Commodore's Corner"

VRM's Accelerated Growth

By CAPT Justin McCaffree, USN, VRM Commodore

Therequest to write this issue’s Commodore’s Corner came at an ideal time because the VRM Community has seen significant change in the last year, but also because the theme of Rotor Review #162 touches on a mission area that is part of a much larger discussion on how to employ the CMV-22B Osprey in the future.

Accelerated growth has been the experience for VRM this year and that will continue into 2024. VRM-30 is preparing to send out the next wave of detachments, after completing the first ever CMV-22B deployments in 2022. Additionally, officers and enlisted came together to identify a targeted investment that could be made in order to reduce detachment required airlift support by 50%. This effort will have positive impacts over the entire life of the VRM Community and also save the NAE millions.

VRM-40 has gone from a squadron in name to receiving aircraft to earning the safe to operate certification in a span of months. VRM-40’s final challenge for 2023 will be the homeport shift from NAS North Island to NS Norfolk. Once established, the squadron will serve as the operational east coast VRM squadron.

The FRS, VRM-50, completed the first CAT I students and the squadron is poised to become the single source for trained pilots and aircrewmen in the coming months. Together with VRM-30, VRM-50 is eagerly anticipating moving into a brand new, purpose built hangar toward the end of the year.

2024 will be a little bittersweet for the community as the Naval Aviation Training Support Group (NATSG), MCAS New River, has started the sundown process which will culminate in September next year. NATSG is part of the

VMMT-204 multi-service FRS which trains USN, USMC, and USAF V-22 pilots and aircrew. Until VRM-50 started to train students, NATSG and VMMT-204 were the first contact between USN personnel and the V-22 Osprey. In many ways, NATSG is the cradle for Navy V-22 operations which is borne out by the fact that the vast majority of current CMV-22B fliers received their initial training in New River. Any officer, chief petty officer, or Sailor who served at NATSG was instrumental to all current and future success of the VRM Community.

While the previous paragraphs provide an update on where VRM is, the topic of where VRM is going is as interesting as it is complex. Much like a Navy MH-60 helicopter, many senior leaders see a V-22 and assume that each version is interchangeable regardless of the mission. The CMV-22B is optimized for combat logistics but the Osprey in general is a very flexible and capable aircraft. A year ago, ADM Paparo told VRM to “blow up the COD CONOPS,” which is an effort that the VRM leadership is spending significant time exploring.

The point behind ADM Paparo’s statement is that the CMV will be asked to do missions in 7th Fleet that were not possible using the C-2A. Although a stalwart much loved COD platform, the C-2A is bounded by a legacy logistics model that uses a long airfield runway to fly to the CVN and back. The CMV has few airfield restrictions and can service many other classes of ships than the CVN.

Another area of exploration in blowing up the CONOPS is in the search and rescue arena, which is the theme of this issue of Rotor Review. The CMV-22B has several advantages for the SAR mission when examining a potential conflict in 7th Fleet. The aircraft has a 1150 nm range, the ability to conduct in-flight refueling, a 240 KCAS cruise speed, and 48 rescue hoists on contract. However, VRM aircrewmen are not rescue swimmers so the recovery of survivors from the water would be a significant challenge. While there are many COAs to achieve more SAR capability inside VRM, they each have differing financial costs and time to train hurdles.

The first solution to increasing SAR capability inside VRM is the most expensive and time consuming, and that is qualify AWFs as rescue swimmers. This would be a permanent fix but without a validated requirement to do so, would be unlikely to get funded. A simpler solution could be to qualify a small number of HSC rescue swimmers to fly on the CMV to serve in an as needed capacity. Another option could be to utilize the CMV-22B as a patient transport vehicle to get the injured to a higher level of care. The CMV-22B's speed, range, large cabin space, the capability to carry up to 12 litter patients, and the ability to land/take-off like a helicopter make it uniquely suited to move patients within the Pacific AOR.

Regardless of where the CMV fits into the SAR mission, it is up to the entire vertical lift community to think through survivor recovery, stabilization, and transport to arrive at the appropriate level of care in ta Great Power Competition environment. Long gone are the days of the standard SAR scenario being a single or dual seat jet ejection in close proximity to the carrier. New scenarios should include how to recover a survivor at beyond 200 nm or how to conduct rescues for a mass casualty event like a sinking DDG. Should a fight happen in 7th Fleet, every platform that has the ability to conduct SAR will be needed to do their part.

While it is exciting to reflect on all the accomplishments that the VRM Community has achieved this year, it is just as exhilarating to contemplate where VRM will go in the future. Although VRM’s primary mission remains COD and combat logistics, it is clear that the community and the aircraft will be called upon to do more in the Pacific, including identifying its contribution to the mission that is best summed up by, “So Others May Live.”

Special thanks to AWSCM Robert Kershaw for his insight and collaboration on this article.