The Special Air Warfare Symposium kicked off Tuesday, February 10, 2026 at Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The venue was at the Fort Walton Beach Convention Center. The host hotel for the event is The Island Resort just a short walk from the convention center. This event is one of several that the Global SOF Foundation runs in the United States and around the world. The day began with registration for attendees, speakers, and exhibitors. This was a quick and efficient quick process for those that registered ahead of time online.
The “SOF for Life” Transition Workshop was briefed to a large number of active duty personnel nearing the end of their careers. Today’s session, lasting several hours, provided some key advice to soon-to-separated service members from the nearby military communities on making the transition to civilian life. Topics ranged from checking out new careers, financial aspects of civilian life, and more. Surita Rorie provided information on the “SOF for Life” program of the Global SOF Foundation. Bill White of The Honor Foundation, explained to the military audience the transitioning opportunities to service members in the Eglin / Hurburt area. Other speakers gave insight and advice on financial readiness, leveraging military experience for business success, and life after a career in special operations.
Photo: A representative of the Global SOF Foundation’s “SOF for Life” program, Surita Rorie, briefing military members at the Special Air Warfare Symposium. Photo by Agnes Wojnar, Multimedia Manager, Global SOF Foundation.
The next event of the day was the GSOF Aviation & ISR Committee Meeting. MajGen USMC (Ret) Mark “Droopy” Clark provided the opening comments. David Yost of ManTech provided an informative briefing on how industry can work with USSOCOM to fill some future capability gaps – with a focus on “contested logistics”. A representative from NATO provided a briefing on how NATO SOF is integrating new technologies such as drones and thermal camouflage into exercises. He provided some details on the Bold Adra 25 exercise held in Estonia in October 2025 and the upcoming Bold Adra 26 exercise to be held this coming fall in the Balkans.
The last event was a Classified Brief of Capability Gaps for Industry. This was for a limited audience and required a security clearance.
Day One of SAWS 2026 ended with a symposium Welcome Reception on the sixth floor of the “Beach House” of The Island Resort. This catered event provided an excellent opportunity for networking, socializing, catching up with old friends, and making new ones. The location offered a spectacular view of the ocean.
Day One was time for traveling to the event, registration, and exhibition setup. Days Two and Three are coming up with speaker presentations, panels, and the vendor exhibits!
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Top Photo: The host hotel for the 2026 Special Air Warfare Symposium was The Island Resort. View from the “Beach House” of the hotel. Photo credit – Editor, SOF News.
More articles are coming about the 2026 Special Air Warfare Symposium.
