Ospreys Over Mountain Home:
Marines from MCAS Miramar, Calif., last week completed a two-week deployment to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, where they took advantage of the local terrain and Air Force hospitality to train with their new MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. It was their first visit with the MV-22s. “The main purpose of this training was for our squadron to become full-operations capable on the MV-22, so we can deploy,” said Marine SSgt. Travis Borkowski, a crew chief with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 166. Marine Capt. Eric Mann, squadron adjutant, said the training ranges near Mountain Home allowed the marines “to quickly and efficiently conduct training that would be difficult to get at Miramar, such as ground threat reaction, tail gun, and low-altitude tactics.” On Aug. 19, about 240 airmen got to ride on the MV-22s. (Mountain Home report by SrA. Benjamin Sutton) (See also Mountain Home News report.)
The U.S. military is sending more fighter jets to the Middle East to step up its war with Iran, adding to what is already the largest buildup of airpower in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. For now, the operation shows little sign of coming to a quick…