Back
to Articles|
Back
to Articles |
|
|
Released: Jun 18, 1997
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFNS) -- When Air Force special operators at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., met the top enlisted man for the first time, they didn't just tell him about their jobs. Instead, they asked Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Eric W. Benken to board an aircraft and jump out with them from 12,500 feet.
It was Benken's first parachute jump and he made "a perfect landing" in tandem with Staff Sgt. Greg Pittman of the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, said Chief Master Sgt. Michael C. Reynolds, the http://www.hurlburt.af.mil">Air Force Special Operations Command senior enlisted adviser. Reynolds escorted Benken on a tour of special forces units at Pope and nearby Fort Bragg recently.
Besides the sheer thrill of the jump, Benken said he sees a parallel in the confidence he had in Pittman at more than two miles above Earth and the trust he puts in any other airman anywhere in the force.
"My life was literally in his hands," said Benken, "but there was never a doubt in my mind that I was safe with him."
Benken said that people all over the Air Force are putting their lives in the hands of others each day, a facet of the service that he thinks is particularly special.
"It's something that our people -- aircraft maintainers, medical personnel, fire and rescue specialists, and aircrews, to name a few -- do every day, and it's a very important aspect of our lives as members of the armed forces. That trust and confidence in one another is the very reason we hold ourselves to a higher standard."
Pittman and Staff Sgt. Jeff Bray, who jumped with Benken's special assistant Tech. Sgt. Shelina E. Frey, along with three other tandem masters in the squadron, usually jump with some 650 pounds of supplies, ammunition and equipment -- everything a special forces team needs on a mission.
"We only carry people on special occasions, to show off our capabilities," said Bray, who also is an advanced training instructor at Pope. The jump, he said, didn't impose the usual risks special operators face. For instance, it was daytime jump (they normally jump at night); the landing was in a well established area (usually they land in water or some other hostile environment); and there was never any question of coming back alive.
With the changing nature of war and the battlefields of the future, AFSOC is becoming an increasingly larger part of the U.S. warfighting mix. Benken's week with the command gave him a glimpse of how AFSOC trains for that important mission.
"The people of AFSOC are the quiet professionals of the Air Force," Benken said. "So much of what they do, in training and in war, is classified, and so few people know what they do, or where or how they do it. It was a great experience for me to see first hand what these men and women do to train. It's important that we know they are out there quietly serving their nation with tremendous pride and professionalism."
Bray and Pittman are combat controllers, special air traffic controllers who work in concert with pararescue specialists who are special emergency medical technicians. These special forces airmen have one of the highest operations tempo in the command and the Air Force, primarily because they are few in number. During his visit, Benken promised to seek ways the Air Force can recruit more people for special forces. Currently, Air Force Special Operations Command has only 74 percent of the pararescue specialists and only 79 percent of the combat controllers it needs.
"Everyone knows about the Navy SEALs and Army special forces, but few people know about our guys," said Reynolds.
The Air Force recruits most of its combat controllers and pararescuemen during basic military training at Lackland AFB, Texas. The physical and mental demands are so tough, about 80 percent of those who volunteer wash out of the program, Reynolds said.
"The chief promised to see if Air Force can reach people in high schools and junior colleges so they can become fit before they enter basic training," said Reynolds.
During the past year, special forces airmen spent some 200 days deployed to places such as Bosnia, Liberia, Croatia and Somalia. Last week, they were in the Congo to help evacuate 56 people and a dog from the U.S. Embassy in Brazzaville.
Benken talked to some 600 airmen during his three-day visit, which also included a brief stop at the 2nd Special Operations Flight at Robins AFB, Ga.
"He was very impressed with the entire visit and the positive, can-do attitudes of the men and women with these special units," said Reynolds.
|
|
|
Back
to Articles |