Commander's road map to readiness

  • Published
  • By Col. Sean Farrell
  • 1st Special Operations Wing
Hurlburt Field, Fla. --  1st Special Operations Wing Air Commandos, what a great honor it is for me to be back at Hurlburt Field to serve as your commander. Know that I accept this responsibility with the utmost humility and commitment to ensure you have a road map and a clear path to do what you do best: take the mission to the enemy and carry on this proud Air Commando heritage.

As our recent change of command demonstrates, leadership is never constant. The faces at the top are ever-changing. But what does not change is our obligation and duty to execute and be ready to execute global special operations. We are America’s Air Commandos.

Our Air Force Special Operations Command commander, Lt. Gen. Brad Heithold, has defined his priorities that support his vision of a highly trained, capable and ready force.
 Provide Combat Ready Forces
 Create an Environment for our Airmen and families to thrive
 Transform training to optimize human performance
 Modernize and sustain the force

While meant for the entire MAJCOM, these goals are easily translatable to tactical operational wings. Simply put, the 1st Special Operations Wing must be highly trained, capable, and ready to conduct special operations anytime, anyplace. We must maximize our combat mission readiness in order to provide combat ready forces to today’s and tomorrow’s fight against violent extremist organizations. Our component partners in United States Special Operations Command deserve nothing less than the best we have, and that is what they’ll get when they “dial up” a 1st SOW Air Commando: the best AFSOC has to offer.

These world-wide, combat-readiness demands placed on AFSOC and the 1st SOW require agile, tenacious and resilient Air Commandos. We must deliberately prepare today’s Airmen to be tomorrow’s leaders. To do so requires a supportive environment where Airmen and their families can thrive. To that end, I will work hard to take care of our Airmen and develop the force. I expect this same devotion from my subordinate commanders and leaders at all levels.

Finally, this wing will lead the command’s effort to transform training and optimize human performance while supporting its modernization efforts. The 1st SOW will shoot more, fly more and train harder than anyone in AFSOC and the U.S. Air Force. As AFSOC continues to field new combat capabilities, the 1st SOW will leverage its deep combat experience to aid in developing new tactics, techniques and procedures as we plan to meet the next unknown threat over the horizon.

This is our vision and our course. Our endeavor can only be accomplished by a disciplined, well-trained and highly motivated team. I am confident that we will succeed and will be ready to answer our nation’s next bugle call.