The 23rd Air Force is not a typical elite unit, but its operations are critical to the success of other U.S. special forces. In March 1983 all Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the U.S. Air Force were centralized under a single command, then the 1st Special Operations Wing (1st SOW) and the Office of Recovery and Rescue Aerospace (ARRS) remained under the control of newly created 23 th Air Force, headquartered at Scott Base in Illinois. The 1st SOW consists of five squadrons equipped with modified versions of helicopter and aircraft C-130 Hercules.

The composition and organization of this unit are highly confidential, but some of their equipment are known: AC-130H aircraft (Hercules fighting or “Gunboat Flying”) developed for use in Vietnam armed with six-barreled Gatling guns and howitzers up to 105 mm ; aircraft MC-130H (Combat Talon) with advanced avionics and improved performance to make low-flying, rescue operations and covert infiltration; Helicopters MH-53J “Pave Low” with armor protection, tanks and autoselantes probe for refueling, helicopter MH-60G “Pave Hawk” equipped with radar, FLIR, rescue winch, armor protection and machine guns.

Combat team of the 1st SOW in amphibious training. Created in 1946, the ARRS also makes use of helicopters and C-130, a combination that proved effective. Consisting of about 3,500 men and about two hundred aircraft, their missions ranging from combat-SAR until recognition of climatic conditions. Thanks to its efficient 966 lives were saved in the Korean War and Vietnam War in 2759. It also provides support for NASA missions to recover manned spacecraft or rockets. The team responsible for the weather, locates and enters hurricanes and typhoons with their WC-130H aircraft that requires great courage and skill. The ARRS provides escorts in shifts of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) from its underground silos scattered throughout the U.S..

Its specialized versions of Hercules are: HC-130H with greater reach and folding device in the nose for the recovery of men and material in the soil, using the technique skyhook, and JHC-130H with extra equipment for the recovery of space capsules in the air. Both components of the 1st SOW as the ARRS use uniform standards of the USAF, distinguishable only by special badges on the shoulder pads. Some members are thoroughly trained paratroopers. Units of the 1st SOW participated in Operation Eagle Claw and the intervention in Grenada in 1983.