's tactical mission and therefore must be weighed carefully.

AFSOC MC-130P (referred to as the HC-130 prior to 1996) were deployed to Saudi Arabia and Turkey in support of Desert Storm. They operated from main bases and remote locations. Their missions included air refueling of special operations forces helicopters over friendly and hostile territory, psychological operations, and leaflet drops.

The mission of the MC-130P is clandestine formation/single-ship intrusion of hostile territory to provide aerial refueling of special operations helicopters and the infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply of special operations forces by airdrop or airland operations. To perform these missions, the primary emphasis is on night vision goggle (NVG) operations, but they can be accomplished during the day. The MC-130P primarily flies missions at night to reduce probability of visual acquisition and intercept by airborne threats. Secondary mission capabilities may include airdrop of small special operations teams, small bundles, and combat rubber raiding craft; as well as NVG takeoff and landing procedures, tactical airborne radar approaches, and in-flight refueling as a receiver.

Some aircraft are currently being modified with the Universal Air Refueling Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI) system for inflight refueling as a receiver and all aircraft are modified with the self-contained navigation systems (SCNS) and Global Positioning System (GPS). The Special Operations Forces Improvement (SOFI) modification will give the aircraft an NVG HUD, a new modified radar, and a Infrared Detection System (IDS). These modifications will greatly increase the range and navigational accuracy of the MC-130 P. The aircraft normally carries eight crewmembers. Depending on mission profile and duration, additional crewmembers are carried. All crewmembers are NVG/formation and helicopter air refueling qualified. Special qualifications include high altitude low opening (HALO) airdrop, NVG airland, formation lead, inflight refueling (IFR), and Rigging Alternate Method Zodiac (RAMZ).

The following equipment is installed on the MC-130P:

The MC-130P employs night terrain contour (NTC) procedures. NTC missions are flown in VMC using NVGs. The profile is flown at 500 feet above ground level using terrain masking. If necessary, the mission can be flown with visual and electronic-controlled emissions. The range of the mission depends on several factors: length of time on the low-level route, enroute weather, winds, and the air refueling offload requirements (see Planning Factors). Portions of the profile may be flown at high altitude to minimize fuel consumption. NTC procedures will be used to avoid enemy detection in a non-permissive environment to get the aircraft to the objective area.

The MC-130P normally flies in a formation of aircraft to provide the capability of multiple simultaneous refueling of large helicopter formations. An airborne spare tanker is also a part of the formation.

This is the primary mission of the MC-130P. To significantly decrease the amount of time required to refuel helicopters, the MC-130P can simultaneously refuel two helicopters. Minimum refueling altitude is 1,000 ft AGL for training. For operational missions, lower altitudes may be used. Refueling is accomplished on NVGs.

The MC-130P airdrop personnel or equipment. The drop zone point of impact (PI) must be marked. The location, size, and marking of drop zones must conform with AFI 13-217.

The MC-130P can be used for both static line and free-fall jumps.

Parabundle and free-fall door bundle drops are aircrew directed at very low altitudes. Parabundles are dropped at 300ft AGL with parachutes, or 150ft AGL without parachutes. Both of these drops are flown at 130 KIAS.

Infiltration and exfiltration may be conducted at overt landing zones. Landing zones and lighting must conform to AFI 13-217. The landing zone should be hard surfaced. Except for contingency/emergency operations, runway lengths less than 3000 feet will not be used.

In 1990 the EC-130 joined the newly formed Air Force Special Operations Command and has since been designated Commando Solo, with no change in mission. This one-of-a-kind aircraft is consistently improving its capabilities. The next few years should see continued enhancements to the EC-130 and its world-wide mission. The EC-130 was deployed to both Saudi Arabia and Turkey in support of Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

A total of six transmitters cover the frequency range of 450 KHz to 350 MHz. These transmitters are capable of high output power and several modes of operation. Significant advantages of these transmitters are that the parameters of the transmission can be adjusted to coincide with established telecommunication standards. Transmission frequencies can be discrete, which is to say transmissions will not interfere with adjacent frequencies or channels.

