"One of the Air Force Special Operations Command's main missions is to sneak America's elite troops in and out of hostile countries with its fleet of specialized aircraft. But the flying branch's top commando headquarters also relies on specially trained airmen to first find places to drop troops and equipment," he explained.
In 2013, AZRTs found nearly 300 sites across the Middle East suitable for landing aircraft or dropping supplies and equipment, official documents show.
In addition, the Air Force is said to have created a special aerial unit known as the Joint Special Operations Air Component-Central at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Trevithick wrote for the War is Boring website.
The Pentagon did not provide the exact type of aircraft deployed to the al-Udeid base but they, according to the expert, could well include the MC-130 tanker, the CV-22 Osprey, the C-146 Wolfhound, the U-28A.
"With all of this existing infrastructure in place, the Pentagon should have no trouble getting its commandos to their final destination. It's quite possible some of those troops have already visited this Middle Eastern battlefield," he noted.
This could well explain a report which surfaced on Wednesday claiming that US special operations troops have already reached Syria and started training rebels there. On Friday, the White House announced that no more than 50 US military advisors would head to the war-torn country to assist local forces fighting against ISIL.
"And whatever happens with the mission in Syria, the Pentagon will still have its list of drop zones to help commandos sneak all over the Middle East at a moment's notice," Trevithick observed.
