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        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders   A 354th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft takes off in front of two 321st Special Tactics Squadron combat controllers during an austere landing training exercise at Nowe Miasto, Poland, July 20, 2015. The 321st STS combat controllers ground air traffic control for the A-10 pilots during the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Luke Kitterman)A 354th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft takes off in front of two 321st Special Tactics Squadron combat controllers during an austere landing training exercise at Nowe Miasto, Poland, July 20, 2015. The 321st STS combat controllers ground air traffic control for the A-10 pilots during the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Luke Kitterman)
                
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 Combat Controllers**Mission**
Air Force Special Operations Command's combat controllers are battlefield Airmen assigned to special tactics squadrons. They are trained special operations forces and certified FAA air traffic controllers. The mission of a combat controller is to deploy, undetected, into combat and hostile environments to establish assault zones or airfields, while simultaneously conducting air traffic control, fire support, command and control, direct action, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, humanitarian assistance and special reconnaissance in the joint arena.
Their motto, "First There," reaffirms the combat controller's commitment to undertaking the most dangerous missions behind enemy lines by leading the way for other forces to follow.**Training**
Combat controllers are among the most highly trained personnel in the U.S. military. They maintain air traffic control qualification skills throughout their careers; many qualify and maintain currency in joint terminal attack control procedures, in addition to other special operations skills like infiltration skills and combat diver and demolition qualifications.
Their 35-week training and unique mission skills earn them the right to wear the scarlet beret.Tech. Sgt. Curtis Hinkley, a 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2 instructor, provides instruction to an Estonian tactical air control party (TACP) student enrolled in the Joint Terminal Attack Controller Qualification Course (JTACQC), hosted by the 137th Combat Training Flight (137th CTF) from Will Rogers Air National Guard Base in Oklahoma City, at Razorback Range near Fort Smith, Ark., March 9, 2021. The Estonian TACP is the first to complete the Air Combat Command JTACQC from a NATO Partner Nation since the 137th CTF began welcoming international students. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. Andrew M. LaMoreaux)Tech. Sgt. Curtis Hinkley, a 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2 instructor, provides instruction to an Estonian tactical air control party (TACP) student enrolled in the Joint Terminal Attack Controller Qualification Course (JTACQC), hosted by the 137th Combat Training Flight (137th CTF) from Will Rogers Air National Guard Base in Oklahoma City, at Razorback Range near Fort Smith, Ark., March 9, 2021. The Estonian TACP is the first to complete the Air Combat Command JTACQC from a NATO Partner Nation since the 137th CTF began welcoming international students. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. Andrew M. LaMoreaux)
            
            
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    Pararescuemen and combat controllers from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron prepare for a jump from a 123rd Airlift Wing C-130 Hercules during the Precision Jumpmaster Course held at Camp Atterbury, Ind., May 13, 2020. The course is an upgrade training class for students who have attended formal jumpmaster training before. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Phil Speck)Pararescuemen and combat controllers from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron prepare for a jump from a 123rd Airlift Wing C-130 Hercules during the Precision Jumpmaster Course held at Camp Atterbury, Ind., May 13, 2020. The course is an upgrade training class for students who have attended formal jumpmaster training before. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Phil Speck)
            
            
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    A U.S. Air Force combat controller prepares to contact the special tactics operation center by radio while conducting a drop zone survey in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 24, 2010, during Operation Unified Response. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Jeremy Lock)A U.S. Air Force combat controller prepares to contact the special tactics operation center by radio while conducting a drop zone survey in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 24, 2010, during Operation Unified Response. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Jeremy Lock)
            
            
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**Combat Control Selection Course, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas**
This two-week orientation course focuses on sports physiology, nutrition, basic exercises, CCT history and fundamentals. **Combat Control Operator Course, Keesler AFB, Miss.**
This 15-and-a-half-week course teaches aircraft recognition and performance, air navigation aids, weather, airport traffic control, flight assistance service, communication procedures, conventional approach control, radar procedures and air traffic rules. This is the same course that all Air Force air traffic controllers attend and is the heart of a combat controller's job. **U.S. Army Airborne School, Fort Benning, Ga.**
This three-week course teaches basic parachuting skills required to infiltrate an objective area by static line airdrop. **U.S. Air Force Basic Survival School, Fairchild AFB, Wash.**
This two-and-a-half-week course teaches basic survival techniques for remote areas. Instruction includes principles, procedures, equipment and techniques, which enables individuals to survive, regardless of climatic conditions or unfriendly environments and return home. **Combat Control School, Pope AFB, N.C.**
This 13-week course provides final CCT qualifications. Training includes physical training, small unit tactics, land navigation, communications, assault zones, demolitions, fire support and field operations including parachuting. At the completion of this course, each graduate is awarded the 3-skill level (journeymen), scarlet beret and CCT flash. **Special Tactics Advanced Skills Training, Hurlburt Field, Fla.**
Advanced Skills Training (AST) is a 11-to-12-month program for newly assigned combat controller operators. AST produces mission-ready operators for the Air Force and United States Special Operations Command. The AST schedule is broken down into three phases: formal training, core skills, and operational readiness. The course tests the trainee's personal limits through demanding mental and physical training. Combat controllers also attend the following schools during AST: **U.S. Army Military Free Fall Parachutist School, Fort Bragg, N.C., and Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz.**
This course instructs trainees in free fall parachuting procedures. The five-week course provides wind tunnel training, in-air instruction focusing on student stability, aerial maneuvers, air sense, parachute opening procedures and parachute canopy control. **U.S. Air Force Combat Divers School, Panama City, Fla.**
Trainees become combat divers, learning to use scuba and closed circuit diving equipment to covertly infiltrate denied areas. The four-week course provides training to depths of 130 feet, stressing development of maximum underwater mobility under various operating conditions.
(Current as of December 2013)
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        Aircraft
        AC-130J Ghostrider
                    
                    AC-130J Ghostrider
                
                AC-130W Stinger II
                    
                    AC-130W Stinger II
                
                C-32
                    
                    C-32
                
                CV22
                    
                    CV-22 Osprey
                
                C-40C
                    
                    C-40B/C
                
                A U.S. Air Force C-37 taxis after landing
                    
                    C-37A/B
                
                C-130 Hercules
                    
                    C-130 Hercules
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    Major Commands
        Air Force Special Operations Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Force Special Operations Command
                
                Air Force Global Strike Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Force Global Strike Command
                
                Air Combat Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Combat Command
                
                Air Force Materiel Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Force Materiel Command
                
                Air Education and Training Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Education and Training Command
                
                Air Mobility Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Mobility Command
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    Weapons
        The Air Force Distributed Common Ground System (AF DCGS), also referred to as the AN/GSQ-272 SENTINEL weapon system, is the Air Force’s primary intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) collection, processing, exploitation, analysis and dissemination (CPAD) system. 
(U.S. Air Force photo)
                    
                    Air Force Distributed Common Ground System
                
                LGM-30G Minuteman III
                    
                    LGM-30G Minuteman III
                
                Sniper Pod
                    
                    Sniper Pod
                
                LITENING ADVANCE TARGETING
                    
                    LITENING ADVANCE TARGETING
                
                Guardian Angel
                
                Massive Ordnance Penetrator
                
                The AN/ASQ-236 Radar Pod contains synthetic aperture radar that provides detailed maps for surveillance, coordinate generation and bomb impact assessment purposes.  It will be operational on the F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo)
                    
                    AN/ASQ-236 Radar Pod
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