Air Force special forces

AFSOC is mainly special mission aviation. The CCTs, PJs, SOWTs, and TACPs are a relatively small part of it.

> Are they good?

At what they do, I guess, but they're not the elite operators 4chan demands.

They're a bit elusive as groups. They don't have anything popular, like how USNSWC has the SEALS or how USASOC has 1st SFOD-D or Delta Force, and they're not popular as of themselves like MARSOC or SAD/SOG.

And they're not one "thing", and what they are the most isn't /k/-fabulous. It's pretty much a bunch of really good pilots and not much else. Their ground combat teams are small, extremely specialized, and unlikely to take out the next Osama Bin Laden -
the ground groups are used to direct aircraft fire from the ground, do pararescue operations, or be glorified weathermen.

>>33699530

The next time you're denied preplanned CAS due to weather, you'll understand why SOWT is a thing.

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>>33699575
I understand why SOWT is a thing, but I rather enjoy shitting on the Air Force.

Anyone have pics of them

>>33699530
>what they are the most isn't /k/-fabulous
I'd say CCT are the elite of the elite. They can get attached to any SOF unit given their training. The 24th STS is a tier 1 unit, they're up there with DEVGRU and CAG. Don't shit on those guys, many servicemen from other branches attempt the CCT training and washout because they underestimate just how hard it is to become a CCT.

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>>33699865

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>>33700042

>>33700053
>>33700042
>taking base PA seriously

>>33699575
As someone who deployed with not one but three SOTWs, this is how it goes 99.999% of the time
>preplanned CAS/CAP waived off due to weather
>firefight ensues
>nearest Army rotary wing unit scrambles fucking everything and goes balls to the wall for you
>SOWT guy sits in a ditch arguing with a major or LTC on the radio/satphone the whole time failing to get authorization for short-notice fixed wing mission
We literally had Chinooks from a different division throwing hand grenades out the doors in a thunderstorm as our CAS one time because the AF bigwigs denied fixed-wing cover due to lightning strike risk.

>>33700025
>Wanna be CCT
>Cool as fuck name too
>Know I'll never be good enough
Existence hurts man

>>33700123

Flying through/above a thunderstorm it's a good way to lose the aircraft and not only not get you your CAS, but have to pick up downed aviators too. The army also seems to think fixed wing aviation turns on a dime and only creates Echo 3 when we need 5-6.

>>33699357
>Air Force special forces
cause we dont talk about tactical chairs and flying drones by video game.

>>33700143
>Know I'll never be good enough
Not with that mentality.

>>33700219

>I don't like ISR

>>33700172
So why does the Army/Navy/USMC do it constantly and never loses a bird?

And that was probably the most excusable one. We were literally denied CAP due to *possible* cloud cover one time. Ended up being a bluebird day and they still wouldn't fly. And we lost people on that mission we probably wouldn't have if they'd given us the CAP they themselves had planned for us to have days in advance.

>>33700304

If the other branches fly through thunderstorms on the regular, they're idiots. I can't provide CAS if my jet caught a microburst and crashed. I don't ever want to bring bombs back with me in a CAS fight.

Weather is still a guessing game. That sucks, but without knowing the endure situation, I don't know if the field was socked in, there was maintenance trauma, etc.

>>33700410

Another is commanders not allowing us to drop weapons sometimes. Cloud cover basically forces us to Type II BOC JDAMS, and not everybody is comfortable with that.

>>33700410
>>33700422
Sounds more like your chain of command are pussies more concerned about looking good on paper than keeping people alive on the ground.

>>33700450

No, it's Ground Force Commanders who don't allow GBU-12s because they saw one miss once, or a BOC JDAM because my TPOD can't see through a cloud. Your guys are the problem too. Once again, if I crash because I'm wheeling it up in a thunderstorm, I don't do you any good.

>>33700499
And your chain of command isn't willing to take that one in a million chance there might be a thundercloud somewhere within a thousand kilometers of a hot AO and thus can't tolerate the one in [something something trillion] chance a stray lightning bolt does something physically impossible and zaps you on a bluebird day from the other side of the goddamn continent and won't send you to start with.

AKA, they're fucking pussies who knowingly kill friendly soldiers through inaction.

>>33700560
Eh, those guys are all negative-score ASVAB knuckle-draggers who will probably just kill themselves after they get home anyway. Not exactly much of a loss.

>>33700560

I flew through a thunderstorm once in training. It was the closest I'd ever come to ejecting. Keep in mind, I would have died if I ejected, and I still wanted to in the back of my mind.

