{"id":28847,"date":"2018-05-11T15:59:38","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T15:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/11\/for-the-first-time-an-air-force-officer-may-lead-joint-special-operations-command\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:52:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:52:41","slug":"for-the-first-time-an-air-force-officer-may-lead-joint-special-operations-command","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/05\/11\/for-the-first-time-an-air-force-officer-may-lead-joint-special-operations-command\/","title":{"rendered":"For the first time, an Air Force officer may lead Joint Special Operations Command"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joint Special Operations Command<\/a>, commonly called JSOC, will likely be led by an Air Force officer for the first time since the storied group was born out of the Iran hostage crisis in 1980. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lt. Gen. Scott Howell was announced this week as President Donald Trump\u2019s nominee to lead the unit that oversees elite special mission units from the larger U.S. Special Operations Command, including the Navy\u2019s SEAL Team 6<\/a>, the Air Force\u2019s 24th Special Tactics Squadron<\/a> and the Army\u2019s 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment, better known as Delta Force<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 14 previous commanders of JSOC, with the exception of Navy SEAL Admiral William McRaven<\/a>, were all Army officers who rose through the ranks of the Army Rangers or Army Special Forces teams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JSOC\u2019s current commander, Army Lt. Gen. Austin Miller<\/a>, has been commanding the unit since March 2016.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Brig. Gen. Scott A. Howell, Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan deputy commanding general, talks to Afghan National Security Force officers after an Afghan Local Police validation shura in Paktiya province, Afghanistan, Nov. 29. Village elders, government officials and Afghan National Security Forces conduct the shura as an official agreement to begin an ALP program to secure remote villages throughout the province. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. J.R. Fisher)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Howell is a career helicopter pilot who currently serves as vice commander of SOCOM. He was commissioned through the Air Force Academy in 1987 and earned his aviation wings at Fort Rucker, Alabama<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his career, Howell conducted rescue and special operations missions in Iraq, Kuwait, Bosnia, Haiti, Kosovo, Mozambique, Djibouti and Afghanistan, according to his official biography<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to his current assignment, Howell served as the commanding general of NATO Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan, Special Operations Joint Task Force\u2013Afghanistan out of Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there, he exercised command and control over all U.S. and NATO special operations forces maneuvering in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JSOC was formed in the aftermath of Operation Eagle Claw \u2014 the failed rescue attempt of U.S. embassy staff held hostage in Tehran, Iran, in April 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rescue mission was aborted after rugged desert conditions damaged multiple aircraft prior to arriving at the staging area. As the aircraft were leaving, a rotary blade on one of the helicopters struck an EC-130, triggering an explosion that destroyed both aircraft and killed eight men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe commanders decided to load everyone on the remaining C-130s and abandon the four functional helicopters,\u201d according to Defense Department archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mission\u2019s failure, and the humiliation it brought on U.S. leadership, supercharged the establishment of a dedicated special operations command and its subordinate structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to running the elite special mission units, JSOC studies, plans and conducts joint operations involving special operations troops from all services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commanding position over JSOC requires Senate confirmation, but if Howell\u2019s nomination goes through, he\u2019ll be bringing an aviation and branch expertise into the leadership role that is rare in the unit\u2019s more than 30-year history of shadowy operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joint Special Operations Command, or JSOC, will likely be led by an Air Force officer for the first time since the shadowy group was born out of the Iran hostage crisis in 1980.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":59001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,92,93,12,25,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3297],"class_list":["post-28847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"XQV5ZKZJAND7XHLBLPOSPRIJC4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2018\/05\/11\/for-the-first-time-an-air-force-officer-may-lead-joint-special-operations-command\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nFor the first time, an Air Force officer may lead Joint Special Operations Command - 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