Commando Solo utilizes nine fixed antennas for WE transmissions and one adjustable-length trailing wire for the MH and HF operations. The single trailing wire antenna limits the system to one transmission at a time in the MF/HF bands. Radiation patterns of all antennas show signal strength greatest at points broadside to the aircraft, and nulls in signal strength at points forward and aft of the aircraft.

The ERP of a specific transmission will depend on the combination of the power of the transmitter, line loss between the transmitter and antenna, and the efficiency and gain of the associated antenna. Commando Solo transmission line loss varies between 0 dB and 1.5 dB.

Eight radio receivers provide frequency coverage from 200 KHz to 1000 MHz. In addition, four spectrum analyzers, used to check transmission quality, provide limited receiver capability. The associated antennas are omnidirectional in pattern; therefore, the receiver section does not have DF capabilities. Reception is degraded by transmission in proximity of the receiver signal.

Two KY-58 systems are installed, one system for the flight crew ARC-164 radios and the second for the mission crew ARC-164 and ARC-186 radios. The two ARC-164 radios assigned to the flight crew are equipped with the HAVE QUICK modification.

The EC-130 flies during either day or night scenarios and is air refuelable. A typical mission consists of a single-ship orbit, which is offset from the desired target audience. The targets may be either military or civilian personnel. Secondary missions include command and control communications countermeasures (C3CM) and limited intelligence gathering.

The MH-53J Pave Low III heavy-lift helicopter is the largest and most powerful helicopter in the Air Force inventory, and the most technologically advanced helicopter in the world. The terrain- following and terrain-avoidance radar, forward-looking infrared sensor, inertial navigation system with GPS, along with a projected map display, enable the crew to follow terrain contours as low as 100 feet and avoid obstacles even in adverse weather.

The MH-53J Pave Low helicopter is a night, adverse-weather special operations weapon system that was designed to be a flight lead platform for less capable aircraft. The primary mission of the MH-53J is to conduct covert low-level, long-range undetected penetration into denied areas, day or night, in adverse weather for infiltration, exfiltration, or resupply of special operations forces to include airdrops and heavy-lift sling operations. The aircraft can perform a variety of other missions to include shipboard operations, radar vectoring, and combat search and rescue.

Under the Air Force's Pave Low IIIE program, all Air Force H-53s were modified and designated MH-53Js. Their modifications include improved Pave Low avionics, satellite communications, shipboard modifications and structural improvements. All MH-53Js are modified for shipboard operations and feature automatic main rotor blade and tail rotor pylon fold. The MH-53J is also equipped with armor plating and a combination of three guns, 7.62mm miniguns or .50 caliber machine guns. It can be equipped with 27 troop seats or 14 litters. An external cargo hook has a 20,000 pound (9,000 kilograms) capacity. This highly modified aircraft is equipped with a rack of navigation, communication, special/auxiliary equipment, defensive systems to include the following:

The Enhanced Navigation System (ENS) provides a precise navigational capability that is essential for low-level, night/adverse weather operations. The ENS consists of several subsystems to include a mission computer, inertial navigation unit (INU), global positioning system and video symbology display system (VSDS). The ENS interfaces with a variety of other systems to include the Doppler, Projected Map Display (PMD), Terrain Following/Terrain Avoidance (TF/TA) radar, and Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR).

This system provides continuous Doppler derived measurements of the helicopter's velocity vector, continuous computation of present position, and worldwide navigation guidance.

This system provides a moving map display showing a continuous, pictorial representation of the helicopter's horizontal position and movement relative to the terrain.

This system is a multi-mode, J-band radar that provides the operator with radar video imagery of terrain features, other radar-reflective targets, terrain-following/terrain avoidance, weather avoidance and air-to-ground range data.

This is a controllable, infrared surveillance system, which provides a video infrared image of terrain features, and ground or airborne objects of interest. The FLIR is a passive system, and detects IR energy emitted by any object in daylight or darkness and displays it on the two cockpit monitors.

