1 - The Black Vault

PRAETORIAN STARSHIP
of 1994, all 24 aircraft had been delivered to
AFSOC. Late in 1994 the first AC-130U gunship
was delivered to the 16th SOW, with the remaining
12 aircraft scheduled for delivery over the
next 24 months. As the new aircraft were delivered
to Hurlburt Field, the need for a second US
base intensified. While AFSOC experienced significant
growth as a command, gunship and
Combat Talon support to the war-fighting CINCs
actually declined during the same period. This
decline was due, in part, to the heavy modifica -
tion schedule for the MC-130E CT I and due to
the loss of two AC-130H gunships. From 1985 to
1994 from four to six CT Is were at LAS Ontario
undergoing extensive modifications (SOF-I,
MOD-90, center-wing replacement, etc.) at any
given time. With an average of eight aircraft
available, the 1st and 7th SOS averaged two aircraft
each on-station, while the 8th SOS averaged
four CT Is to fulfill its operational and formal
school training commitments.
With only eight gunships available for the
latter part of the period, 16th SOS aircrew and
maintenance personnel were tasked at an extremely
high rate to fill contingency requirements
in overseas locations including Panama,
Southwest Asia, Somalia, and Bosnia. The original
basing plan for the AC-130U had the older
AC-130H aircraft transferring to the Air Force
Reserves at Duke Field (an airfield located in
the Eglin AFB range complex) and the aging
AC-130A gunships being retired. With continuing
commitments to Southwest Asia across the
Air Force, the number of days that Air Force
personnel were away from home station on temporary
duty became a major concern. Consequently,
Air Staff established the standard for
maximum annual TDY as 120 days, a number
that was not attainable in the gunship community.
To help reduce the active duty gunship
TDY rate, AFSOC readdressed the decision to
put the AC-130H in the Air Force Reserve.*
General Fister had tasked his plans division in
1993 to develop the Commando Vision strategy.
Throughout early 1994 the plan was refined, and
by early summer it was ready to be briefed to the
SOF community. General Hobson assumed command
of AFSOC on 22 July 1994, and it fell to
him the difficult task of gaining theater support
for the plan. On 25 August 1994 senior leadership
in the 16th SOW was briefed on Commando Vision.
For the remainder of the fall, the AFSOC
staff briefed senior leaders both in the United
States and abroad on the proposal.
In the formal briefing Commando Vision was
identified as a plan for the future to efficiently
posture the active forces and to make the best
use of assets assigned to the Air Force Reserve
and Air National Guard. Demands for SOF had
continued to increase over the years, and future
projections confirmed that the trend would continue.
To better support the theater CINCs, Commando
Vision would first require a reduction in
the overseas units and a repositioning of some of
the US force. The war-fighting CINCs would all
benefit from Commando Vision through enhanced
gunship availability, by a more potent
mix of assets overseas, and from enhanced flexibility
in projecting power. Commando Vision
would also posture Air Force SOF for future
growth. Although the concept had been staffed by
Headquarters AFSOC, critical issues such as the
location of a second SOF wing in the United
States and improvements required at Duke Field
to support the CT I were not known by the close
of the year. Commando Vision promised better
support to theater CINCs, but AFSOC faced a
difficult challenge convincing them to embrace
the plan and to gain their approva l. 119
At Hurlburt Field the rapid expansion of SOF
in the early 1990s quickly outstripped the existing
base infrastructure, thus requiring a massive
military construction program that ran into
the hundreds of millions of dollars. Even with
the new construction, space to expand was limited
due to wetlands surrounding the main
base. The need for a second operating base in
the United States was apparent. When Forward
Look was finalized in the late 1980s, it included
a West Coast wing located at McClellan AFB,
California. When CINCMAC made the decision
to divest AFSOC of rescue forces, the California
base was assigned to the newly created Air Rescue
Service. Commando Vision called for the establishment
of a SOF West Coast wing that
would be oriented towards the Pacific but would
also support SOUTHCOM and JSOC. The existing
East Coast wing (the 16th SOW) would con -
tinue to be oriented towards the remaining
theater CINCs and would also support the national
JSOC mission.
__________
*The decision was ultimately made to keep both the AC-130H and the AC-130U weapons systems on active duty, and to transfer eight MC-130E
Combat Talon I aircraft and five HC-130P/N Shadows to the 919th SOW at Duke Field. Thus, establishment of a second US-based SOF wing, active
duty/Reserve force structure changes, and war-fighting CINC support were all addressed in 1994 when Headquarters AFSOC unveiled its plan for
the future—Commando Vision.
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