an Iraqi SA-7 Grail surface-to-air missile. All fourteen crew members aboard Spirit 03 were killed. AFSOC Post-Gulf War In December 1992, AFSOC special tactics and intelligence personnel supported Operation Restore Hope in Somalia. In late 1994, AFSOC units spearheaded Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti, and in 1995 Operation Deliberate Force in the Balkans. Operation Enduring Freedom The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, and the Pentagon, Washington D.C., on 11 September 2001 pushed the United States special operations forces to the forefront of the war against terrorism. By the end of September 2001, AFSOC deployed forces to southwest Asia for Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan to help destroy the al Qaeda terrorist organization and remove the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. AFSOC airpower delivered special tactics forces to the battle ground and they in turn focused U.S. airpower and allowed Afghanistan's Northern Alliance ground forces to dispatch the Taliban and al Qaeda from Afghanistan. AFSOC personnel also deployed to the Philippines to help aid that country's efforts against terrorism. US Air Force Special Operations had a long-term presence in the Philippines during Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines. Operation Iraqi Freedom In March 2003, AFSOC again deployed forces to southwest Asia this time in support of what would become Operation Iraqi Freedom – the removal of Saddam Hussein and his Baathist government. The command's personnel and aircraft teamed with SOF and conventional forces to quickly bring down Saddam Hussein's government by May 2003. AFSOC forces continued to conduct operations in support of the new Iraqi government against insurgents and terrorists. Interoperability and Multinational trainings The USAFSOC takes part in the multinational trainings at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Centre in which it trains in multiple scenarios with partner nations in order to increase interoperability between partner forces. Commanders AFSOC has had eleven commanders since its inception in 1990. Contingency operations Gallery See also Ground Mobility Vehicle – (US)SOCOM program V-22 Osprey Air Resupply And Communications Service Special Services Wing References Further reading Chinnery, Philip D. Any Time, Any Place: Fifty Years of the USAF Air Commando and Special Operations Forces, 1944–1994. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 1994. Haas, Michael E. Apollo's Warriors: U.S. Air Force Special Operations During the Cold War. 2002, University Press of the Pacific, Honolulu. . Hebert, Adam J. "The Air Commandos". Air Force Magazine, March 2005 (vol. 88, no. 3). Marquis,