Abstract
The purpose of this study is to collate the essentials of Special Operations with the Royal Danish Air Force, in order to assess its ability to build an Air Special Operation Capability. Vice Admiral William H. McRaven’s theory on Special Operations offers an explanation to what makes special operations, special. McRaven’s theory helps to get a deeper under-standing of doctrine and find deductions that tell us what an Air Special Operations Force should be able to perform. The main deductions from the study of theory and doctrine are that an Air Special Opera-tion Force should possess an operational level mindset and at the same time be able to conduct a thorough and detailed planning. Furthermore, an Air Special Operation Force should have a habitual relationship with other national Special Operations Forces. The analysis shows that Royal Danish Air Force possesses great potential to build an Air Special Operation Force capability. Essentially, what is needed to further build the poten-tial is a special operations mindset and combined arms training.