With Only 20 Elite Agents, Air Force Combat Control Team (CCT), ‘Red Berets’ – Part 3

The Air Force’s elite special agent, also known as the “Red Beret”

To do this, the CCT must enter the Drop Zone (DZ) before anyone else. The CCT agents who have infiltrated the enemy lines ignite a purple smoke bomb when they spot an aircraft and guide it through communication. They broadcast to the aircraft pilot environmental factors that affect cargo drop, such as the direction and strength of the wind at the DZ and accurate location information.

Of course, the CCT continuously communicates with the aircraft pilot. If the signal is off by just a few seconds, the cargo drop location can change by hundreds of meters. The altitude and speed must be continuously lowered to drop the cargo accurately at the agreed time. If the flight speed is too fast, dropping the cargo at the desired point is impossible.

Ten minutes before the drop, the “ramp door” at the rear of the aircraft slowly opens. The pilot instinctively presses a button, and a green light comes on in the cargo compartment. It’s the “green light” that allows the drop. At that moment, the cargo loaded in the aircraft cascades to the ground. The operation is successful once all the cargo has landed and is recovered by the ground agents inside the dropped DZ.

This is why these agents, who must perform heavy duties amid extreme danger in the middle of enemy territory, require various special operation execution abilities such as infiltration, high altitude drop, shooting, and air control.

To become a member of the Combat Control Team, composed of under 30 elite agents, you must complete a four-month intensive introductory course. Only those who pass this course are given the privilege to wear the “Red Beret,” the symbol and pride of the Combat Control Team. But that’s not the end. To perform operations as a Combat Control Team, you must complete all the training courses of other special forces, such as the Army Special Forces, the Navy UDT, and the Marine Corps. Becoming a member of the Air Force Combat Control Team is never easy.

The Combat Control Team has contributed to the protection of overseas Koreans by doing their best to complete any operation required by the country, as well as the stable overseas mission of the Air Force in peacetime.

In April 2000, they successfully performed air traffic control duties in East Timor. From 2004 to 2008, they carried out aircraft escort duties while moving between Iraq and Kuwait during “Operation Enduring Freedom.” In November 2013, they also took charge of onboard safety and aircraft protection duties during the humanitarian relief operation due to the typhoon in the Philippines.

In particular, in August 2021, they successfully completed “Operation Miracle” to transport local assistants and their families who supported the South Korean government’s activities in Afghanistan to Korea, “Operation Promise” in April 2023 for the safe return of our nationals staying in Sudan, and the rescue operation of Israeli migrants in October of the same year, demonstrating their status as “the special force among special forces.”

To Read Part 1…
To Read Part 2…