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Pave Lows fly to Virginia for last training

Four MH-53 Pave Low helicopters from Hurlburt Field, Fla., will conduct a week of mountain flight training beginning Wednesday in Virginia and West Virginia, the last stateside training mission for the special operations helicopters before they retire in September.

The aircraft, along with their flight and maintenance crews from the 20th Special Operations Squadron, flew from Hurlburt to Roanoke, Va., for the exercise.

They will operate out of Roanoke Regional Airport, in southwestern Virginia, and will fly both day and night missions, said Amy Oliver, a spokesman for the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt.

“We don’t have mountains in Florida, obviously, so we have to go to the mountains to do the training,” Oliver said. “It just keeps everybody’s skills sharp.”

The Air Force has operated Pave Lows since the Vietnam War, and the last of the heavy-lift helicopters will be retired Sept. 30.

The Pave Low missions will be taken over by Army aviation units and Air Force CV-22 Ospreys once they arrive in theater, Oliver said.