By Travis Hill, Col, USAF, (Retired) Brett Cassidy, Lt Col, USAF and Rob Meyersohn, Lt Col, USAF At the end of 2019, Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) marked 10 years of combat operations utilizing the CV-22 Osprey and the Air Commando Association thought it fitting to highlight a few moments in the incredible operational history of the Airmen that fly, maintain, and support this high demand and often misunderstood platform. The timing also seems fitting as AFSOC’s future-in-the-now platform, its game changing capabilities, and highly qualified crews have and continue to execute missions that no other platform or aircrew are able to do, carrying on the legacy of our Air Commando mantra, “Any Place, Any Time, Anywhere.” Organizationally, AFSOC recently stood up a fourth operational squadron in the US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) area of responsibility, adding complexity to the community’s ability to balance enterprise risk, season aircrews in combat, and build pipeline graduates into Air Commandos. Osprey aviators take all these challenges in stride, driving adaptation and change, and carrying on a long history of innovation and calculated risk-acceptance. Before we begin, it’s appropriate to say that this article is www.aircommando.org
not about highlighting what the CV-22 Osprey is or to convince the reader of its worth. The crews, missions, and history do that. If 30 years of aircraft development, testing, and refinement, and 10 years of operational employment are unconvincing, this article is unlikely to change that opinion. A machine, regardless of its technologically ground-breaking capability, is only a machine. It is the Airmen, whether flying the machine or the multitude of professionals on the ground, who turn the science of aircraft capabilities, performance charts, operating limits, and standards into the art of capturing high-value targets and saving American lives when no one else can. So, no matter where you sit on the Osprey fence, the fact remains that behind this revolutionary aircraft, which has forever changed the battlefield calculus with its combination of vertical lift and C-130 speeds, are professional crews challenging the enemy’s calculus on freedom of movement. They’re likely doing it this very night, as they have for over 10 years. The math is simple, twice as fast as a helicopter cuts the transit time in half. Reducing the transit time means more time for friendly forces to assault and clear the objective under the Vol 9, Issue 1 │ AIR COMMANDO JOURNAL │ 39
