Creating an Air Commando

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kai White
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  (This article is the first part of the Creating an Air Commando series. These stories highlight the unique training pipeline for aircrew new to units that fall under Air Force Special Operations Command)

There is a title not sewn on any uniform, not written on any orders and not specific to any job, but quietly carried by every member of Air Force Special Operations Command.

Air Commandos, the men and women of AFSOC, are disciplined and dedicated to the fight, but they aren’t chosen. They are made.

“When I first came to AFSOC, I came straight out of undergraduate pilot training,” said Maj. Jared Harris, chief of readiness training with the Training Systems Branch of AFSOC. “People asked ‘you weren’t selected, so what makes you special?’ - Nothing, until I deployed with AFSOC repeatedly and built up my experience, but I had to learn everything on-the-job.”

For Airmen newly assigned to an AFSOC unit, this is where the Air Commando Development program steps in.

Before this program, aircrew from different bases throughout AFSOC would have varying levels of training and experience, which prevented commanders in the joint environment from applying airpower in the most effective way possible.

According to Col. Peter McDonough, the chief of operations training at AFSOC, the training program was created to standardize the best practices throughout the command, bringing all the expertise and training practices from each squadron to every new Air Commando. The idea is to create Airmen that have a ‘known quantity’ of expert abilities and experience that they can be expected to apply to any battlefield environment.

To start their training, Airmen learn advanced driving and shooting skills as well as a host of other abilities needed to operate in the austere conditions of the special operations battlefields. In these classes, the Air Commando Field Skills Course and the Air Commando Course, Airmen begin to learn what it means to be a part of AFSOC and an Air Commando.

“It drills home, ‘this is who I am, this is why I am here,'” said McDonough.

Air Commandos then return to their units to complete their initial flying training and become qualified on their aircraft.

After finishing initial flying training, Airmen enter the Combat Mission Ready phase, which focuses exclusively on initial deployment preparation. Once this phase is complete, Airmen enter the deployment cycle with their squadrons. As Airmen grow in knowledge and experience through repeated deployments, they transition into the Advanced Tactical Readiness phase.

“This is where we grow and develop Airmen into highly-proficient operators,” said Harris. “This is the master’s degree of our program.”

In this phase, Air Commandos build their breadth and depth of knowledge needed to perform duties to the best of their ability. Here, an Airman’s discipline and dedication helps propel them forward in a competitive program that rewards hard chargers.

“The competitive nature of this program is very important,” said McDonough. “Do you run faster alone or when you run with a friend?”

As fellow Air Commandos push each other to be better, so does the training program. Training includes aircraft simulators used to create scenarios and teach lessons that would otherwise be learned after many deployments, saving time and money.

“The Air Commando Development Program is how we deliberately develop Airmen faster, with fewer resources and more efficiency,” said McDonough. “We are reinforcing what it means to be an Air Commando.”

As the program continues to expand since its official creation in October 2015, many classes will open to non-rated AFSCs; moreover some courses, including the Air Commando Course, are currently available to all AFSOC Air Commandos provided there is room.

According to Harris, as the program develops they intend to advance the rigors and complexity of training at home to better prepare Air Commandos to face any enemy, anytime, anyplace.