The Marine Corps’ unit tasked with responding to crises in Africa will see its count of MV-22B Osprey aircraft cut by half next year.
The Marine Corps Times reported that six of the 12 MV-22B Ospreys currently based at Moron Air Base in Spain will head back to a base in the United States next year in order to train new crews and allow the aircraft squadrons to have time at home, according to officials.
The move, however, will reduce the "flexibility" and "depth" of the aviation component of the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa, Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told U.S. senators last week.
"I’m not happy that we had to reduce the number from 12 to six," Dunford said. "That does reduce the flexibility, it reduces the depth. I was personally involved in that decision. We were balancing risk on two sides."
The unit based in Spain was established following the terror attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. The response force was created to provide a range of military capabilities, including rapid support to U.S. embassies, missions, and other operations, in Africa and Europe in matters of crisis.
Marines are able to efficiently travel to remote areas in Africa using the Ospreys. The aircraft, for example, played a crucial role in the July 2014 evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Libya.
Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Sarah Burns told the Marine Corps Times that the move will "alleviate the constant stress of deploying on our pilots and maintainers" and will allow for the restoration of Marine aviation readiness. The current high demand for Ospreys means that squadrons are consistently deploying and given less time at home, she said.
A spokesman for the Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa said that the unit will still be able to sufficiently respond to crises in the region with the remaining Ospreys.