HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- Twenty-five years ago, when the towers fell on that clear September morning, the blueprint of modern American military power was transformed. In response to the attacks on 9/11, the U.S. deployed specialized Air Force Special Operations Command personnel, otherwise known as Air Commandos.
“Prior to September 11th, the joint force largely viewed AFSOC through a utility lens,” explained Col. Clayton Schuety, the 1st Special Operations Wing deputy commander. “We were the specialized, precision instrument called upon for rapid crisis response and short-duration contingency operations. We were the break glass in case of emergency force.”
Following the attacks, while recovery efforts were still underway at Ground Zero, AFSOC rapidly deployed AC-130H gunships for precision strike and direct action in combat. Special Tactics units were revolutionized in a new way, integrating into heavy combat and embedding with joint-force Special Operations Forces and conventional units.
In the following two decades, Air Commandos answered their nations call. AFSOC rapidly scaled remotely-piloted aircraft like the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper airframes for strike and surveillance operations. This transition marked a large-scale armed overwatch advantage that Air Commandos provided to the joint force.
The Global War on Terror continued to push AFSOC toward new solutions, and eventually, evolution. The force replaced legacy airframes with the MC-130J Commando II, CV-22B Osprey, and U-28A Draco, enabling new reconnaissance technologies and high-speed, long-range personnel and equipment insertion. It also transitioned from the AC-130H to the AC-130J Ghostrider, strengthening strike capability through standoff precision effects.
Afghanistan marked the beginning of sustained, lengthy and high-tempo combat that fundamentally reshaped not only AFSOC itself, but how the command was viewed.
“The crucible of the post 9/11 campaigns changed AFSOC’s dynamic entirely,” Schuety explained. “When joint leadership saw our Air Commandos infiltrating the most hostile, austere environments, integrating airpower directly with ground maneuvers, and establishing immediate command and control, we cemented our strategic utility to the joint force. The demand for specialized air power grew from rapid response to persistent presence and campaigning.”
But the transformation of AFSOC came at a cost, as Air Commandos spent two decades carrying out high-risk missions and facing the challenges that came with them.
“Twenty-five years ago, our nation was attacked by violent extremists who sought to break us,” said a Sept. 11 Pentagon attack survivor during Hurlburt Field’s 25th annual 9/11 remembrance ceremony. “They failed, because ordinary Americans, military, civilians and first responders stood up, went forward, and served.”
“AFSOC, along with the rest of United States Special Operations Command, bore the brunt of the 20-year-long Global War on Terrorism,” said the survivor. “You deployed, you lost teammates, you carried the counterterrorism mission that killed or captured the perpetrators of 9/11 and continue to prevent another major attack on our homeland.”
AFSOC continues to adapt to modern warfare by shifting focus from permissive counterinsurgency environments to high-end, contested battlefields, implementing agile combat employment, unmanned aerial vehicle swarms and modernized infiltration platforms.
Today, AFSOC applies the lessons learned during GWOT to address ever-changing global security challenges. The legacy of the post-9/11 response endures not only in historical records, but in the continuous readiness, precision, and operational standards upheld by Air Commandos around the world.