The MH-53J has three weapons stations: left window, right door, and ramp. Each station can mount either an XM-218 .50 caliber machine gun or GAU-2 B/A 7.62mm minigun. A crewmember at each station manually operates the weapons. The weapons are used primarily for self-defense and enemy suppression. The helicopter was not designed for use as an attack gunship platform. However, the helicopter weapons are capable of providing suppressive fire support for teams on the ground. Crewmembers are trained to fly L attack, dogbone, racetrack, figure 8 and spooky gun patterns as per AFSOCI 11-208 for fire support missions. Weapons training conducted during both day and night, is routine with an average of two missions per week per crewmember.

The typical gun configuration is a GAU-2 B/A 7.62 minigun at the left and right station with a GAU-18 .50 cal on the tail. The minigun is normally used for soft targets and troop suppression, which requires a high rate of fire (2,000-4,000 rounds per minute). The .50-cal allows the helicopter to engage light armor and reinforced positions at greater ranges. Each weapon system is capable of mounting an Infrared Aiming Device (IRAD) which enhances target acquisition. The type of threat and mission requirements will dictate the weapons configuration.

The 7.62mm miniguns are air-cooled, link-belt fed, and have a maximum effective range of 1,500 meters with tracer burnout at 750 meters. The weapon has an adjustable rate of fire of 2,000 or 4,000 RPM. The crewmembers currently fire ball ammunitions with a mix of four ball to one tracer (4:1), or a 9:1 mix to prevent goggle shutdown on low-illumination nights. The ammo complement without reloading is 3,000 to 4,000 rounds.

The .50cal machine guns are air-cooled; link-belt fed, mechanically operated and fired, and are capable of firing 750 to 850 RPM. The .50cal has a maximum effective range of 3,000 meters with a tracer burnout of 1,500 meters. For training purposes, a ball ammunition mix of 4:1 is used. For actual employment, this changes to four armor-piercing incendiary and one armor piercing incendiary tracer (APIT). Ammunition is fed to the gun in one of two ways; a 100 round ammo can attached to the gun or a 1300 round ammo container attached to the aircraft floor. The ammunition complement is 500 rounds per gun for training and 800 to 1300 rounds for combat missions.

Exercise/Operational missions can be executed with 24 hours notice. Once the initial planning is complete, crews go into 12 hours of crew rest prior to flight. After crew rest, the crew needs about 3 hours for final planning, crew briefing, and run-up time prior to take-off.

Not all crewmembers are qualified for all types of missions. Specialized crew qualifications include shipboard operation, formation live fire with ground parties, night water and night water low-and-slow deployment operations.

The MH-60G Pave Hawk is a modern, medium-lift, special operations helicopter for missions requiring medium-to-long-range infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply of special operations forces on land or sea. In addition, the SOF-unique mission equipment allows this aircraft to be used for recovery of injured special operations personnel. The MH-60G is equipped with forward-looking infrared radar to better enable the crew to follow terrain contours and avoid obstacles at night. The Air Force has 55 Pave Hawks in the active component and 25 in the Reserves.

The MH-60G's primary wartime missions are infiltration, exfiltration and resupply of special operations forces in day, night, or marginal weather conditions. Other missions include combat search and rescue. The MH-60G, a highly modified variant of the UH-60A Black Hawk, offers increased capability in range (endurance), navigation, communications, and defensive systems. The MH-60G can be deployed to support a full range of special air warfare activities to include special operations, psychological operations, and civil affairs.

MH-60G navigation equipment includes:

The MH-60G also includes a navigation system interfaced forward looking infrared (FLIR) system and a voice altitude warning system to provide enhanced terrain clearance operations. A Personnel Locator System (PLS) is installed to enhance locating and identifying ground forces for extraction.

Defensive armaments include a forward cabin-mounted 7.62mm miniguns firing either 2,000 or 4,000 rpm and cabin-mounted .50-cal machine guns. With the addition of the external stores support system (ESSS), the aircraft can carry fixed forward-firing armaments for use as a defensive and escort aircraft. Each ESSS wing can carry two 7 or 19-shot, 2.75-inch folding fin aerial rocket pods or dual 20mm cannons/.50-cal machine guns.

