Air Force Special Operations Command plans to stand up a squadron of CV-22 Ospreys at RAF Mildenhall, England, said AFSOC Commander Lt. Gen. Eric Fiel. “Probably June or July [2013], we’ll be standing up our third CV-22 squadron when the first CV-22s land at Mildenhall,” he said at the four-star forum of AFA’s Air and Space Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Sept. 19. Next summer, AFSOC also plans to replace its legacy MC-130 covert operations aircraft at Mildenhall. Shortly after the Ospreys arrive, “we’ll begin to recap our ageing MC-130 fleet, both our Talon IIs and our Combat Shadows,” by replacing them with the MC-130J Commando II, said Fiel. AFSOC hopes to introduce CV-22s into the Pacific region as well, in 2014, he added. The command originally planned to deploy CV-22s to England this year.
Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich assumed command of U.S. European Command on July 1, taking over the key assignment as the U.S. and its allies contend with a resurgent Russia and a grinding war in Ukraine.
