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However, there were positives: She had “super high” peer evaluations, meaning her fellow officer candidates thought highly of her during the weeklong Phase II, according to the instructor. “The team handed her a kettlebell and she just kind of walked behind the team for the rest of the iteration.” “She just physically couldn’t flip the tire,” the instructor said. The woman finished on time, the instructor said, but struggled on the “monster mash” portion at the end, which involved flipping a large tire as a team. “All of the cadre got called into a room to discuss what happened.”Īfter talking with a senior instructor, she was allowed to continue training with the rest of the Phase II candidates.Īt another point, candidates had to complete a timed 8-mile march with weighted rucksacks. “Water con” is one of the more arduous parts of special tactics training, and it’s not uncommon for trainees to lose consciousness or suffer hypoxia during particularly intense sessions.Ĭompleting certain events later in the training pipeline - such as underwater knot tying, drownproofing or buddy breathing using a snorkel - is a prerequisite to attending mandatory combat diver courses.ĭuring a nighttime water con session, the female candidate got out of the pool and quit, saying she felt she was holding her team back, the instructor told Air Force Times. The instructor was there for a water confidence session in which the female candidate allegedly gave up during her first attempt at Phase II. The special tactics instructor who spoke to Air Force Times, but did not author the letter, backed the complaint in an interview. The female airman began Phase II of special tactics officer training in 2018, a weeklong process to decide who gets to start years of formal special tactics courses. If this account is true, our military needs to address it now,” Crenshaw wrote on Twitter. His office did not respond to a query on whether the congressman had discussed the situation with the Air Force. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), a former Navy SEAL. The anonymous missive went viral on social media, catching the eye of Rep. “The results of that independent review will be provided to the secretary, and we can trust the secretary will take steps he believes are in the best interest of the department,” the three-star general added. Slife said he has asked Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall to direct the service’s inspector general to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations in the email. Jim Slife, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, presides over a change-of-command ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Florida, June 4, 2021. “It’s like, we have someone that’s close and need to make sure it happens.”Īir Force Lt. “It seems like there’s a mentality that we need to be on the cutting edge of this,” a special tactics instructor familiar with the situation told Air Force Times. The situation highlights fear in the special tactics community that Slife and other AFSOC officials want to push a woman through the pipeline at all costs to score political points that could lead to prestigious assignments and promotions. It’s a small cohort within the far larger AFSOC world, comprising roughly 1,000 operators, and is the most decorated community in the Air Force since the Vietnam War. Special tactics is the Air Force’s name for a collection of commando jobs, including combat controllers, pararescue and special reconnaissance airmen, who are all led by special tactics officers. Special tactics operators assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, watch a CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft assigned to the 8th Special Operations Squadron, take off from the Eglin Range Complex, Florida, Dec.

Preferential treatment rachel sabatini sga