The MH-60G can be successfully employed in the low-to-medium threat environment. As the level of threat increases above this, the chance of detection will increase, decreasing the probability of success. The probability of success will also decrease as the total number of aircraft in the mission increase due to an increased chance of detection (i.e., larger multi-ship or dissimilar type formations). The requirement to operate from a Forward Area Arming and Refueling Point (FAARP) will also decrease the probability of success due to the extended exposure time.

The MH-60G will operate at low altitudes over land and water. The aircraft will normally be employed as part of a larger vertical-lift package, which may require dissimilar multi-ship formations. The MH-60G will operate into unprepared, unlighted, uncontrolled landing zones 50

meters or larger in diameter.

The MH-60G can be deployed by airlift, sea-lift, or self-deployed. The preferred deployment option is airlift using a C-5, and is essential if rapid deployment is required. A C-5 can transport a maximum of five MH-60Gs. The aircraft can be broken down for shipment in less than 1 hour and off-loaded and rebuilt at the location in less than 2 hours. The optimum deployment package is four MH-60Gs via C-5. Due to the rapid tear down and buildup times, it is normally faster to air transport the aircraft rather than self-deploy when distances exceed 1,500 NM using aerial refueling, or 1,000 NM using ground refueling. Deployments can be worldwide using a main base or a limited/standby base with host support. Deployments can be conducted in a deceptive or low-visibility mode. The number of aircraft required and the time phasing after notification are specified in other sources. Self-deployment utilizing aerial refueling assets requirements are:

The time required to adequately plan for a mission varies with the complexity and length of the mission (i.e., flight time, number of other aircraft, types of aircraft involved in the formation, threat, and location of the objective). As a general rule of thumb, comprehensive mission planning requires a minimum of 6 hours. Ideally, a tasking arrives while the crews are in crew rest, and primary mission planning is accomplished by unit mission planners. The crews arrive approximately 3 hours prior to their mission departure time and fine tune the planning.

The MH-60G is designed to operate in a variety of weather conditions. Due to the use of night optical devices (NVGs and FLIR) and color weather radar, the aircraft can operate in very low- visibility conditions with low cloud ceilings. However, the MH-60G is a visual meteorological conditions (VMC) platform with weather avoidance capability.

Mission endurance is increased through the use of an air refueling probe for inflight aerial refueling. In addition, the aircraft can be ground refueled using pressure or gravity feed systems at forward area arming and refueling points (FAARPS) or onboard ships. The MH-60G has a choice of internal auxiliary fuel tanks for extended range operations. The aircraft can be equipped with either the single, 117-gallon tank, offering 3.3 hours of aircraft operations, or the dual, 185-gallon tanks, offering 4.5 hours of unrefueled operations.

Mission effectiveness is highly dependent upon accurate, complete, all-source, real-time intelligence. The MH-60G has weather avoidance radar, but this equipment does not replace the use of detailed, highly accurate, timely weather forecasts for pre-mission planning.

The aircraft is capable of transporting 12 combat-equipped troops in an alternate loading configuration without internal auxiliary fuel tanks. With internal fuel tanks installed, maximum troop capacity is 10, with an optimum load of 6.

Crew Qualification. Aircrews maintain qualification in night vision goggle (NVG) tactical operations, NVG aerial refueling, NVG shipboard operations, and NVG overwater operations to include rubber boat deployment ("low and slow"), fast rope infiltration, and hoist or rope ladder exfiltration. Standard Crew: 2 pilots, 2 flight engineers (or 1 flight engineer and 1 aerial gunner).

STTs are quick-reaction, deployable Air Force units, which are uniquely organized, trained, and equipped to facilitate the air/ground interface during joint special operations and sensitive recovery missions. The STTs are comprised of combat controllers, pararescue, and support personnel.

The special tactics mission is to provide the Joint Special Operations Air Component Commander (JSOACC) with quick-reaction command and control positive air traffic management, and casualty recovery, treatment and evacuation staging during joint air and ground/maritime operations including short notice, sensitive contingencies. Special tactics teams operate in a ground role with joint or combined special operations task forces.

