Everyone has a story...but each is different. Thanks for sharing yours, Senior. My goal for Monday’s tactical pause is pretty simple...take the firsts steps to find ways for all us to be better listeners, better teammates, and better at sharing our own stories. Without a doubt, we are stronger together.

It is with great honor we congratulate the 1st Special Operations Group for being selected as the winner of the 2019 Verne Orr Award! The award recognizes the organization that most effectively utilizes, our greatest asset, its human resources to accomplish the mission.

Some good points in this op-ed. I'm hopeful that our resilency pause on 26 Aug will generate some additional ideas on how we can tackle this tough issue together.

If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to take a couple of minutes to listen to Chaplain Taylor's words on suicide. Humans need community. The intent of our 26 Aug Resiliency Tactical Pause is to reinforce the sense of community we should all feel as part of this organization.

A great message here. Sometimes the best thing we can do for each other is to simply “be there.” Thanks for sharing CMSAF Wright

1st SOW Tactical Pause

Today marks the 17th anniversary of Talon 13, a MC-130H Talon II assigned to Hurlburt Field that crashed in Puerto Rico during a training mission -- the crash took the lives of 10 Americans. It’s hard to believe 17 years have passed. We can never lose sight of the fact that what the men & women of this command do every day is hard and dangerous. We have to train hard and push ourselves...so we are we are always ready when our nation calls. Talon 13...you and your families are not forgotten.

As we remember those lost eight years ago today on Extortion 17, let us also remember the 32 children that lost their father that night. Thankfully we’re surrounded by a SOF community that takes care their own....

1st SOW Personnel: As a reminder, our 2nd Quarter Awards Ceremony is scheduled for TOMORROW: Who: 1st Special Operations Wing What: 2nd Quarter Awards Ceremony Where: King Auditorium When: Tuesday, 6 August @ 1500 Come out and cheer on your Group’s nominee!

The 1st SOW wishes Brig Gen Bill Holt and his family the very best as they begin the transition from the AFSOC headquarters to US Space Command. Gen Holt represents the very best of Air Commando nation...Hurlburt Field will miss you.

I'm honored to announce the crew of Draco 42 has been awarded the 2018 Mackay Trophy for a mission they conducted in Afghanistan last August in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel. The Mackay Trophy is awarded annually to the most meritorious flight of the year. U-28 crews are true quiet professionals.

Our 1st SOSFS Defenders hosted the new Fort Walton Beach Police Chief, Robert Bage, and his senior staff for a visit to Hurlburt recently, to introduce them to our security forces mission and people. Building these partnerships in the community is critical when law enforcement issues arise that affect both military and civilan communities.

Tune in as the 18th Flight Test Squadron is redesignated as the 18th Special Operations Test and Evaluation Squadron. This name change more accurately reflects the squadrons purpose and intent without changing their actual mission. "Air Commandos, AFSOC-wide, must be sure that their equipment will work correctly the first time, every time," said Col. Nathan Scopac, 492nd Special Operations Training Group commander.

Our newest squadron, the 65th Special Operations Squadron, stood up in December 2018, and in the past eight months has provided 24/7/365 ever-present eyes in the sky, feeding critical intelligence on high-value, fleeting, and time-sensitive targets to combatant commanders...and increasing the lethality of the 1st SOW.

We have the AC-130U Spooky, AC-130J Ghostrider, MC-130H Combat Talon II, and the CV-22 Osprey. Now, after nearly 15 years as a part of the 1st SOW inventory, the aircraft with the most combat flying hours finally has its own name...the U-28 Draco.

Last week we had a trial run with Tropical Storm Barry. Thankfully, it avoided the Emerald Coast and wasn't as devestating as the storm Panama City experienced last October. Hopefully, all coastal communities will have a mild hurricane season this year. But if you want to learn where our leadership team recieves the updates I'm able to pass along to you, watch this video and meet the Weather Professionals who make up our 23rd Special Operations Weather Squadron.

Today, we welcomed Col Tony Babcock to the 1st SOW Team as he took command of the 1st SOMXG. I have no doubt Tony will continue the long heritage of leading Air Commando Maintainers, ensuring mission readiness across the globe.

Final update on what is now Tropical Storm Barry: It looks like most of the effects from the storm will miss the Hurlburt Field area. The weather team is forecasting that although we will still get some rain showers from the outer bands of the storm, the threat of heavy rainfall has dimishinshed significantly. There will be heavy surf and strong rip currents this weekend...so, if you're going to the beach, use caution.

Team, our weather professionals continue to monitor the tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm is moving west of us toward the south centeral Louisiana coast and could intensify to a tropical storm by late Thursday and becoming a possible Category 1 Hurricane by early Saturday morning. For the Hurlburt Field area, the primary threats will be heavy rainfall of 3-5”, wind gusts of 20-25 kts, and coastal hazards including rip currents and heavy surf starting late today/early Friday and lasting through the early half of the weekend. Hurlburt will remain open for business...but please be smart driving to work tomorrow if rainfall is heavy during the commute.

Team, As I pass along the latest weather update, I want to emphasize that we anticipate this to be primarily a rain event starting tomorrow for our area -- a heavy rain event (up to 3-5 inches), with wind gusts 20-25 knots. After it passes to our west, it could intensify into a tropical storm (or possibly a Cat 1 hurricane) as it approaches Louisana. Here's the latest update from our Weather Squadron: "Environmental conditions are favorable for an area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms located south/southeast of Hurlburt to intensify into a tropical storm/possibly Category 1 hurricane by mid-to-late Friday as it approaches the south central to southwest Louisiana coast. Primary threats for Hurlburt Field will be heavy rainfall of 3-5”, wind gusts of 20-25 kts, and coastal hazards including rip currents and heavy surf starting late Thursday/early Friday and lasting through the early half of the weekend." As always, stay plugged in to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) website: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ for the latest information.