Duke Field’s 919th SOW not impacted by Force Structure Changes

  • Published
  • By Dan Neely
  • 919th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
DUKE FIELD, Fla. --  
The Air Force plans to change manpower authorizations and retire some of its older aircraft, according to a fiscal 2010 force structure realignment announced June 26.

The realignment supports the FY10 President's Budget Request. Unrelated to the FY 10 force structure realignment, the Air Force Reserve's end strength will grow from 67,400 to 69,500. This increase in manpower authorizations in FY 10 represents approximately 2,100 Airmen for emerging mission areas such as cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, unmanned aerial systems and the nuclear enterprise.

The Air Force outlined changes at 31 Air Force Reserve Command locations and said some of the numbers are subject to change. The complete list of changes by state are posted on the U.S. Air Force's official website at www.af.mil.

While the announcement references Duke Field's 919th Special Operations Wing losing four of its MC-130E Combat Talon I aircraft due to scheduled retirements, its commander put the matter in perspective.

"Actually, these four aircraft were excess assets already programmed for transfer to the Air National Guard in fiscal year 2009," explained Col. Jon Weeks, 919th SOW commander. "I'm pleased to say this announcement essentially represents zero negative impact to our current Reserve special operations mission and our Citizen Commandos. We will continue to support combatant commanders whenever and wherever they need our very unique and proven warfighting capabilities."

The 919th SOW is the only special operations wing in the Air Force Reserve. It is a subordinate of 10th Air Force headquartered at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas, and the Air Force Reserve Command, with headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Ga. In wartime or a contingency, the 919th SOW reports to Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., its gaining major command.