ST teams can be deployed by airlift, sea-lift or overland means. Airlift is the preferred method of deployment and is critical for time sensitive operations.

ST teams may be employed tactically directly from their home station into the area of operations.

ST forces can be employed as stand-alone units or combined with other special operations forces

into a joint team. ST teams may be employed using a variety of tactical methods including:

A ST team is the basic tactical element for special tactics forces. The tactical team may be employed complete or broken into as many as six smaller elements. A special tactics recovery team is normally employed for specialized missions such as CSAR or personnel recovery. The recovery team may be employed complete or broken down into as many as three elements.

ST teams can be deployed in support of the full range of special operations missions and collateral activities to include direct action, foreign internal defense, combat search and rescue, personnel/equipment recovery, humanitarian assistance, and civil affairs.

Aviation-FID training and advice include airpower doctrine development, force planning, and operational support as well as tactical employment in such mission areas as airlift, fighter operations, forward air control (FAC), SAR, special tactics (ST), and gunship operations. This assistance includes both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. Assistance in aviation support operations includes aircraft maintenance, supply, logistics, airbase ground defense, munitions, ground safety, command and control, communications, intelligence, and risk management. Operations associated with aviation-FID include support for counterinsurgency and counterdrug operations. Additionally, the aviation FID squadron supports the following SO missions and collateral activities:

The unit’s task entails training and advising foreign aviation units to support partisan operations in occupied territory with aerial insertion, extraction, and resupply from a third-country sanctuary.

The unit’s task entails supporting foreign aviation units with advisory assistance in such areas as operational and tactical planning, force integration, and mission execution. Coalition support includes advisory actions to:

The unit’s task includes advising and training host-nation aviation elements to conduct air operations supporting host government and multi-national humanitarian aid and disaster assistance programs.

The 6th Special Operations Squadron (6 SOS) is a combat advisory unit activated for the purpose of advising and training foreign aviation units to employ and sustain their own assets in both peace and war, and, when necessary, to integrate those assets into joint, multi-national operations. It supports the theater combatant commanders in three interrelated areas: foreign internal defense (FID), unconventional warfare (UW), and coalition support. The mission area also encompasses collateral activities such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

When tasked, unit personnel deploy to a designated country, collocate with host-nation aviation elements at squadron, wing, or headquarters levels, and train and/or advise counterpart personnel in the employment and support of air operations. Training and advisory assistance is conducted at both the operational and tactical levels.

The basic unit deployment module for aviation advisory operations is an Operational Aviation Detachment-Alpha (OAD-A). When multiple OADs are deployed to the field, an OAD-B is also deployed as a headquarters, C3, and administrative support element. The teams are specially tailored in both size and composition to meet specific mission needs. A notional OAD-A consists of 12 personnel capable of teaching and/or advising in the functional areas shown below. A medic may bring the total strength of a notional OAD-A to 13 individuals.

The C-141/C-5/C-17 SOLL II forces from the Air Mobility Command (AMC) are capable of conducting clandestine formtion or single-ship intrusion of hostile territory to provide highly reliable, self-contained, precision airdrop and airland of personnel and equipment. The assumed mission concept will be day/night, low-level, without the use of external aids. Mission success is enhanced by minimum lighting, minimum communications, deceptive course changes, and preplanned avoidance of enemy radar/air defenses and populated areas. Each aircraft is well- suited for many special operations applications due to their load-carrying capability, ability to operate into short austere runways, and their normal, known signature.

Due to OPSEC considerations, rapid response requirements, and/or lack of suitable forwardoperating bases, many C-141/C-5 SOLL II missions will require long-range employment flights. Necessary command and control communications will be accomplished by secure SATCOM and line-of-sight radios. Land-fall points are selected to minimize detection by hostile forces. Precise navigation positioning after extended overwater flights is required. On these long missions, it is imperative that both the aircrew and user's fatigue are minimized so human errors are reduced during critical phases of the mission, such as the low-level portion and objective area operations.