The man who runs US Special Operations Command, Gen. Bryan Brown, hopes to expand at least one specific Air Force SOF unit—the 120-member 6th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. It provides America’s only foreign aviation defense capability, said Brown. Members of the 6th go abroad and help train militaries to use and maintain all types of aircraft. The USAF unit is not big enough. “[It’s] one of the shortages we find as we work around the world,” said Brown. “I’d like the 6th SOS to grow.”
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.