via Defense Web.
With the Ospreys as a key player in the Philippine’s relief, another story highlights the flexibility of this unique aircraft.I'm skeptical.
According to a USMC story by Captain Sharon Hyland:
Marines from the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response completed a long-range transport of Marines from Moron, Spain, to Dakar, Senegal, on November 13, utilizing MV-22Bs and a KC-130J.
The trip totalled more than 1,500 nautical miles and consisted of more than 30 Marines from SPMAGTF-CR and Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Africa 13. The Marines with SPMAGTF-Africa 13 were inserted in Senegal to participate in a small-boat operations and marksmanship training and exercises with the Senegalese military.
The mission marked the first time MV-22B Ospreys arrived in West Africa and offered the Senegalese and American Embassy personnel an up-close look at the tiltrotor aircraft during a static display and orientation flight.
This flight to Senegal can be added to other activities of the Osprey worldwide including: a first landing on a Japanese warship in the APR; the TRAP mission from North Carolina to Colorado; the Philippine’s relief mission; and the training with the Foreign Legion.
Clearly, the Osprey and its capabilities are becoming central to US Marine Corps global operations.
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Flying 30 Marines fifteen hundred miles does nothing but make me wonder who emptied the porta potty.
That's a piss ant force for a piss ant mission.
A bigger issue is why? Why is the Marine Corps filling the airwaves with MV-22 propaganda? Is its funding under potential threat? The concept of a SPMAGTF-CR doesn't hold up to anyone that has even a thimble full of knowledge about combat ops so what gives?
The only angle I see is an attempt to impress the Japanese. The US has a big push on to increase military ties with Japan, and purchase Ospreys, but there's some resistance from Japanese people. There are (I believe) two Osprey squadrons in Japan but their activities are not publicized much. I guess they want the PR to be long distance. Therefore the piss ant force for a piss ant mission in a piss ant western African country. Make believe it's the Senkakus, they say in effect. Maybe.
ReplyDeletethat makes as much sense as anything but its downright unseemly.
DeleteIt's unusual for a Captain (0-3) to be writing a puff piece for aircraft. Formerly First Lt. Sharon A. Hyland was Public Affairs Director for Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, Hyland's now with Marine Corps Forces Europe.
ReplyDeleteMore interesting is that Hyland founded "A Hero's Welcome" and is married to an Army sergeant. Story and photo here. (scroll down)
http://www.americanhomecomings.com/news/2012/05/03/a-hero%E2%80%99s-welcome-no-one-should-come-home-without-our-thanks/
Oh well, it's a slow day.