logo
CMV-22 Grounding Was 'Wakeup Call' For Navy, Stakes Higher With C-2 Gone Next Year

CMV-22 Grounding Was 'Wakeup Call' For Navy, Stakes Higher With C-2 Gone Next Year

Yahoo09-04-2025

A senior Navy aviation officer says the three-month-long grounding of virtually all Osprey tiltrotors worldwide following the fatal crash of a U.S. Air Force CV-22B off the coast of Japan in 2023 sent serious ripples through his service. With Navy CMV-22Bs sitting idle, aging C-2 Greyhound aircraft had to be surged to provide essential logistics support for U.S. aircraft carriers around the globe. While the Navy says it is confident in the Osprey's ability to perform, the impending retirement of the very last C-2s next year will make it even more critical for the service's CMV-22B fleet to be ready and reliable.
Rear Adm. Douglas 'V8' Verissimo, currently head of Naval Air Force Atlantic (AIRLANT), talked about the CMV-22B and C-2 fleets during a panel discussion at the Navy Sea Air Space 2025 exhibition earlier today, at which TWZ was in attendance. The Navy declared initial operational capability with its version of the Osprey in 2021. The U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force also operate fleets of MV-22B and CV-22B variants, respectively. Currently, the Japan Self-Defense Forces are the only other operator of Ospreys globally.
The 2023 CV-22 crash 'was definitely a wake-up call for many of us who are anticipating transitioning from the C-2 to the CMV-22,' Verissimo said bluntly. 'The C-2 crews, with some venerable old aircraft, stepped up and took care of business. An unexpected surge in the requirement to maintain carrier onboard delivery [COD] to our aircraft carriers going forward.'
The COD mission and the aircraft that fly it provide logistics and related support to aircraft carriers and their associated strike groups, which is especially key when they are far from friendly ports. This can include delivering and retrieving cargo and/or personnel, as well as other tasks like medical evacuation. COD, in general, is an essential facet of carrier strike group operations and would be particularly critical during a major crisis in the broad expanses of the Indo-Pacific region.
'They mustered from E-2 squadrons to get back to C-2 squadrons to get those dets [detachments] manned and capable to fulfill the tasks,' Verissimo added.
The C-2 design is directly derived from the E-2 Hawkeye carrier-based airborne early warning and control aircraft. The initial variants of both types flew for the first time in the 1960s. New and improved E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes, including a growing number with in-flight refueling capability, are currently set to keep flying in Navy service at least into the 2040s.
'I would say I'm very confident in what that [2023] mishap taught us. I'm very confident in the work that [Vice Admiral Carl] Chebi and our entire team has done in the comprehensive review of understanding that system from a reliability standpoint, from a safety standpoint, and then to really make sure that we're getting the crews that fly it proficient [again],' the AIRLANT commander continued.
Though the grounding following the 2023 crash was lifted more than a year ago, U.S. military Osprey operators have been following very deliberate and methodical schedules to get back to where they were in terms of operational tempo before the accident. Various significant flight restrictions have remained in place. A final comprehensive review of the incident, which will include a host of recommendations, is still weeks away from being completed. As of June 2024, the expectation was that U.S. V-22 flight operations across the board would not return to a 'normal' tempo until the middle of this year.
'I'm confident in the platform. I'm confident in our det [detachment] design, that we can sustain the carrier with the range and the requirements,' Rear Adm. Verissimo stressed. 'As a matter of fact, the ability to recover a CMV-22 is less limiting than a tail hook aircraft [like the C-2] in many aspects for our carrier onboard delivery. So there is goodness there.'
The Navy has long touted the replacement of the C-2 with the CMV-22 as a game-changer. The Osprey's ability to take off and land vertically, but still cruise at turboprop-like speeds offers important advantages, including being able to deliver payloads directly to other ships in the strike group and not being tethered to runways ashore. With a C-2, cargo and personnel have to be delivered first to the carrier and then moved to other ships via helicopter.
The CMV-22B can also be refueled in flight, unlike the C-2. Navy Ospreys can land on carriers with a higher gross weight, including fuel and cargo, than a Greyhound and can carry heavy and outsized loads slung underneath the fuselage, as well. The ability to move large cargoes is particularly important for the CMV-22B because of the need to bring spare F135 engines for the F-35C Joint Strike Fighters to carriers at sea.
With the Osprey's inherent versatility, the Navy has also raised the possibility of the tiltrotors taking on other missions in the future, including acting as communications nodes.
At the same time, the Osprey has been and continues to be a very controversial aircraft with a service record that includes numerous fatal crashes since the Marine Corps became the first operator to declare initial operational capability in 2007. By that point, the V-22 had already struggled through a very problematic and protracted development process.
All Ospreys were grounded again more briefly just last December following another thankfully non-fatal mishap involving an Air Force CV-22. The Marine Corps, which is currently by far the biggest Osprey operator, has consistently contended that the official mishap rate for its MV-22Bs sits firmly within the average for all aircraft types it operates.
With all this in mind, and despite his stated confidence, 'the system that underlines the readiness required for the Navy to keep two of three CMV-22Bs ready on the flight deck at all times is needs to be sharpened,' Rear Adm. Verissimo said today. 'We need to manage that joint program with a Navy focus on what [is] … required to supply the carrier with that needed onboard delivery.'
Earlier in his remarks, the AIRLANT commander had also offered a warning about the backup capability that what is left of the C-2 fleet still offers, saying 'that train is running out.' Since the 2023 CV-22 crash, the Navy has consistently said it will stick to its current plan to retire the Greyhound fleet for good in 2026.
'So work to be done,' Verissimo said, but 'I'm confident we'll get there.'
In the meantime, if the CMV-22B fleet ends up grounded for a protracted period of time again, there are set to be even fewer, if any C-2s available to surge to fill the resulting gap to keep Navy carriers supplied at sea.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

