Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) today faces a critical shortage of airlift capacity. The Air Mobility Command (AMC) system that should ideally support AFSOC's airlift requirements is saturated with the demands of the post-9/11 world, so AFSOC cannot always get airlift support when and where it needs it. Ten years ago AFSOC got almost all the support it asked for, and it was able to fill minor gaps by using its special-purpose C-130s, including its MC-130H Talon II. But these aircraft and their crews are now critically overworked at the same time, and for the same reasons, as AMC's fleet. Further, the low-density nature of AFSOC's C-130 fleet means that increased maintenance requirements affect a significant percentage of the force, thereby decreasing mission capability. Though the concept would have been doctrinally unsupportable ten years ago, it is now necessary to build organic airlift capability into AFSOC.
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