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The 720th Special Tactics Group is a component of the United States Air Force under the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The 720th Special Tactics Group (STG) is an integral part of the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and is home-based at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The Group consists of more than 800 Special Tactics (ST) combat controllers (CCT), pararescuemen (PJs), special operations weathermen (SOWT) and support personnel. The 720th Special Tactics Group is responsible for all Special Tactics personnel and consists of six operational squadrons and numerous supporting organizations.
There are several types of USAF special operations personnel, they are: Combat Controllers (CCTs), Pararescuemen (PJs, AKA Pararescue Jumpers or Parajumpers), Special Operations Weather Technicians (SOWT), Combat Rescue Officers (CROs) which are the officer version of PJ's, and Special Tactics Officers (STOs) which are the officer version of CCT's. CROs and PJs share a separate pipeline from STOs and CCTs (who also share a pipeline). SOWT personnel do not attend either the Pararescue or CCT pipeline, but attend a separate weather school and receive Basic Airborne qualification from the U.S. Army's Airborne School at Ft. Benning.
They typically operate in close cooperation with other special operations units, such as the Marine Corps Force Recon, Army Rangers, Army Special Forces, and Navy SEALs. Air Force Special Operations has the highest training dropout rate in the entire U.S. military Special Operations community-8 out of 10 who begin training don't graduate.
Airmen from the 720th Special Tactics Group out of Hurlburt Field, Fla., jump out of a
C-130J Hercules aircraft during water rescue training over the Destin coastline.
The 720th STG organizes, trains and equips ST forces worldwide to integrate, synchronize, and/or control the elements of air and space power in the area of operations. It also provides long-range operational and logistics planning, and deploys command and control elements during special tactics force employment or deployment. 720th STG are specifically organized, trained and equipped to execute a myriad of Special Operations missions to enhance air operations deep in enemy territory. They conduct personnel recovery missions, collect intelligence and provide terminal guidance for attacks against valuable enemy targets.
[edit] Combat Control
Combat Control beret flash
The Air Force combat controllers(CCT) are Battlefield Airmen assigned to special tactics squadrons. Combat controllers are certified FAA air traffic controllers. The mission of a combat controller is to deploy, undetected, into combat and hostile environments to establish assault zones or airfields, while simultaneously conducting air traffic control, fire support, command and control, direct action, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, humanitarian assistance and special reconnaissance in the joint arena.[1] [2]
Air Force Combat Controllers make a call to aircraft using their radios after having penetrated a Florida shoreline with tactical underwater breathing equipment during a training event.
[edit] Training
Combat controllers are one of the most highly trained units in the U.S. military. They maintain air traffic control qualification skills throughout their careers; many qualify and maintain currency in joint terminal attack control procedures, in addition to other special operations skills. Their 35-week training and unique mission skills earn them the right to wear the scarlet beret. The overall training period before graduation takes approximately 2 years-it's been informally referred to in the SpecOps community as Superman School.[citation needed]
Combat Control Orientation Course at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas is a two-week orientation course that focuses on sports physiology, nutrition, basic exercises, CCT history and fundamentals. Combat Control Operator Course at Keesler AFB, Mississippi is 15 ½ -week course that teaches aircraft recognition and performance, air navigation aids, weather, airport traffic control, flight assistance service, communication procedures, conventional approach control, radar procedures and air traffic rules. This is the same course that all Air Force air traffic controllers attend and is the heart of a combat controller's job. U.S. Army Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia is a three-week course teaches basic parachuting skills required to infiltrate an objective area by static line airdrop. CCT attend U.S. Army Military Free Fall Parachutist School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona. This course instructs trainees in free fall parachuting procedures. The five-week course provides wind tunnel training, in-air instruction focusing on student stability, aerial maneuvers, air sense, parachute opening procedures and parachute canopy control. U.S. Air Force Basic Survival School in Fairchild AFB, Washington is a two-and-a-half-week course teaches basic survival techniques for remote areas. Instruction includes principles, procedures, equipment and techniques, which enables individuals to survive, regardless of climatic conditions or unfriendly environments and return home. The Combat Control School in Pope AFB, North Carolina is a 13-week course provides final CCT qualifications. Training includes physical training, small unit tactics, land navigation, communications, assault zones, demolitions, fire support and field operations including parachuting. At the completion of this course, each graduate is awarded the 3-skill level (journeymen), scarlet beret and CCT flash. Special Tactics Advanced Skills Training(AST) at Hurlburt Field, is a 11-to-12-month program for newly assigned combat controller operators. AST produces mission-ready operators for the Air Force and United States Special Operations Command. The AST schedule is broken down into three phases: formal training, core skills, and operational readiness. The course tests the trainee's personal limits through demanding mental and physical training. Combat controllers become combat divers at the U.S. Air Force Combat Divers School in Panama City, Florida. The CCT are taught to use scuba and closed circuit diving equipment to covertly infiltrate denied areas. The four-week course provides training to depths of 130 feet, stressing development of maximum underwater mobility under various operating conditions.