Lightning isn't the risk. Microbusts, wind shear, hail, and severe turbulence is. Shut the fuck up and stay in your lane. Thunderstorms fuck up aircraft.

>>33699462
Anything notable

>>33699357
They aren' talked about because they aren't as glamorous, and not really the type to kick in the door guns blazing.

They typically hang back with a radio and tell planes where to fly or drop bombs. Or find and recover personnel or equipment.

Are they good? Their trying requires them to be able to keep up with SEALS, Delta, Rangers, or any other elite unit they are assigned to support.

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>>33701606

>>33701606
Why don't they wear tigerstripe

>>33701853
AFSOC here. Most of us wear OCPs/scorpion/whatever stateside now. We started wearing it on deployments not long after the Army did.

>>33701867
And I mean when the Army started wearing it on deployments, so years ago.

>>33699357
They perform incredibly niche roles that either aren't necessary for 99% of regular combat operations, or are made redundant by more conventional forces with similar skillsets.

Libya showed us the Marines can rescue their own pilots in a CSAR scenario provided we know where they crashed. No need for PJs in that case.

>>33701716
>dat silenced M4/203
talk about bringing the DAKKA

What's the difference between TACP and CCT?

My understanding is that the former guides in CAS for airstrikes, while the latter acts as Air Traffic Control directing planes over a combat zone. Is that accurate?

>>33702344

Yes.

>>33700667
I've dropped through clouds while skydiving. Easily of the top 5 coolest experiences of my life. 10/10 would recommend.

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>>33702243
>the muhrines can do it better

>>33699530
>the elite operators 4chan demands.
i shudder to think what that actually would be

>>33700410
maybe they're just better than you

>>33702840
I never said "better" you dumb motherfucker.

The next time we have a pilot hiding behind enemy lines for days without contact, with no indication of his exact location, and a high probability of him being critically Injured, we can call in the PJs. Until then, an infantry squad and an Osprey can do the job just as well 99% of the time.

>>33703052
Do you mean the Balkans not Libya

>>33703301
He's talking about Libya where an F-15 crashed and the two airmen were recovered successfully by Marines in a regular CV-22

PJs are badass but they have a narrow combat role where they excel at. If you were seriously wounded on the battlefield you would have a higher probability of surviving by being picked up by Army Dust-off compared to being picked up by PJs. If you were shotdown over North Korea you do not want redcross painted Army dust off birds picking you up, you would want PJs.

>>33703395
Didn't the same exact thing happen to a f16 pilot over the Balkans.

>>33703437
It probably did. A few aviators were shot down and picked up over the Balkans. Not sure of the details, would be interesting to see statistics.

>>33701867
So tigerstripe isn't good for camouflage like how navy's is just for show

Id like to try out for CCT next year, theyve got the coolest name and from my reading have a pretty neat mission.

We used to have a CCT guy who posted here, sadly he killed himself. Im not sure what happened t the TACP dudes who were here, i think last time i saw them was a year or so before the last ricky thread

>>33699357
For anyone going to any cool guy stuff, don't wash out or you will end up Security Forces

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>>33701716

>>33701853
because it's not camouflage. The AF wore Army uniform most of the time in Iraq. For some reason when they were in DCU's they would wear 8 points which made zero sense and most of them didn't even know it was really a Marine cover.

>>33700123

>We literally had Chinooks from a different division throwing hand grenades out the doors in a thunderstorm as our CAS

They sound like the best kind of crazy motherfuckers.

>>33701716
I thought those high cap mags were supposed to be unreliable

>>33707705
the surefire 60rnds mags ? they are

but this is just for pictures and promoting so who really cares

>>33699575
>The next time you're denied preplanned CAS
CCT are amazing but I've seen 11b get JTAC qualified

>>33707705
it's a photo op

>>33702344
>Is that accurate?
CCT does CAS and ATC, TACP can only call in CAS when they're JTAC qualified

>>33700123
Almost make it sound like Apaches and Chinooks are your friends

>>33704168
I've been gone for awhile. What happened to Ricky?

>>33700667
I'm a civilian pilot, and I've flown through a pop-up storm exactly once. I went from 4000 AGL to scraping trees in thirty seconds, and then back up to somewhere higher. Not exactly sure how high, exactly, was little distracted. We may have rolled once but I was in IMC so who knows except the gyro ended up tumbling.

Fuck that.