Ballad of the Grey Berets

It hasn't been written yet, and given the era it will probably be autotuned, but the USAF now has a new kind of elite operator: Special Reconnaissance Airmen, distinguished in uniform by a grey beret.

9 comments:

douglas said...

I read the whole thing, and I'm still trying to figure out what the purpose of them is. Obviously, like combat controllers, they'll embed with other special forces units, thus all the training courses, but they make a point to say they aren't forward weather observers/forecasters so much anymore either, so what are they? Or are they redesignating CCTs?

Grim said...

So, SR is an established military discipline, and I gather they will be doing that. But since they’re targeting near peer adversaries I assume they’ll be used to observe and eliminate anti-access/area-denial technologies employed especially by China.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_reconnaissance

douglas said...

Thanks. Some redundancy with existing SOF in other branches then, but some branch-specificity as well.

Tom said...

Man! And for a moment I thought they'd taken my idea of creating a special warfare unit for a bunch of 50-year-olds!

E Hines said...

Sorry, Tom. John Scalzi already did it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Man%27s_War

His series also moved on from just old men fighting in young men's bodies. It's an interesting series.

Eric Hines

Tom said...

Is it good and good fun? Or just interesting?

E Hines said...

I thought it was a good series; although it also was good that he wound it down when he did. The story line had been about played out by then, and was becoming variations on a theme.

CJ Cherryh, with her Foreigner series, has succeeded in keeping a story line fresh and ongoing, but it's a rare author who can do that.

Eric Hines

Tom said...

Cherryh is good. I read her Faded Sun trilogy many years ago.

E Hines said...

That's what got me hooked on her.

Then there was her Well series. And Chanur.

And her whole Merchanter universe.

A prolific lady.

Eric Hines