Marines' New Boss Takes Osprey Ride
The things some people will do to get promoted!
--anonymous
Doing his best to keep the ill-fated Osprey
program alive, General Michael W. Hagee (right), the new Commandant
of the Marine Corps, entered his name into the history book of
naval aviation on January 8 by taking the first VIP flight in the
V-22 Osprey since the aircraft's return to flight in late May of
last year. Osprey No. 21 was used for the 20-minute sortie, piloted
by Lt. Col. Kevin Gross and Maj. Shawn Healy. Crew chief was
Gy.Sgt. Dennis Oliverio. The flight was conducted from NAS
Patuxent River (MD), home of NAVAIR and headquarters for the V-22
Integrated Test Team.
"What a blast," then-Lieutenant General Hagee gushed after the
flight. "The acceleration when we converted from vertical to
horizontal flight was unbelievable."
In addition to the VIP flight, during his visit to Southern
Maryland General Hagee also received a program overview from Col.
Dan Schultz, PMA-275 and offered words of encouragement and praise
to a gathering of engineers and technicians from the Osprey's
ITT.
"I want to congratulate the test team on all that's been
accomplished in recent months," the general said. "The Marine Corps
is depending on you to keep the press on in the future."
Besides the flight crew, joining Gen. Hagee on the flight was
Mr. Tom Laux, NAVAIR's Program Executive Officer for Air, Assault,
ASW, and Special Mission Programs.
"We're proud to show the incoming commandant a first-class
operation," Mr. Laux said. "It's important that General Hagee see
firsthand the great work that's going on here." (General Hagee
assumed the duties of the Commandant of the Marine Corps on January
13.)
Unfortunately, the ITT doesn't have much time to bathe in the
light of praise from these august sources. Among a host of events
in the next few weeks, the Osprey team will continue High Rate of
Descent Phase I testing on Aircraft No. 8, take Aircraft No. 10 to
the USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) for initial shipboard suitability testing,
and accept delivery of Aircraft No. 22 from the Bell-Boeing plant
in Amarillo.
[Thanks to Ward Carroll, NAVAIR Public Affairs, PMA-275 --ed.]
Note: Outgoing Commandant Gen. James L. Jones will become the
commander, U.S. European Command and NATO's supreme allied
commander, Europe, later this month. Hagee comes to the
commandant's job from Camp Pendleton (CA), where he'd been the
commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.