‘Something that mattered': 3 Kentucky women on their military service
‘Something that mattered': 3 Kentucky women on their military service

Yahoo

time12 hours ago

  • Yahoo

‘Something that mattered': 3 Kentucky women on their military service

Growing up, service was a way of life for Dina Parrott. From watching her grandmother make a meal and deliver it to a family coping with the loss of a loved one, to seeing her mom pitch in to help a neighbor down on his luck, Parrott was surrounded by servant leaders. 'My mom and grandmother had me all over the place helping people,' said Parrott, 53, an Air Force veteran. 'They did so much of that, and I remember seeing that, and not thinking it was a big deal. As I got older, I was like, 'Wow.' They elected to help people. And then, as I grew up a little bit more, I started feeling like it was what you were supposed to do.' Without knowing it was happening, that became what Parrott wanted to do with her life. For her, she discovered that service would come in the form of a career with the U.S. Air Force. 'With the military… it's not about just going to war. It's about helping people and making people better,' Parrott said. Women Veterans Recognition Day is observed annually on June 12, commemorating the Women's Armed Service Integration Act of 1948. It is not a separate Veterans Day for women. Instead, in at least 21 states including Kentucky, special attention is paid to women's military contributions. Parrott is one of nearly 2 million female veterans living in the U.S. today — 24,000 of whom are in Kentucky. Since the Revolutionary War, more than 3 million women have served in or with the armed forces, according to the Department of Defense. Veterans like Parrott say it's essential to remember that much has changed for the better for women who serve, because of the sacrifices of those who went before them. Recognizing these female veterans coincides with a time of reflection across Lexington as they city celebrates its 250th birthday with one eye on its rich history and the other on its future as a community and its commitment to public service. After completing a year of college, Parrott's school funds were depleted. She needed a new direction, and wanted a change in her environment. She enlisted in January 1994 and stayed until her retirement in July 2019. 'It was two years before I really understood what (the military) was all about, and I really loved it,' she said. 'It spoke to everything I believed in morally, things I valued.' She enlisted in January 1994 and stayed until her retirement in July 2019. 'I was going to go for four years,' Parrott said. 'I stayed with the Air Force because their No. 1 thing became people first. Literally, this is what they said, 'Put people first and the mission will get done.'' After retiring from active duty, Parrott now serves as the women veterans program administrator for the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs. 'When I retired, I went back to school, but then I said to my husband, 'I don't have a purpose,' and I struggled. I had nothing to wake up to,' Parrott said. 'It was missing that itch, that call that somebody needs me.' Parrott was young and wanted to do more with her life, and she said she's found that in the work she does with the VA, especially because she gets to celebrate many who are often overlooked. 'People need to understand that every individual, no matter what race or gender or whatever, has something unique to contribute to a mission, whatever you're doing,' Parrott said. Parrott said historically many groups of people — including minorities and women — have been overlooked or relegated to more 'traditional' roles. 'Women have so much more to offer, we've evolved into seeing that everybody is capable. Not everybody has the same strengths, but that's how you build a good team,' she said. Parrott pointed to the accomplishments that continue to be brought to light about women's roles in the military, including those of the Hello Girls, a group of World War I female telephone operators and about the World War II-era 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, highlighted in the 2024 film 'The Six Triple Eight' by Tyler Perry. The battalion included 18 women from Kentucky. The unit has collectively earned a Meritorious Unit Commendation, awarded in 2019, and a Congressional Gold Medal, awarded in 2022. 'Back in the day, none of those women who served were recognized as a veteran for the service they did in the military,' Parrott said. 'There were sought out and brought in, and then overlooked.' Today, Parrott works to right some of those historical deficiencies, and she's hoping to set people straight for the future. 'The reason my program exists is to acknowledge women who have served,' she said. 'If I go to my VA here and my husband goes with me, the volunteers right away are shaking his hand saying, 'Thank you for your service.' I get so angry.' Parrott's husband has never been in the military, and he's quick to correct those who assume he's the veteran, she said. 