Ospreys headed to Afghanistan in coming weeks - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Ospreys headed to Afghanistan in coming weeks

Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 from Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C. will be the first Osprey squadron to operate in Afghanistan beginning next month, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

The deployment will include about 200 Marines and up to 12 aircraft tasked with supporting ground forces in Regional Command-South, which comprises Helmand, Nimruz, Kandahar, Zabol, Urozgan and Day Kundi provinces, according to a news release.

Officials declined to say where the squadron will be based, but a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Command said it will join the aviation element of Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan.

Brig. Gen. Jon Davis, the assistant deputy commandant for aviation, said earlier this month that he expects the Osprey to change the way Marines do business in Afghanistan, just as it did in Iraq.

When the first MV-22 squadron deployed to Iraq in September 2007, no one was certain how the aircraft would stand up in the harsh environment. To find out, the Corps kept the same aircraft in theater while rotating in three different squadrons over 19 months, allowing maintenance crews to determine which parts would wear quicker.

“I can’t speak of success in Iraq without bragging a little about the MV-22 Osprey,” Commandant Gen. James Conway said in April. “The way it was able to shrink the battle space was especially impressive. One of my commanders in Iraq compared it to being able to turn Texas into a place the size of Rhode Island.”

But one lingering question is how well the Osprey will be able to fly at high altitudes. A report by congressional investigators with the Government Accountability Office raised doubts about its ability to operate in Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain.

Marine officials dispute the GAO report, saying the Osprey’s speed, range and survivability surpass other medium-lift assault support aircraft and will ultimately save Marines’ lives.