Air Force Special Ops

Where military readiness means anytime, any place

The MH-53 Pave Low is used for undetected, low level operations

By Wayne Drash
CNN.com Senior Editor

HURLBURT FIELD, Florida (CNN) -- "We're always ready. It takes a lot of work, but everybody's ready at all times," said Master Sgt. Paul Pippin, a supervisor of maintenance for Air Force Special Operations Command, otherwise known by the acronym AFSOC.

"At AFSOC, you deal with readiness on a daily basis."

Pippin, a 22-year veteran, stands in front of an MH-53 -- the Pave Low helicopter that has operated in the United States military since the Vietnam War. At rest, it resembles a tired locust, its rotors drooping, while maintenance teams run checks to make sure all systems are functioning properly.

Maintenance hangar at Hurlburt Field

At a hangar nearby, a giant American flag hangs on the wall. Above it, bold letters read: "Never underestimate Pave Low maintenance!"

Welcome to Hurlburt Field, the headquarters of AFSOC, one of the U.S. military's elite forces whose commandos are currently deployed in 20 countries, a cadre of Special Ops fighters who can be called away on a moment's notice. When two U.S. aircraft were shot down over Yugoslavia during NATO's air campaign in 1999, Special Ops swooped into enemy territory and brought the downed pilots back safely.

While other branches of the service have struggled to maintain recruiting, training and re-enlistment rates, AFSOC has managed to keep pace with those goals in almost all areas -- an impressive feat, considering the private sector is attracting many potential enlistees and luring away veterans.

"Anything that goes on around the world, we're probably going to have at least a minor role in it," said Lt. Gen. Clay Bailey, the commander of AFSOC, which is composed of about 12,500 active-duty, reserve and civilian personnel. "Our people really very much respond to that, too."

"I think that if you look at what keeps our numbers for retention and things like that a little higher than what we see in the rest of the services, (it) is the pride that the people have in what they do, and to have a fairly narrow mission focus."

The issue of military readiness has taken on a political overtone in recent months, with Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush exchanging sharp words on the topic. Both candidates agree that the U.S. military is the world’s strongest, but they differ on foreign policy issues.

How does a seasoned fighter view the current political debates about military readiness?

"The use of military force is one of the most serious decisions that a U.S. president has to make, and it's certainly a logical part of the political debate," said Bailey, a three-star general who has moved 24 times in his 31 years of service. "How you would intend to use military force as president … is a very important thing for the candidates to talk about."

Success has price

Special Ops' apparent success can be traced to a bottom-line fact: It is well-funded. Recently established programs have given pay raises and bonuses to its personnel, and changes to the retirement system have made it more equitable to all, Bailey said.

AFSOC gets about $1 billion annually from U.S. Special Operations Command and another $260 million from the U.S. Air Force. That kind of cash allows pilots and their crews to get daily training to maintain combat readiness. The funds also allow for new construction projects to help improve the quality of life on base: Hurlburt Field has trimmed ball fields, a top-notch gymnasium, a grocery store, a convenience store, restaurants, housing and a hotel on base, to name a few amenities.

The Air Force also has increased funding for spare aircraft parts in the last two years, and "that's starting to show up in the flight line now," Bailey said.

Special Ops last year also closed a station in Italy, where about 10 percent of its workforce was stationed to support operations in the Balkans. Closing that location, Bailey said, has helped consolidate resources.

"As you bring those guys home … your readiness goes up," Bailey said. "We're in pretty good shape in Air Force Special Operations Command. In fact, I would say that we are having unprecedented high rates of our mission capability with all of our aircraft."

In civilian-speak: Special Ops is ready for almost anything. That's important in a business where no one is getting rich.

"The military is fun," said Chuck Horner, who commanded the U.S. and Allied air assault in the Gulf War in 1991. "You don't mind the hardships if you're combat ready."

An Air Force general, Horner retired in 1994 and lives near Hurlburt on the Florida panhandle. He sees, up close, the difference esprit de corps makes.

"You saw it out at Hurlburt," he said. "They feel they're really ready to go to war tomorrow, and that gives you a feeling of confidence."

But warriors have feelings, too, he said. A lack of cash can chip away at morale, with predictably depressing results.

"But what happens … where you don't have any money to go to the rifle range, and then you're bitching at people about missing their dental appointments," Horner said. "Well, pretty soon a guy will say, 'Hey, I didn't join up to paint rocks. I joined up to stick my bayonet in people.'"

Retaining the journeymen

C-130 Hercules aircraft are configured for a variety of special operations missions

Yet all is not perfect at Hurlburt, where mechanics struggle to keep an aging fleet combat-ready. The typical Pave Low helicopter dates back to the Nixon administration; the agency's workhorse C-130 aircraft often are older than the people who maintain them.

In 2004, a new craft, the CV-22 Osprey, is scheduled to begin phasing out Special Ops' fleet of aged Pave Lows over a three-year period, Bailey said. Tilt-rotor machines, the Ospreys will give commandos double the speed and range of the current helicopters. They also will more than double the inventory of rotor crafts here: 50 CV-22s are to be delivered in place of the 19 H-53s at Hurlburt, said Bailey.

"I see improvement kind of in every place that I look," Bailey said. "Would I like to do it faster? Sure, I'd like to do it faster, but I think the right programs are in place."

One area where Hurlburt officials want to see improvement is in retaining its "wrench-turners" and other specialized mid-level journeymen mechanics. Their ranks have sloped off over the last 10 years, while the number of younger, less skilled workers has significantly increased.

That means people are working harder, longer and doing jobs that a more senior person should do.

It also creates a labor-pool ripple effect, said Chief Master Sgt. Patricia Finney, AFSOC's aircraft maintenance functional manager.

Senior-level workers, such as master sergeants, "are having to go out and work the aircraft more; they don't have as much time to train those unskilled workers," said Finney.

Does that imperil missions? "No, because everybody just works harder," she said. "You see 10 Pave Low helicopters take off at one time, (and) the pride you feel inside makes you want to work harder."

Personnel improvements are on the horizon, so long as Special Ops retains its current group of younger, less experienced workers, say officials. In two years, the force should be well stocked again with mid-level maintenance workers who have risen from the ranks of the unskilled.

"(E)ventually, we will be back to where we were 10 years ago," Finney said. "We don't want to go back to when they took away the bonuses and there were no incentives coming into the Air Force. We want to keep these guys."

Back at the airstrip, the Vietnam-era bird casts a wide shadow as the hot Florida sun beats down. Pippin, the master sergeant whose job is to make sure they stay air-ready, never tires of watching the machines rise and thump away into the distance.

"It always feels great," he said, "but I'm kind of different -- I'm an old timer."