Air Force CV-22 pilots and flight engineers got a taste of sea life recently when they made their first Osprey landings and take-offs from a Navy ship, the USS Bataan. The airmen—five pilots and three flight engineers—from the 8th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., first practiced their shipboard procedures on dry land, reports Jamie Haig. Believe it or not, 8th SOS boss, Lt. Col. Ted Carallo said the real thing was easier than simulator training. The bigger challenge was getting the squadron’s and ship’s schedules to mesh. Carallo said he expects to train other squadron members sometime this fall. Air Force Special Operations Command is still working tactics for the new Osprey fleet and earlier this summer practiced with Navy SEALs.
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.
