"Special Operations: Looking For A Few Good Frenchmen" Topic

"The French Air Force is seeking to recruit 40 candidates for its Air Force Special Operations unit. This force only has a strength of 750 and only a third of them are in commando ("operator") type jobs. Actually the operator units are about 12 percent short of their authorized strength, thus the French Air Force is seeking a reasonable (as in small) number of suitable candidates from the civilian population. The 40 who make it through the basic military, parachute and commando training will then be selected for specialist training, which is what most of the French Air Force Special Operations do; specialize.

To attract the required hundreds of potential candidates (who meet the basic age, physical and psychological criteria) a video was prepared to use in the media and on the Internet. The video presents a rare insider description of a top-secret commando organization. The ten man air force commando teams contain personnel with different specialties and spend most of their time training. On average each team will deploy (usually overseas) for a combat operation once a year. The air force commandos tend to specialize in intelligence gathering in hostile territory as well as calling in airstrikes or establishing landing zones for additional commandos and regular troops. Many of the French special operations troops use technical skills found in civilian occupations, which makes the air force optimistic that their recruiting effort will succeed. Another encouraging factor is the success of British and American special operations units recruiting from the civilian population. These efforts were not always as successful as the British or Americans wished but they did provide enough guidance and success to make the French believe their goals were realistic…."
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Amicalement
Armand

So, combat controllers. The crazy fools who parachute into an area and take over an airfield, then direct traffic as the cargo planes arrive.

Second craziest job in any Air Force. Craziest being pararescue.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armadn