'He'll give me my props and say, 'No, no, that's all her.' When a woman walks into the VA, she's thought of as anything but a veteran. 'We're trying to bring light to some of these issues, trying to make sure that women are acknowledged,' Parrott said. One major initiative is the Military Women's Memorial Register. An interactive database of records, the register asks women, or their loved ones if the veteran is deceased, to provide information about the service completed. 'It lives on forever, so that no woman's story is ever forgotten again,' Parrott said. Parrott remembers a photo she sent home to her family. On a wall on base were photos of various squadron leaders, including Parrott. 'I remember taking a picture of all these men up here, saying what squadron they're with, and you know they are this leader and that leader. And here's my little face, this little Black girl,' she said. 'I sent it to my mom, and she cried. She cried when she saw that and she said, 'How are you up there?' 'And I said, 'Mom, we have come a long way. We can do this stuff. We just need the opportunity.'' Participation in the ROTC program in high school set Alex Lamb on her path to the military. But years before that, Lamb, now 57, had an inkling there was some type of service in her future. Lamb's mom worked at the police department and Lamb herself was involved in Girl Scouts in her hometown of Gainesville, Florida. Popular period movies of the 1980s like Top Gun and An Officer and a Gentleman further embedded that military mindset into Lamb. Still, Lamb's mother Wanda didn't immediately embrace the idea of her only child heading off to enlist. She went to college for a few months, but tuition and fees were hard to afford, so her mom gave her blessing to enlist. Lamb served from 1989 to 1993. 'I got on the bus that night, and I was wearing jeans and a University of Florida T-shirt, you know like an 18-year-old would wear,' she said. Upon arrival at the U.S. Navy Training Center in Orlando, Florida, Lamb said she quickly understood the weight of her decision. 'You get off the bus, and it's dark. They take you all into a room and you raise your right hand and swear (service) to the country,' Lamb said. Uniform sizing came next. Among other things, Lamb recalled the nondescript nature of the items: plain white underwear and stiff, ill-fitting boots. Nothing personal. Her comfortable jeans and T-shirt were gone, and days later showed up back at her parent's home. Navy personnel mailed Lamb's clothes back to her mother. When she saw the contents, Lamb's mom was shocked. 'She said, 'Honey, I felt like you died,'' Lamb said. 'My mom said that broke her heart. I'll never forget her telling me that.' After apprentice training school, where recruits would be exposed from everything to plumbing and electrical career pathways, to carpentry and machining, Lamb landed in a role as an electrician. But she'd been hoping for something a little more. 'I love water and diving and all that. I wanted to be in search and rescue,' she said. Back then, Lamb said she and other women were discouraged from pursuing those roles. What's more, she said that even in the jobs where women were assigned, the placements generated some not-so-friendly ribbing from their male colleagues. 'They would make bets on who would make it and who wouldn't,' she said. 'You always had to watch your back. No matter how long you were in an assignment, you had to watch your back. And then, when you worked hard — really hard — you never got the credit for it.' The Lexington woman recalled a conversation she overheard when working on a dock. 'After watching me work, a shipyard worker once said, in front of his employees, 'I'll take her and leave you three behind,'' Lamb said. 'That's just how you had to work, to prove yourself. But I hope it paved the way for men to think twice.' The pressure women felt during their active-duty years continues to be a challenge for female service members today, according to a 2021 study in the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation. Women veterans interviewed by researchers revealed that they, among other challenges, were subjected to gender-based discrimination, and continued to feel marginalized in the male-dominated military service environment. Carla Baker experienced that marginalization first-hand during her tour with the Navy. Baker, 54, went through boot camp in Orlando, Florida. Upon graduation, she was assigned to the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport, Mississippi. 'I was a Seabee. I was in at a time when women were still not allowed to go into combat units,' Baker said. She was active duty from 1989-1995, and tried to re-enlist twice, but health complications prevented it. The Navy was a career path chosen from a default position. At the recruiting center, Baker wanted to know what would get her out of her hometown of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, the fastest. 