CCT @ The Eye of the Storm (EOS) by Gene Adcock, CMSgt, USAF (CCT) Retired

Sept. 10, 2009 - PRLog -- March 1945 - Operation Varsity - Near the end of 1944, the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) developed gliderborne teams; calling them Combat Control Teams. Unlike earlier U.S. Army Pathfinders, the new Combat Control Teams were provisioned with ground-to-air and point-to-point radios; visual and electronic navigational aids (NAVAIDS).  Additionally, the newly commissioned Air Force teams were charged with the responsibility of airhead air traffic control (AATC).  AATC required these new combat teams to coordinate both: 1. terminal guidance – for aircraft arriving at an assault zone and 2. air traffic control – of aircraft transiting the airhead.

The USAAF Combat Control Teams' first test would come during Operation Varsity on March 24, 1945.  On that day, Air Force teams were infiltrated across the Rhine, ahead of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the first airborne assault on Nazi Germany. USAAF aircraft subsequently delivered airborne and glider-borne troops near the town of Wesel, in western Germany. According to Wikipedia, Operation Varsity delivered more than 16,000 paratroopers, employed several thousand aircraft and was the largest single airborne operation in history to be conducted on a single day and in one location.


December 2001 – The Global War on Terrorism – In this 21st Century fight, USAF Combat Control Teams operate at the bloody tip of the Special Operations Command's golden spear. And, in the words of the Delta Force commander at Tora Bora, Afghanistan in December 2001, they are practically indispensable.

“...if you asked what tool of the trade would be the very last thing they would leave behind, you might be surprised at the answer. You would likely hear that it is not a tool that makes one nervous when it isn't there, but rather a capability that is not organic to a troop of Delta operators or Navy SEALs. Just because you are the best of the best does not mean you are the best at everything. Any Delta operator can vouch for the capabilities of the Air Force Combat Controllers, and very rarely goes on a "hit" without the men who wear the scarlet berets.

Arguably they are the best-rounded and uniquely trained operators on the planet. The initial training "pipeline" for an Air Force Special Tactics Squadron Combat Controller costs twice as much time and sweat as does the journey to become a Navy SEAL or Delta operator. Before their training is complete someone brainwashes these guys into thinking they can climb like Spiderman, swim like Tarzan, and fly like Superman --- and then they have to prove they can do so if they plan to graduate. And that is just to get to a place where they can do the job for which they are really trained, calling in those deadly air strikes.  The life of a combat controller is split between working with Delta and SEALs, with a little moonlighting with the 75th Ranger Regiment now and again.

They carry the motto that would be hard to look another operator in the face and say --- if it weren't true --- 'First There.'”

Dalton Fury, Delta Force Ground Commander
"Bomb Like There Is No Tomorrow" Kill Bin Laden
St. Martin's Press, New York, 2008. ISBN 978-0-312-38439-5.

August 2009 – The Right Stuff* - “I once asked the selection psychiatrist what he looked for in Air Force candidates to this highly-specialized career field. He said 'A bit of a used car salesman. They come in as outsiders and they must be better physically, professionally, and socially.' Today, you would be hard pressed to find any sister service team that wants to go into combat without their Air Force brethren. Ironically, hardships and adversities have drawn this special fraternity closer. Excessive tasking and long periods of family separation still force the decision: 'It is either my family or my profession.' That choice is clearly understandable.  I can’t help but recall Thomas Wolfe’s book, The Right Stuff.” He said:

“In the 50s it was difficult for civilians to comprehend such a thing, but military officers and enlisted men tended to feel superior to civilians. It was really quite ironic given the fact that for a good thirty years the rising business class in cities has been steering their sons away from the military, as if from a bad smell. The (officer and enlisted) corps had never
been held in lower esteem. Well, their contempt was returned in trumps. They looked upon themselves as men who lived by higher standards of behavior than civilians, as men who were bearers and protectors -- of the most important values of American life, who maintained a sense of discipline while civilians abandoned themselves to hedonism, who maintained a sense of honor while civilians lived by opportunism and greed. When the showdowns come – and the showdowns always come – not all the wealth in the world or all the sophisticated weapons and radar and missile systems it could buy would take the place of those who had the uncritical willingness to face danger, those who in short had the RIGHT STUFF.

My prayer is that The Eye of the Storm will wake America to a special brotherhood within. The combat controllers are a fraternity which has written, and continues to write, truly unique and heroic chapters in American military history.”

*Excerpt from EOS Forward by
Bob Patterson, Major General, USAF, Retired
1st Commander of the USAF Special Operations Command
CCA Honorary Life Member #5

August 2009 – The USAF's Longbow Warriors* - “Why my interest? A number of years before I became the Secretary, during a visit to Israel, I had had a lengthy discussion with a retired Israeli Air Force general who set up a small 'think tank' which he named 'Longbow.' His thesis was that, like the British at Agincourt, we would be well advised to devote R&D funds to make the individual ground troop (of any variety) as militarily powerful as possible in combat. He would need sensors and weapons and other systems to exploit the remarkable brain that a free man could bring to the fight. Then, the duty of commanders was to devise integrating technologies and systems which permitted these superbly equipped and trained fighting men to operate in concert as a highly integrated team. His belief was that such fighting teams would be incredibly effective in combat.  

'At Agincourt many centuries ago, noblemen and peasants alike witnessed the might of a small group of men who brought death and destruction from above against enemy foot soldiers and armored knights. These dedicated and well-trained men with their Longbows were the key to Henry V’s defeat of the French that day, even though he was greatly outnumbered.

Air Force Special Tactics Combat Controllers are today’s Longbow warriors. Individually, they are specially selected, specially trained, and, in support of special operations, almost daily bring American airpower to bear on our nation’s enemies. Indeed, they are very remarkable warriors, and this book will help many understand why so many of us hold our Combat Controllers in such incredibly high regard.' I was convinced that he was right, and once I understood the remarkable talent residing in Special Tactics Combat Control Teams, I recognized that there were such teams in our Air Force. The question, then, was how to make them even better? I did my best to bring my belief to anyone in the leadership of the U.S. Air Force who would listen, and in Generals John Jumper and Paul Hester I found kindred spirits. My determination that airmen like (CCT MSgt) Alan Yoshida should have the very best in technology to match their superlative training and culture drove me, as did my heart-wrenching duty to join John Jumper in presenting two Air Force Crosses to the widows of a Special Tactics Combat Controller and a Pararescueman.”

*Excerpt from EOS Epilogue by
The Honorable James G. Roche
20th Secretary of the U.S. Air Force
CCA Honorary Life Member #4

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The Combat Control School Historical Foundation (CCSHF) is dedicated to the preservation of the Combat Control warrior heritage! Visit the museum at the Combat Control School, 1 Matero Drive, Pope AFB, North Carolina.

WHAT IS THE CCSHF?
The Combat Control School Historical Foundation (CCSHF) is an all-volunteer force dedicated to the preservation of CCT heritage. It operates under the authority granted by the Commander of the Airlift Wing at Pope AFB, NC. It is a tax exempt organization in accordance with the Internal Revenue Service tax code, section 501(c)(3). The Historical Foundation is directly linked with the Combat Control School. It is responsible for the collection, refurbishment, maintenance, and exhibition of artifacts accessioned by The
CMSgt Alcide S. Benini Heritage Center (BHC). The BHC mission is to bolster CCT morale; while supporting United States Air Force recruiting efforts and retention goals.