Honor the Marines’ Sacrifice by Perfecting and Deploying the Osprey

(Washington, D.C.): In the wake of yet another tragic crash of the Marine Corps’ revolutionary V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and the attendant loss of life of four servicemen, calls are once again being heard to cancel this program. The temptation to take such a step must appear particularly great to former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney who tried repeatedly during his tenure at the Pentagon to do just that.

Semper Fidelis

It would, however, be a terrible mistake — for the Marines and for the Nation — to accede to such pressure on the basis of this and previous mishaps. It would also demean and squander the sacrifice of the Marines and other personnel who have given their lives to date. They did so in the conviction that this extraordinary technology can and must be brought to bear so that untold thousands of their countrymen can perform dangerous combat, search and rescue, special operations and other missions in the future in greater safety and with greater likelihood of success than with helicopter alternatives.

Despite several regrettable accidents, the proof of the promise of tiltrotor technology is in hand — thanks to thousands of developmental flight hours that have satisfied or exceeded every requirement. As with earlier efforts to bring to fruition revolutionary technology, like the helicopter and the Harrier “jump jet,” the military undertakes difficult challenges when the pay-off is clear and the risks acceptable. While a final judgment on the full magnitude of the risks will not be knowable for years to come, long after the crash investigation into today’s accident is complete, the enormity of the contribution the V-22 will make to the Marine Corps is clear.

The Bottom Line

For these reasons, the Marines should be given the political support necessary to bring the Osprey back on-line and readied for deployment as soon as possible. This will require politicians and civilian policy-makers to allow the military to have both the responsibility and the authority needed to ensure that their personnel are equipped with the most effective and reliable equipment possible.

It will take guts to do that in the face of withering criticism from some legislators, the press and others — but certainly no more than the guts the Marines have displayed to date in bringing the tiltrotor to the point where it can begin to payback the investment in resources and, most especially, in human life that has been made to get it there.