Miramar Marines take Gunfighters on memorable flight

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Benjamin Sutton
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., who have been on temporary duty assignment here, took approximately 240 Gunfighters on incentive flights in two MV-22 Ospreys Aug. 19.
 
The Marines are assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 166 and are conducting training exercises here from Aug. 9 to 25.

"The main purpose of this training was for our squadron to become full operations capable on the MV-22 so we can deploy," explained Marine Staff Sgt. Travis C. Borkowski, a crew chief with VMM-166.

The MV-22 Osprey's mission for the U.S. Marine Corps is the transportation of troops, equipment, and supplies from ships and land bases for combat assault and assault support. It has many unique capabilities such as both a vertical takeoff and landing, and short takeoff and landing. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft.

"We are lucky to be here in an unfamiliar area and perform flight operations and maintenance while enjoying the Air Force hospitality," said Borkowski. "Today has been extremely rewarding having the opportunity to fly the Gunfighters around."

The Osprey's spent more than 5 hours flying the Gunfighters around the local area for what is a rarely seen bird's-eye-view for the majority of Airmen.

"A lot of Airmen, myself included, never get a chance to ride in the aircraft because of our career fields," stated Senior Airman Michelle Brewer, 366th Fighter Wing knowledge operations manager. "The Osprey was very exciting to ride in and I was shocked by how crowded it was inside because it is such a large aircraft."

Despite the size, according to the Boeing website, the MV-22 is twice as fast as a helicopter and has a much longer range resulting in greater mission versatility.

"Riding in the Osprey was awesome, if I could do it again right now I absolutely would," said Staff Sgt. Samantha A. Safford, 366th Operations Support Squadron aviation resource manager. "The pressure from split second turning and twists really made me aware of how unique this aircraft is. This kind of inter-service training is great for both the Gunfighters and Marines."

The Marines continually commented on the opportunities the MHAFB area had for them. For example, being able to coordinate training with Air Force Special Operations and working with Army AH-64 Apache's to conduct two joint training missions.

"The facilities and terrain available to us in the MHAFB area offers us very diverse training opportunities that are not readily available in the San Diego area," said Marine Capt. Eric R. Mann, VMM-166 Adjutant. "The ranges available so close to Mountain Home enable us 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. The Sawtooth Mountains have Forest Service grass air strips that we can use as landing zones to practice landing in mountainous terrain. We especially enjoy any opportunity to show people what we are capable of and how great a machine the VM-22 Osprey really is. MHAFB has been such an excellent host to us and we appreciate the opportunity to give back in any way we can."