'Enlisting was a spur of the moment decision,' Baker said. 'I was just ready for something different. I was in such a small town, there wasn't much to offer. And I had no desire at that point to go to college, so I took the plunge.' Wanting the fastest route helped Baker land on the construction mechanic pathway, despite the recruiter's encouragement that Baker pursue 'typical female jobs' like a personnel specialist (formerly personnelman) or a hospital corpsman. The choice turned out to be fortuitous, because in time Baker was asked if she wanted to be part of an underwater construction team, or transfer to Camp David. She chose the latter. 'The first time I ever saw my daddy cry, was when I told him I had enlisted. He had wanted to go into the service, he tried every branch, but he was deaf in one ear, so that kept him out. And then mama, she told me, 'Well Carla, you never know. You might meet the president.' She would eventually meet six presidents. 'I met all the way back to (Richard) Nixon,' Baker said. Baker was on site for the former Russian president Boris Yeltsin's trip to Camp David. And when Barbara Bush broke her ankle while sledding, it was Baker who accompanied the First Lady to the hospital. Baker, who today serves as the commander of the American Legion Douglas Laws Post 52 in Harrodsburg, said she encourages any young person who she thinks would succeed in the military to pursue enlistment. 'When I talk to anybody about the military, I say it is so easy to take a civilian, put them through boot camp and turn them into a military person,' Baker said. 'But once you're a military person, you're not coming back to civilian. I'm not the same person I was when I joined up.' She wouldn't trade her service years for anything. But that doesn't mean everything was always smooth sailing. 'We did the same job that men did, and we had to work harder than the men to be taken seriously… We were signing petitions saying that we wanted the same rights as the men who served… We fought tooth and nail for everything that we have gotten.' She recalled a story from June 2022, when Honor Flight Kentucky hosted 135 women, including Baker, on the first female-only Honor Flight. There was a younger woman on the flight who kept trying to speak with Baker, but the logistics of the day kept them apart. Finally, as the day was winding down, the two women spoke. Baker said the young woman was eager to learn about the elder veteran's service. Baker was quick to tell her she never served in combat or combat-facing battalions. 'I said, 'Hon, I was in during a time when women were not allowed to go to combat.' Of course, I told her we signed petitions and spoke out about deserving the same rights (as men). She gave me tears because she gave me the biggest hug and she thanked me.' She said, 'If you had not done what you did, I could not have done what I did.'' Baker said all she wanted then is all she wants now — to be taken seriously for her role, protecting and serving her country. 'America is free because of sacrifices made by individuals willing to stand up for our freedoms. I loved the Navy; I loved everything about it,' Baker said. 'It was the feeling like you were doing something worthwhile and something that mattered,' she said. 'There's nothing I could do now that would ever compare to what I did when I was basically a kid. There's nothing that will ever live up to the experiences that I had in the Navy.'

$20k donated to Connected Community Schools in Rome for tornado recovery
$20k donated to Connected Community Schools in Rome for tornado recovery

Yahoo

timea day ago

  • Yahoo

$20k donated to Connected Community Schools in Rome for tornado recovery

LIVERPOOL. N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Following the EF-2 tornado that touched down in Rome summer of 2024, the Upper New York Conference (UNY) of The United Methodist Church donated $20,000 to Connected Community Schools to support continued recovery efforts in Rome, NY. The Rome Recovery Fund was created as a response to the storm's aftermath. There was a significant number of donations to the conference, including donations from 79 local churches and 71 individuals, contributing more than $45,000 for UNY Disaster Response. 'Thanks to the compassionate giving of our congregations and individuals across Upper New York, we're able to continue walking alongside communities still recovering from last summer's disasters,' said Bishop Héctor A. Burgos Núñez. 'This donation to Connected Community Schools is a tangible expression of our shared commitment to long-term recovery and resilience.' UNY in action: In the summer of 2024, UNY Disaster Response helped out eight communities affected by severe weather across the region. Assistance included funding for local partners, coordination of volunteer work teams, and the delivery of disaster relief materials. Information on contributing to ongoing relief efforts can be found on their website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store