Instruction includes principles, procedures, equipment and techniques that enable individuals to survive, regardless of climatic conditions or unfriendly environments, and return home.

[citation needed] Advanced Skills Training is a program for newly assigned Air Force Special Tactics operators.

[5] In 2010 Captain Barry Crawford, a Special Tactics Officer, was awarded the Air Force Cross for heroism during a 14-hour battle near Laghman Province, Afghanistan, on 4 May 2010.

Captain Crawford was the joint terminal attack controller attached to an Army Special Forces team along with Afghan commandos.

After calling for a medical evacuation Captain Crawford exposed himself to enemy gunfire by running out into the open in order to guide the helicopter to the landing zone.

The AH-64 helicopters and F-15E fighters which were called in eliminated enemy positions and combatants utilizing strafing runs, along with 500- to 2,000-pound bombs and Hellfire missile strikes.

The special operations team suffered two Afghan commando casualties, but more than 80 insurgents were believed to have been killed during the engagement, including three high-ranking enemy commanders.