AIR FORCE 1st SPECIAL OPERATIONS WING Challenge Coin come with special velvet case as shown as in pictures.

This is a great looking AIR FORCE 1st SPECIAL OPERATIONS WING Commemorative Challenge Coin. Coin reveals Air Force 1st Special Operations Wing emblem on the front with it's motto "Any Time, Any Place" across the top and the U.S. Air Force emblem on the reverse. Coin is about 1 9/16" in diameter. All details are raised lettering and gold plated. Coin is contained in an acrylic air tight holder.

The 1st Special Operations Wing (1 SOW) at Hurlburt Field, Florida is one of three United States Air Force active duty Special Operations wings and falls under the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC).

The 1st Special Operations Wing is a successor organization of the 16th Pursuit Group, one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II.

The 1st SOW mission focus is unconventional warfare: counter-terrorism, combat search and rescue, personnel recovery, psychological operations, aviation assistance to developing nations, "deep battlefield" resupply, interdiction and close air support. The wing has units located at Hurlburt Field, Florida, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

The wing's core missions include aerospace surface interface, agile combat support, combat aviation advisory operations, information operations, personnel recovery/recovery operations, precision aerospace fires, psychological operations dissemination, specialized aerospace mobility and specialized aerial refueling.

The 1st SOW also serves as a pivotal component of AFSOC's ability to provide and conduct special operations missions ranging from precision application of firepower to infiltration, exfiltration, resupply and refueling of special operations force operational elements. In addition, the 1st SOW brings distinctive intelligence capabilities to the fight, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance contributions, predictive analysis, and targeting expertise to joint special operations forces and combat search and rescue operations.

The wing's motto of "Keeping the Air Commando promise to provide reliable, precise Air Force special operations air power... Any Time, Any Place," has repeatedly shown to be true since the 11 Sept 2001 terrorist attack. MH-53 Pave Lows responded almost immediately to support relief efforts in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Since the Global War on Terrorism began in October 2001, 1st SOW aircraft have flown more than 25,000 combat sorties, amassing more than 75,000 combat hours. The wing has also deployed more than 8,500 personnel to 16 geographic locations around the world. The continued high operations tempo of the 1st SOW truly put the Air Commandos assigned here at the "tip of the spear."