5th SOS at Hurlburt Field actively recruiting

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  • 919th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
DUKE FIELD, Fla. --  The 5th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field is actively recruiting personnel in the following Air Force Specialty Codes: 11S (pilot), 12S (navigator), 1A (flight engineer), 3D (knowledge management), 1A2 (loadmaster) and 1C0 (aviation resource manager).

The 5th SOS is a Total Force Integration unit whose members participate in the active duty mission of the Air Force Special Operations Training Center. While 5th SOS members perform duty at Hurlburt as part of AFSOTC, the squadron administratively falls under the 919th Special Operations Wing, an Air Force Reserve unit headquartered at Duke Field.

Members of the 5th SOS participate as instructor pilots and instructor navigators aboard U-28 aircraft and as IPs, INs, instructor loadmasters and instructor engineers in rotary and fixed-wing aircraft in AFSOTC's combat aviation advisor program. Its Airmen are traditional reservists, air reserve technicians or active Guard/Reserves. The ARTs and AGRs are full-time reservists, while TRs are part-time reservists.

In addition, 5th SOS members perform more duty than a traditional Reserve unit. The vast majority of duty is performed on weekdays, not weekends. Due to greater than normal participation, the unit will only hire individuals currently residing in or willing to move to the local area of Hurlburt Field. The local area is defined as Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton and Bay counties.

Initial qualification requires 12-18 months from class start date when TRs will be in an active duty status at Hurlburt Field and must be on leave of absence from any civilian employment.

Personnel interested in becoming U-28 IPs or INs should have prior instructor pilot or navigator experience in a military aircraft. Applicants must weigh 195 pounds or less and have consistent Fit-to-Fight scores of 85 or higher.

Personnel interested in becoming combat aviation advisor IPs, INs, ILs or IEs should have prior instructor time in military fixed- or rotary-wing aircraft. Applicants must also have consistent Fit-to-Fight scores of 80 or higher.

The 5th SOS welcomes applications from current members of the Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, Regular Air Force, other-service regular and Reserve components and Air Force retirees.

Please note that Air Force Reserve programs allowing retired members to join the Air Force Reserve only apply to Air Force regular and Reserve retirees. Current rules do not allow other-service retirees to apply.)

To apply, interested personnel should contact Maj. James Dykas (5sos.recruiting@hurlburt.af.mil, 850-881-3982 / DSN 641-3982) with any questions regarding the U-28 program or Maj. Michael Black, (5sos.recruiting@hurlburt.af.mil), 850-881-5141 / DSN 641-5141) with any questions regarding the CAA program.