Headquarters Department of the Army

FM 3-05.210 Special Forces Air Operations Headquarters Department of the Army

Field manual (FM) 3-05.210, Special Forces Air Operations, defines the current United States (U. S.) Army Special Forces (SF) concept of planning, coordinating, and executing air operations. This FM provides techniques and procedures for air operations supporting all SF missions and collateral activities.



The techniques and procedures discussed in this FM provide a base from which to develop unit procedures to cope with a special mission or area requirement. This publication focuses on--



- Premission preparation, including rehearsals and briefbacks.



- Significant actions, considerations, and decisions that can determine the success of a mission.



- Use of equipment and indigenous assets in various air operations.



- Types of airborne missions, airdrops, and training requirements.



- Drop zones (DZs), landing zones (LZs), pickup zones (PZs), and markings.



- Standard, special operations (SO), and nonstandard aircraft.



- Rigging and inspection of aircraft for fast roping, rappelling, bundle drops, special patrol infiltration and extraction system (SPIES), ladder operations, helocasting, hard ducks, rolled ducks, K-ducks, and personnel drops.