[edit] Pararescue
Pararescuemen (AFSC 1T2X1) are special operators who perform the combat search and rescue mission, typically of (but not limited to) downed pilots. They are both trained, and able to fight, with virtually any special operations unit and are paramedics on the battlefield.
In addition to some of the initial training listed above, they must first pass a ten week indoctrination course. The goal of the indoctrination is to weed out all of those who are not physically and mentally fit enough to be pararescuemen. A 24-week Paramedic Course at Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, New Mexico to attain EMT-Paramedic certification, a 20-week Pararescue Recovery Specialist Course (for integrating what they have learned in the pipe-line training; i.e. combat tactics, advanced parachuting, helicopter insertion and extraction, mountaineering, and field tactics training), U.S. Air Force Combat Dive Course in Panama City, Florida (open and closed circuit), and Underwater Egress Training at Spokane, Washington.
Their motto is "That Others May Live".
They wear maroon berets. The green feet originated in Vietnam due to a tradition of calling the rescue helicopters used "The Jolly Green Giant". These Pararescuemen are affectionately referred to as "PJ's" or "Para Jumpers".
[edit] Special Operations Weather Technician
Special Operations Weather Technicians (special duty AFSC 1W0X1C) are airmen that gather and interpret meteorological and oceanographic information, as well as act as forward ground combatants. Their primary mission is collecting and disseminating forward observations in denied, hostile or otherwise data-sparse regions. They are a critical element in mission planning and work mostly with Army Special Operations. Recruits must score high to meet the entrance score requirement, and must already be in the weather career field.
In addition to weather technical school and the initial training listed up top, selected trainees attend the final two phases of AFSOC Advanced Skills Training which includes modes of employment, weapons training, small unit tactics, advanced communication, navigation, et al.
SOWT is an acronym referring alternately to both Special Operations Weather Technician and Special Operations Weather Team.
Their motto is "Coela Bellatores" or "Weather Warriors". They can be identified by their gray berets.
[edit] Officer Units
[edit] Special Tactics Officer (STO)
Special Tactics Officers (AFSC 13DXB), formerly known as Combat Control Officers, are commissioned officers whose primary responsibility is to manage and lead Special Tactics Teams (STTs) consisting of, but not limited to, the three AFSCs specified above. Because their training mirrors that of the CCT pipeline, they can function on a team as mission commander or direct combatant or they can serve on battle staffs to provide expertise in terminal control, reconnaissance, and personnel recovery operations.
[edit] Combat Rescue Officer (CRO)
In 2000 the Air Force, recognizing the importance of the personnel recovery/combat search and rescue mission, created the Combat Rescue Officer career field (AFSC 13DXA). CROs are commissioned officers whose primary duties are to lead PR/CSAR operations as direct combatants, provide advocacy for the Pararescue & SERE Specialist programs, and serve on battle staffs to provide expertise to commanders and facilitate command and control during rescue and recovery operations. Their training pipeline mirrors that of the Pararescue pipeline (minus the in-depth field medicine and Paramedic level training a "PJ" receives) in order to understand Pararescue capabilities. CROs also attend advanced SERE training as well as various command and control courses that focus on PR/CSAR operations.
[edit] Unit Formations
- Combat Control Teams, or CCTs, consist of Combat Controllers in the role of extending the Air Force's operational reach.
- Special Operations Weather Teams or SOWT, are Special Operations Weather Technicians attached to Army Special Forces, Rangers, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) (SOAR), or operating on their own. (They are not to be confused with Combat Weather Teams or CWTs that provide meteorological support to conventional Army units without a ground combatant role.)
- Special Tactics Teams, or STTs, consist of airmen from the three aforementioned careers: combat control, pararescue and SOWT. This formation allows the unit to operate as a self-sufficient unit in the commando role.
