Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation and is home to Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), the 1st Special Operations Wing (1 SOW), the USAF Special Operations School (USAFSOS) and the Air Combat Command's (ACC) 505th Command and Control Wing. It was named for First Lieutenant Donald Wilson Hurlburt, who died in a crash at Eglin. The installation is nearly 6,700 acres (27 km2) and employs nearly 8,000 military personnel.
Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida, is the special operations component of the United States Air Force. An Air Force major command (MAJCOM), AFSOC is also the U.S. Air Force component command to United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), a unified combatant command located at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. AFSOC provides all Air Force Special Operations Forces (SOF) for worldwide deployment and assignment to regional unified combatant commands.
Randall Mark Schmidt was a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force.
Duke Field, also known as Eglin AFB Auxiliary Field #3, is a military airport located three miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Crestview, in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States.
The 21st Special Operations Squadron is a unit within the 353rd Special Operations Wing, United States Air Force based at Yokota Air Base, Japan. The unit has been activated and inactivated a number of times in its history. Prior to October 2007 it was with the 352nd Special Operations Group, United States Air Force, United States European Command, and based at Royal Air Force base RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, England.
Norton Allan Schwartz is a retired United States Air Force general who served as the 19th Chief of Staff of the Air Force from 12 August 2008, until his retirement in 2012. He previously served as commander, United States Transportation Command from September 2005 to August 2008. He is currently the president and CEO of the Institute for Defense Analyses, serving since 2 January 2020.
Lieutenant General Robert J. "Bob" Elder Jr. is the former Commander, 8th Air Force; Commander, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana; and Commander, Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike, U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, Nebraska. He is now a member of the research faculty at George Mason University. As one of three active-duty numbered air forces in Air Combat Command, 8th Air Force provides long-range global strike, battle management, surveillance and reconnaissance, intelligence, information operations, tactical air control, and expeditionary heavy construction capabilities to combatant commanders. The "Mighty Eighth" also conducted computer network operations as the Air Force component to the Joint Task Force for Global Network Operations before that duty was transferred to 24th Air Force, and trains Air and Space Operations Center personnel for worldwide deployment and participation in the multinational Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment.
Richard Hastings Ellis was a United States Air Force general who served as the commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command and director of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff with headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. He was also director of the Joint Strategic Connectivity Staff.
Charles R. Holland is a retired United States Air Force general who served as the commander of United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. As commander, he was responsible for all special operations forces across every branch in the U.S. Armed Forces. Currently, Holland is the first and the only member of the U.S. Air Force to serve as commander of USSOCOM, and the only SOCOM commander without the experience as a special operator.
Lieutenant General Donald C. Wurster is a retired United States Air Force officer who served as Commander, Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The command is a major command of the United States Air Force and the Air Force component of United States Special Operations Command. AFSOC provides Air Force Special Operations Forces for worldwide deployment and assignment to unified combatant commanders. The command has approximately 12,900 active-duty, Reserve, Air National Guard and civilian professionals.
The 919th Special Operations Wing is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) unit of the United States Air Force. The 919 SOW is assigned to the Tenth Air Force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and is stationed at Duke Field, Florida.
Major General Garrett Harencak is the commander of the U.S. Air Force Recruiting Service. Previously, he served as the assistant chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, Headquarters U. S. Air Force. Prior this position, Harencak served as commander of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC), Air Force Materiel Command at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The AFNWC is responsible for the entire scope of U.S. Air Force nuclear weapons support functions and in addition to its headquarters at Kirtland, comprises several other units in the U.S and abroad.
Ernest Thorpe Cragg was a major general in the United States Air Force.
Brigadier General Cary C. Chun is a retired senior officer of the United States Air Force. He served as the Deputy Commander, Operations and Interagency Integration, Joint Functional Component Command for Space, United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), and the Director for Mission Operations, National Reconnaissance Office. In this role, he led all Department of Defense space forces aligned with USSTRATCOM and provided tailored, responsive, local and global effects in support of national, USSTRATCOM and combatant commander objectives. As Director for Mission Operations, he led operations for all NRO overhead reconnaissance systems, ground stations, operational communications, and the operations center used to conduct intelligence activities essential for the national security of the United States and its allies.
Marshall Bradley "Brad" Webb is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant general who last served as commander of the Air Education and Training Command. He previously served as Commander, United States Air Force Special Operations Command and, before that, as Commander, NATO Special Operations Forces HQ. Previous to that assignment, he served as the Assistant Commanding General of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and was involved in the 2011 operation to kill Osama bin Laden. Webb was seated next to President Barack Obama in the White House Situation Room during the mission. He later served as Director of Plans, Programs, Requirements, and Assessments, United States Air Force Special Operations Command.
Major General Paul A. Weaver Jr. is a retired United States Air Force officer who served as the director of the Air National Guard from 28 January 1998 to 3 December 2001. His pilot career started in 1967 as an F-4E pilot in West Germany. He also served at Osan Air Base, South Korea, and the Republic of Korea Tiger Division, Camp Red Cloud, Korea. He served as the air commander for the New York Air National Guard, and was responsible for the largest conversion in the history of the Air National Guard, at 105th Airlift Group, Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York. Under his command, the 105th Airlift Group converted from the Air Force's smallest aircraft, the 0-2 Skymaster, to the largest aircraft, the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy. He also oversaw the largest military construction project in the history of the Reserve Forces, the construction of Stewart Air National Guard Base.
Lieutenant General Eric E. Fiel is a retired United States Air Force officer who served as commander of Air Force Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014. The command is the Air Force component of United States Special Operations Command. AFSOC provides Air Force special operations forces for worldwide deployment and assignment to unified combatant commanders. The command has approximately 16,000 active-duty, Reserve, Air National Guard and civilian professionals.
John B. Cooper is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant general who most recently served as the Air Force deputy chief of staff for logistics, engineering and force protection. During his 35-year career, he served in various assignments involving munitions, aircraft maintenance and logistics.
Scott Alan Howell is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Air Force, who most recently served as the 15th commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. He previously served as the vice commander United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) in Washington, D.C., where he planned, coordinated, and executed USSOCOM initiatives with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, military services, and other government agencies.
Matthew Wolfe Davidson is a United States Air Force major general who serves as the commander of the Second Air Force. He previously served as the deputy director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency from 2023 to 2024.
