AFSOC Deploys Ospreys to Honduras

Some of Air Force Special Operations Command’s new CV-22 Ospreys were conducting operations in Honduras recently and while there applied their unique capabilities to further a humanitarian mission. Airmen of the 8th Special Operations Squadron, based at Hurlburt Field, Fla., employed three CV-22s to support various agencies in delivering supplies long-overdue to remote villages in the mountains that couldn’t be reached via roads. The Osprey force delivered a total of about 43,000 pounds of supplies, including food, hospital beds, and even textbooks to villages around Puerto Limpera. “This was a 13-hour crew day, landing on a dirt strip, resulting in a ‘brown out’ landing each time,” said Lt. Col. Darryl Sheets, mission commander. He added, “The power, range, and speed of the CV-22 Osprey offers unique capabilities to a broad spectrum of humanitarian relief efforts. Critics might claim otherwise, see Osprey Again in the Cross Hairs) (Hurlburt report by 2nd Lt. Mark Lazane)