Ospreys succeeding in Iraq, Marine Corps says

Ospreys succeeding in Iraq, Marine Corps says
Squadron arrived in October
Jay Price, Staff Writer

The first Marine squadron to fly the controversial Osprey tilt-rotor in a combat zone is doing well, and likely will be replaced in Iraq by another North Carolina Osprey squadron when it returns to the state this spring, a Marine spokesman said.

Three Osprey squadrons are based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, including Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263, which arrived in Iraq in October. Like that unit, its replacement probably would be stationed in Iraq about seven months, Maj. Eric Dent said.

The Osprey takes off and lands like a helicopter. Once airborne, it can tilt its engines forward to fly like a plane.

Before being put into service, the Osprey struggled through more than two decades of development, including soaring costs, maintenance problems and three crashes that killed 26 Marines and four civilians. There hasn't been a fatal crash since 2000, but a year ago, a Pentagon report said that frequent parts and system failures and other problems had hampered the aircraft's development.

En route to Iraq, one Osprey had to set down twice in Jordan before it was finally repaired. Since then, though, the mission has gone well, Dent said.

"Right now, it's going exactly as expected," Dent said. "They're flying a lot of missions, and have flown more than 1,000 hours already."

There were a couple of days when only about half the squadron's 10 aircraft were available because of maintenance problems. The readiness rate has improved, though, to an average of about 80 percent, about the goal set by the Marines, he said.

The Ospreys haven't been shot at yet. In the past year, Anbar province, where they are operating, has gone from the most dangerous part of Iraq to one of the most peaceful. The Marine Corps, which has been responsible for Anbar for much of the war, has successfully persuaded many tribal leaders there to stop fighting U.S. forces and instead help hunt down cells of terrorists with al-Qaida in Iraq.

The squadron has been engaged mainly in moving passengers and cargo around the western Iraqi province, though it has also started "aeroscout" missions, carrying loads of Marines to areas where insurgents are suspected, Dent said. If there seems to be trouble, the Ospreys swoop in and unload troops to investigate.

Marines do similar missions with helicopters, but Ospreys are faster and can cover more ground, Dent said.

One reason the Ospreys' maintenance is going relatively well in Iraq is that the manufacturer, Bell-Boeing, sent about a dozen workers to augment the military service crews, Dent said.

It's normal for manufacturers of aircraft and complex weapons systems to send representatives on deployments. It's hard to say what a normal number of contractors for an Osprey squadron would be, Dent said, as this is its first deployment and everyone involved is learning what "normal" means.

The Marines fought hard for years to keep the Osprey program from being killed and are carefully controlling information about the aircraft's performance in Iraq. In two unusual moves, they have been funneling most questions about the deployment through a spokesman at the Pentagon -- Dent -- and initially prevented reporters from embedding with the unit. Dent said reporters embedded with other Marine units have since flown in the Ospreys and that the Marines would now consider requests to embed with the squadron.

jay.price@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4526

Ellie