The Pentagon has directed the Air Force to establish a new Air National Guard Special Tactics Squadron in Florida. The unit would become one of only a small number of Air National Guard organizations composed of special operations personnel.

The decision was announced last week and referenced a Sept. 23 memo signed by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. That memo directed the Air Force to create the new unit in Florida, placing another specialized Guard capability in the state.

Pentagon officials said the move “strategically positions a premier Special Tactics capability at the center of the nation’s special operations command hub, deepening the integration between the National Guard and active duty elite units to defend the United States and defeat global adversaries.”

U.S. Special Operations Command is headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Florida. Air Force Special Operations Command is located hundreds of miles northwest at Hurlburt Field in the Florida Panhandle.

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According to Hegseth’s memo, the initial activation of the squadron will receive funding from the fiscal year 2027 budget. The fiscal year 2028 budget could then provide money for additional construction, equipment and manpower authorizations.

Pentagon officials offered no further information beyond the announcement and the memo. Air Force Special Operations Command officials also did not immediately provide details about the new squadron’s mission or when it would be established, instead directing additional questions to the Pentagon.

“We are in initial stages of planning and look forward to growing our elite Special Tactics community to enhance our joint force’s lethality and readiness,” said Lt. Col. Casey Osborne, an Air Force Special Operations Command spokesperson.

Special Tactics units bring together all Air Force special operator career fields, including combat controllers, pararescuemen, special reconnaissance personnel and Tactical Air Control Party specialists. These airmen can coordinate air support during humanitarian missions, conduct airfield seizures in combat and direct personnel evacuations from remote locations.

Most Air Force special tactics squadrons are active duty units stationed throughout the United States. Two others are based abroad in England and Japan, while the planned Florida squadron appears likely to become the Air National Guard’s third special tactics squadron.

The Guard’s existing units are the 125th Special Tactics Squadron in Portland, Oregon, and the 123rd Special Tactics Squadron in Louisville, Kentucky. Both have records spanning overseas operations, disaster response, rescue missions and specialized training.

The 125th includes more than 75 Special Tactics combat controllers and personnel from special operations weather teams and combat support teams. Its airmen responded to Hurricanes Ike, Harvey and Irma, and in 2008 used specialized rescue boats and equipment to save hundreds of stranded people following flooding in Vernonia, Oregon.

Personnel from the 125th also supported Operation Enduring Freedom missions in Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and the Philippines. The squadron additionally sent personnel to support Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.

According to the 123rd squadron’s website, the Kentucky unit is the only Air National Guard special operations organization containing both combat controllers and pararescue personnel. During a three year period, its airmen deployed overseas for more than 4,600 days, conducted over 950 ground combat missions and saved more than 50 personnel.

Airmen from the 123rd were “among the first U.S. forces” to respond to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, where they directed humanitarian aid drops and resupply efforts. During a 2023 special operations exercise, squadron airmen jumped from an MC-130J onto a civilian highway in Wyoming and practiced securing a landing zone for an inbound aircraft.

The Kentucky squadron has also trained on specialized fueling operations and rapid aircraft launches with the United Kingdom and Canada, along with aeromedical evacuations with Ecuador. Last year, the unit conducted search and rescue, reconnaissance and targeting operations during a simulated contested environment across Caribbean islands.

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