Hegseth orders a new Guard special tactics squadron in Florida, with most details left to the 2028 budget

By Staff Reporter

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the Air Force to create a new Air National Guard special tactics squadron in Florida, the Pentagon announced Wednesday, releasing a one-page memo he signed four weeks earlier.

The memo, dated Sept. 23 and addressed to the secretary of the Air Force, directs the service to create “an Air National Guard Special Tactics Squadron Total Force Association at Hurlburt Field, Florida, with an associated new organization at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.” A total force association pairs Guard or Reserve airmen with an active-duty unit. Hurlburt is the headquarters of Air Force Special Operations Command; MacDill, in Tampa, hosts U.S. Special Operations Command. The two bases are about 300 miles apart.

Special tactics squadrons are the Air Force’s special operations ground forces, made up of combat controllers, pararescuemen and special reconnaissance airmen. The Guard has two: the 123rd in Kentucky and the 125th in Oregon, which its wing calls “one of only two Special Tactics Units in the Air National Guard.” The Florida Air National Guard’s only special operations unit flies the CV-22 Osprey.

What the memo leaves open

The memo says the action is “directed to execute in FY 2027 in alignment with the funding provided during the FY 2027 Program/Budget Review process.” It does not say how many airmen the unit will have, what it will cost or when it will be ready. “Any further resourcing for this direction, to include military construction, equipment, and manpower authorizations will be developed in the President’s Budget 2028 budget cycle,” it says.

It directs the National Guard Bureau to use the Air Force’s standard organizational change process “consistent with applicable DAF Strategic Basing process and environmental legal requirements”.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in the release that the unit would place “our most lethal warfighters at the heart of the USSOCOM and AFSOC community.” Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that Pentagon and Air Force spokespeople offered no further details, and that it is highly unusual for a defense secretary to direct the creation of a squadron-level unit.

Requests for comment

Air Force Special Operations Command said in a statement: “We are in initial stages of planning and look forward to growing our elite Special Tactics community to enhance our joint force’s lethality and readiness.” The command referred further questions to the Pentagon’s public affairs office.

John Goheen of the National Guard Association of the United States said the association appreciates Hegseth’s continued faith in the Air National Guard. He noted that similar units operate in Kentucky and Oregon and said, “Florida is a logical location,” adding that the unit would be an asset during hurricane responses.

The Inquisitor is seeking comment from Air Force Special Operations Command, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the National Guard Association of the United States, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s office, and the offices of Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., whose district includes MacDill, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and will update this story with their responses.

Update, Oct. 22, 2026: This story has been updated with a statement from Air Force Special Operations Command.

Update, Oct. 23, 2026: This story has been updated with a statement from the National Guard Association of the United States.

Photo: Airmen of the 125th Special Tactics Squadron, Oregon Air National Guard. Department of Defense photo by Staff Sgt. Heather Cozad, public domain.