The Air Force Special Operations Command shield features the “Hap Arnold star” insignia of the United States Army Air Corps between the tips of outstretched wings that meet at the hilt of a Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, a common image used in Special Forces insignias.
Originally established as the Twenty-Third Air Force in February 1983, the Air Force Special Operations Command was named a Major Command on 22 May 1990 with its headquarters at Hurlburt Fields in Florida. Comprising nearly 20,000 Total Force (active-duty, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard) and civilian personnel, the Command’s forces include five active-duty wings, an overseas group, and several Direct Report Units.
In case of mobilization of Air Force Reserves, the Command gains control of the 919th Special Operations Wing, the Reserve’s only Special Operations Wing; Air National Guard units the Command gains when they are federalized include the 137th Special Operations Wing (military intelligence) and the 193rd Special Operations Wing, the only Airborne Psychological Operations equipped with the EC-130 Commando Solo platform.
Air Force Special Operations Command is the Air Force Component of the U.S. Special Operations Command, a Unified Combatant Command located outside Tampa, Florida.