Four U.S. Marines killed when a helicopter crashed in Norway final week throughout a joint coaching train with NATO allies have been identified Sunday.
In an announcement, the U.S. Marines Corps identified the deceased: Capt. Matthew J. Tomkiewicz of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Capt. Ross A. Reynolds of Leominster, Mass.; Gunnery Sgt. James W. Speedy of Cambridge, Ohio; and Cpl. Jacob M. Moore of Catlettsburg, Kentucky.
Their our bodies have been en path to the United States, the Marines Corps mentioned.
“The pilots and crew were committed to accomplishing their mission and serving a cause greater than themselves,” Maj. Gen. Michael Cederholm of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing mentioned in a letter to the households of the lifeless.
NATO allies and different U.S. navy companions made affords of assist, the corps mentioned. Those entities included the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the Royal Norwegian Navy, and Italian, Netherlands, and United Kingdom navy forces, it mentioned.
Military officers mentioned the MV-22 Osprey helicopter the Marines have been utilizing for coaching crashed Friday in excessive situations, though they’ve but to pinpoint a trigger, and the crash remained below investigation.
The Marines, assigned to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, II Marine Expeditionary Force, have been collaborating in a big NATO train known as Cold Response.
Although the train is meant to extend readiness in case there’s any aggression in opposition to NATO members from the “High North,” the alliance mentioned, there was no indication the coaching was a direct response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a assertion final week NATO described the cold-weather train as “long-planned.”
“Around 30,000 troops from 27 nations, including NATO’s close partners Finland and Sweden, are taking part in the exercise, as well as about 220 aircraft and more than 50 vessels,” the alliance mentioned.
The plane concerned, the MV-22 Osprey, which may take off and land like a helicopter however fly like a aircraft due to its “tiltrotor” engines, has had a bother historical past over the twenty years it has been flying.
The helicopter was concerned in crashes that killed greater than 30 folks earlier than it went into service in 2007. The Marine Corps has stood steadfastly behind the car.
Its makers, Boeing and Bell, say up to date, redundant backup programs used to observe its engine and computer systems have helped to make it a dependable workhorse.
The climate was so dangerous on the time of Friday’s crash that it was decided a responding helicopter couldn’t land on the accident web site, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre North Norway mentioned final week.
