Kadena Air Base, Japan. (June 3, 2023): The Navy SEALs have their brutal log-roll, the Rangers endure a 12-mile march with a 35-pound ruck, and in the Air Force, a bunch of special operators get together to tote a 85 ton aircraft around with a rope.

If you own a fleet of combat aircraft… why not?

In the above photo by Staff Sergeant Jessi Roth, Air Force Special Tactics Airmen with the 320th Special Tactics Squadron pull an MC-130J Commando II one hundred and fifty meters across the flightline during Monster Mash, an operational readiness and resilience training. These training events include some of the most physically and mentally demanding tasks in the military and are routinely conducted among special tactics units to ensure operational readiness.

Special Tactics Airmen are the Air Force equivalent to the Marines Force Recon, the Army’s Delta Force, and the Navy SEALs. One of the most highly trained and elite airmen in the U.S. Air Force, Special Tactics troops are rapidly deployable and equipped with highly specialized aircraft to perform missions ranging from precision application of firepower to infiltration, exfiltration, and aerial refueling.

Air Force's Special Tactics teams consist of airmen in three career fields: combat controllers, pararescue men, and special reconnaissance. Each of these special operations career fields requires the most specialized intensive training in the U.S. military.

In addition to the pilots, combat systems officers, and enlisted aircrew who fly AFSOC's aircraft, there is a highly experienced support force of maintenance officers and enlisted aircraft maintenance personnel who maintain these complex aircraft. Special Tactics also has a cadre of premier intelligence officers and enlisted intelligence specialists well versed in special operations as well as logisticians, security forces, and numerous other support officers and personnel.

Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) is headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida.