Aviation-FID training and advice include airpower doctrine development, force planning, and operational support as well as tactical employment in such mission areas as airlift, fighter operations, forward air control (FAC), SAR, special tactics (ST), and gunship operations. This assistance includes both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. Assistance in aviation support operations includes aircraft maintenance, supply, logistics, airbase ground defense, munitions, ground safety, command and control, communications, intelligence, and risk management. Operations associated with aviation-FID include support for counterinsurgency and counterdrug operations. Additionally, the aviation FID squadron supports the following SO missions and collateral activities:

The unit’s task entails training and advising foreign aviation units to support partisan operations in occupied territory with aerial insertion, extraction, and resupply from a third-country sanctuary.

The unit’s task entails supporting foreign aviation units with advisory assistance in such areas as operational and tactical planning, force integration, and mission execution. Coalition support includes advisory actions to:

The unit’s task includes advising and training host-nation aviation elements to conduct air operations supporting host government and multi-national humanitarian aid and disaster assistance programs.

The 6th Special Operations Squadron (6 SOS) is a combat advisory unit activated for the purpose of advising and training foreign aviation units to employ and sustain their own assets in both peace and war, and, when necessary, to integrate those assets into joint, multi-national operations. It supports the theater combatant commanders in three interrelated areas: foreign internal defense (FID), unconventional warfare (UW), and coalition support. The mission area also encompasses collateral activities such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

When tasked, unit personnel deploy to a designated country, collocate with host-nation aviation elements at squadron, wing, or headquarters levels, and train and/or advise counterpart personnel in the employment and support of air operations. Training and advisory assistance is conducted at both the operational and tactical levels.

The basic unit deployment module for aviation advisory operations is an Operational Aviation Detachment-Alpha (OAD-A). When multiple OADs are deployed to the field, an OAD-B is also deployed as a headquarters, C3, and administrative support element. The teams are specially tailored in both size and composition to meet specific mission needs. A notional OAD-A consists of 12 personnel capable of teaching and/or advising in the functional areas shown below. A medic may bring the total strength of a notional OAD-A to 13 individuals.

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