Kick-Starting MC-130J Training

March 9, 2011

Members of Class 1101 at the Air Force Special Operations Training Center at Hurlburt Field, Fla., were the first students to participate in mission qualification training for the MC-130J. “This first class is a small group tryout designed to validate our syllabus of instruction for the remaining classes,” said Maj. Robert Deka, AFSOTC MC-130J training program manager. Center officials worked with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 193rd Special Operations Wing, the Marine Corps, and the National Guard Bureau to launch this training, which has been in the making for about two years. “AFSOTC is setting the stage for the future of this platform, and the MC-130J is a huge addition to the AFSOC fleet, so we have to get it right,” said Col. Mark Alsid, training center commander. Air Force Special Operations Command intends to procure 37 MC-130Js to replace its aging MC-130E Combat Talons and MC-130P Combat Shadows. (Hurlburt report by Rachel Arroyo)

Related Content

US Steps Up Intelligence Flights for Border Mission with RC-135 and P-8 Spy Planes

Feb. 4, 2025
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…

Air and Missile Defense for the US Is an Absolute Imperative

Feb. 4, 2025
If there is anything we’ve learned from the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel—and the growing threats from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea—it is that massed air and missile attacks are now a fundamental component of modern warfare. This puts our U.S. homeland at risk. 

New Pentagon Report: F-35 Test Progress Slow, Readiness Below Par

Feb. 3, 2025
The F-35 fighter program continues to struggle with meeting test milestones and mission readiness goals, but progress is being made on both fronts, according to the latest report from the Pentagon’s test director and comments from the Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin.

Air Force Equal Opportunity Programs Not Included in DEI Purge

Feb. 3, 2025
The Air Force is not shutting down its equal opportunity programs, it said in a new memo, distinguishing them from the department’s sweeping review of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Acting Assistant Secretary for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Gwendolyn Defilippi wrote that she was issuing the Jan. 30 memo as…

Not 10 Feet Tall: Experts Say China’s Military Faces Major Issues

Jan. 31, 2025
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…

Air Force Wargames for a Summer of Major Exercises

Jan. 31, 2025
Air Force wargamers gathered in Alabama earlier this month to help leaders prepare for a sweeping series of exercises this summer that will be among the biggest in recent service history. At the heart of the exercise series is Resolute Force Pacific, but officials want to integrate REFORPAC with other exercises.