Six CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft and airmen from the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Fla., returned home earlier this month from a previously undisclosed three-month deployment to Southwest Asia. This was the first combat tour for the CV-22. (Its Marine Corps cousin, the MV-22, has already served in Iraq and is now operating in Afghanistan.) The Northwest Florida Daily News reported that the CV-22s were in Iraq. Asked Nov. 20 to confirm this, TSgt. Angela Shepherd, a 1st SOW spokeswoman, would only say the CV-22s went “in support of Operation Iraq Freedom.” She added that the mission commander during the deployment was “pleased with how everything went.” AFSOC, as is its practice, kept a tight lid on this mission and did not release any information until the CV-22s returned home, said Shepherd. They arrived back at Hurlburt Nov. 12. (Includes Hurlburt photo caption)
As it develops new weapons to attack satellites, the U.S. Space Force is focused more on ground-based efforts where the technology is more mature, the service’s top general said April 3.