Some of Air Force Special Operations Command’s new CV-22 Ospreys were conducting operations in Honduras recently and while there applied their unique capabilities to further a humanitarian mission. Airmen of the 8th Special Operations Squadron, based at Hurlburt Field, Fla., employed three CV-22s to support various agencies in delivering supplies long-overdue to remote villages in the mountains that couldn’t be reached via roads. The Osprey force delivered a total of about 43,000 pounds of supplies, including food, hospital beds, and even textbooks to villages around Puerto Limpera. “This was a 13-hour crew day, landing on a dirt strip, resulting in a ‘brown out’ landing each time,” said Lt. Col. Darryl Sheets, mission commander. He added, “The power, range, and speed of the CV-22 Osprey offers unique capabilities to a broad spectrum of humanitarian relief efforts. Critics might claim otherwise, see Osprey Again in the Cross Hairs) (Hurlburt report by 2nd Lt. Mark Lazane)
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…
