150 Marines return from mission in Spain

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. — About 150 Marines from Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 365 are coming back to North Carolina after a five-month deployment in Spain.

Marine Corps spokeswoman 1st Lt. Sarah Burns said Thursday’s return to Marine Corps Air Station New River is occurring in two stages.

Burns said the men and women returning in the unit include MV-22 Osprey pilots, crew chiefs, crewmembers and avionics specialists.

They were deployed in support of the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response unit. The unit’s mission is to support U.S. embassies in the region as well as noncombat evacuation operations, humanitarian assistance activities and disaster relief operations.

While in Spain, the unit conducted training with Spanish paratroopers and a U.S. Navy bomb disposal unit.