Commander of US Osprey squadron in Okinawa dismissed

February 2, 2018

Washington- The US Marines in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, have dismissed the commander of a squadron of Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft at the Marine Corps' Futenma air base in Ginowan in the prefecture, officials said Thursday.

As of Friday last week, Lt. Col. Bryan Swenson was relieved of his duties as the commanding officer of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 due to "loss of trust and confidence in his ability to lead his command," according to the officials.

Although the officials did not mention any particular action that led to the loss of trust and confidence, Swenson was apparently held responsible for a series of incidents involving Ospreys belonging to the Futenma base, including the crash of one of them off Australia's east coast in August last year.

In the crash, which occurred after the Osprey failed in its attempt to land on an aircraft carrier, three of the 26 personnel in the air transport died.

A few weeks later, an Osprey that was on its way to Futenma base from Iwakuni base in the western Japan prefecture of Yamaguchi made an emergency landing at an airport in Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan. Jiji Press