MC-130J Combat Talon II

AFSOC Retires the MC-130H Combat Talon II

April 12, 2023 Guest 0

By Capt. Jantzen Floate, AFSOC. On April 2, the final MC-130H Combat Talon ll made its last flight, arriving at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona to retire at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG). This aircraft was the […]

MC-130J Commando II

193rd SOW Welcomes New Aircraft and Mission

February 23, 2023 Guest 0

By Master Sgt. Alexander Farver. The first MC-130J Commando II aircraft arrived at Middletown, Pa., Feb 2, 2023, achieving a major milestone in the 193rd Special Operations Wing’s mission conversion. The 193 SOW is the first, and currently the only, Air […]

Video AC-130J Ghostrider

Video – AC-130J Ghostrider in Balikatan 21

April 29, 2021 SOF News 0

A video shows an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship participating in Exercise Balikatan 21 in the Philippines. The crew from the 73rd Special Operations Squadron out of Hurlburt Field, Florida conduct an aerial refueling and then proceed to fire their onboard 105mm […]

160th SOAR helicopter crash

160th SOAR Helicopter Crash – Two Fatalities

August 29, 2020 SOF News 0

On Thursday, August 27, 2020 a helicopter crash claimed the lives of two members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Three others were injured in the crash. The aircraft belonged to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR). Sgt. […]

Faraday Field 19-1 UK SOF maritime exercise

Exercise Faraday Field 19-1 – UK SOF

January 26, 2019 Pat Carty 0

Despite SOF aircrews having recently taken part in an actual SOF insertion onto a ship where SOF troops captured illegal immigrants holding the crew of a ship captive, UK Special Forces aircrew have just completed yet another major week-long SF […]

Video Afghan UH-60

Video Afghan UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopters

March 31, 2018 SOF News 0

Video Afghan UH-60 Black Hawks – A short (one minute long) video has been produced by the media folks at Resolute Support Headquarters in Afghanistan promoting the progress of the fielding program of the helicopters that are replacing the Mi-17 […]

ATAC Video - Afghan Tactical Air Coordinator (ATAC) trainee of the 203rd ANA Corps at FOB Thunder in Gardez, Afghanistan trains with Afghan Air Force (AAF) A-29 Super Tucanos. (Photo from RS HQ video, 28 Jul 2017).

Video – Afghan Tactical Air Coordinator (ATACs)

July 28, 2017 SOF News 0

ATAC Video – This three-minute long ATAC video describes the training that Afghan Tactical Air Coordinators (ATACs) go through to become certified to call in close air support missions for troops in contact or for ground operations. Their training is […]

4-319th Artillery in Latvia conducting fire support training in winter of 2016 (photo Department of Defense)

Defense and National Security News

January 6, 2017 SOF News 0

National Security and Defense News – JSTARS, Syria, Iran, Iraq, fixing the Navy, fighting terrorism, counterinsurgency, state-building, foreign policy, and more. JSTARS Over the Middle East. One reporter, Eric Schmitt, recently spent some time with the Air Force visiting a […]

Niloofar Rahmani, first female fixed-wing pilot in the Afghan Air Force. (Photo from video by Ryan M. Harper, Navy Media, 11 Mar 2015.)

Afghan War News Update

December 27, 2016 SOF News 0

Afghan war news update for 20161227 – Afghanistan has lots of generals, video of C-130J capabilities, Iran and Russia encircling U.S. in Afghanistan, video – “Bagram Airfield: 2016 Year in Review”, the downside of NDS funding “uprising militias”, and more. […]

MC 130J Commando II Loadmaster (USAF photo by 1LT Chris Sullivan)

MC-130J Commando II – Loadmaster Profile

November 3, 2016 SOF News 0

A MC 130J Commando II Loadmaster has a difficult and interesting job. The Air Force has several MC-130J Commando II aircraft based at Royal Air Force Midenhall, England. These aircraft (and their crews) perform a variety of special operations missions […]