Original subtitles

[dramatic music]

[cell phone ringing]

- Hey, remi, peyton here. - Hey, peyton.

I'm headed to air station miramar now

To learn about naval and marine aviation.

- How you feeling? - I'm feeling great.

I'm as ready as I could ever be.

- I like it.

I just want to say how honored

That the history channel and I are

That you're leading this mission.

You know, in football,

We relied on preparation, communication.

I got to tell you, remi, it pales in comparison

To what our country's service members do on a daily basis.

- Yeah.

- Putting their lives on the line

To protect all of us at home.

So thank you for your service as a navy seal

And for telling the stories of others who served.

- Well, I'm honored to help share their stories.

But, peyton, I heard through the grapevine

That you did some work with navy seals back in the day.

How true is that? - Wow.

I, um...

♪

"work" might be putting it a little bit too strongly.

Let's just say I'm happier that you're there and I'm here.

- Well, I got you, peyton.

And I'm looking forward to getting on base

And learning what these folks do.

♪

The united states military is legendary--

A powerful presence throughout the world.

But what do civilians truly know

About the people, places, and history

Behind this institution?

All right, let's rock it.

My name is remi adeleke.

As a navy veteran, I've had the honor to serve my country

In ways I never expected.

[person shouts indistinctly]

Now I want to take you on a journey across america

To discover what lies beyond the battlefield.

♪

For those who take to the skies

For the navy and marine corps...

Life is a thrill ride in the fast lane.

These elite pilots, the best of the best...

♪

Go through the most intense training

The military has to offer...

♪

And fly missions across the globe.

♪

Marine corps air station miramar in san diego

Is home to many marine aviators.

It was originally a navy base

And first site of the famous top gun program.

♪

Before transferring to the marines in 1997...

♪

I touched down in miramar to see what it takes

To earn those wings

And find out if I had the need for speed.

♪

- How's it going, sir? Remi.

- Hey, so nice to meet you.

- Colonel marty bedell. Nice to meet you.

All right, well, you are aboard

Marine corps air station miramar.

- Yes, sir.

- And you are in base operations.

So this is the center of the airfield.

♪

So this room here is the flight-planning room

For pilots who are coming through,

So basically to prepare for whatever flight or mission

That you're going to be doing.

♪

We've got 12,000 marines and sailors

Who call this home base.

- Yeah, as you know, I was a sailor.

- I do. - You were a marine.

If you could tell me, what is the big difference

Between marine aviation and naval aviation?

- So marine aviation is part of naval aviation.

We work very, very closely together.

♪

- When it comes to naval and marine aviation,

There's one important difference in the doctrine.

Marine aviation is designed

In total support of marine ground operations

Being conducted by land-based marine troops.

U.S. Navy aviation is in support of fleet operations,

So it defends the ships

And goes on the attack against other ships as needed.

♪

Naval aviation got its start in 1910--

Seven years after the wright brothers flew off kitty hawk.

With the advent of manned flight,

The military people recognized

That this was a whole new venue of waging war.

- Airplanes could help the navy,

First by scouting over the horizon.

And that would give your fleet considerable advantage.

Then there was the question of whether you could lift

A bomb or a torpedo

And perhaps deliver it far beyond the horizon also.

One of the american aviation manufacturers and enthusiasts

Is glenn curtiss.

Glenn curtiss had the idea that you could have airplanes

Take off from the water.

- Glenn curtiss gave the world its first hydroplane.

- The whole concept of naval aviation

Presented a lot of technological problems,

The biggest, of course, being can an aircraft

Take off and land from a ship?

This is no small thing, especially at that time.

The aircraft were so fragile and primitive,

The real question was,

Are they powerful enough to take off?

And then are they sturdy enough to land?

This is when eugene ely,

A test pilot for glenn curtiss,

Took off from hampton roads.

Then a year later, he successfully landed

On a makeshift flight deck.

♪

- Now, the next question is,

Are you going to build a ship that's dedicated

For such operations?

That the u.S. Navy wasn't all too thrilled about.

♪

Then world war I happens.

[bugle fanfare plays]

[dramatic music]

- Airplanes, until world war I,

Had very limited capability.

The war really moves things along.

♪

So, by 1916, for example,

The british have airplanes with their fleet.

And after the war, american officers,

Who've been watching the british, say,

If you don't buy a real aircraft carrier

And a lot of airplanes, you will lose the next war.

♪

By 1939, we're regarded

As the leading naval air power.

We have the basis of the dramatic expansion

Of naval aviation during world war ii.

♪

- The navy began its aviation program

A few years before the marine corps

Had even conceived of the idea.

♪

The beginning of marine aviation

Starts with alfred austell cunningham

In 1912.

Alfred a. Cunningham absolutely was a visionary.

♪

There was no marine aviation at that time.

He just knew he wanted to fly.

He understood how to work the system,

And cunningham would get himself

In the middle of the politicos

To be able to talk about a marine flying.

What would that look like?

It was envisioned to always support

The riflemen on the ground from day one.

♪

They started marine aviation

With none of their own equipment.

They were using the navy's equipment.

They were training with the army.

And as they struggled, they also understood

The core of who they were.

The first marine aviators deployed into combat

When they went into the azores in world war I.

They were looking and spotting for german u-boats.

♪

During the interwar years

Is where we really see that marines want to keep flying.

♪

Marines were at air shows.

Even though it was not a mission,

They become one of the best drill teams

And racing teams in the world.

That's what helps gear them up to get ready for world war ii.

♪

The role of marine aviators

Was to do the island-hopping campaign in the pacific.

They did transport, photography,

Logistics, close air support.

They did it all.

- When the japanese pilots spotted their targets,

U.S. Gunners were waiting for them.

♪

- By the end of world war ii,

We see that marine aviators are actually fulfilling

What cunningham had envisioned.

They're actually supporting

Army and marines on the ground.

So they have fulfilled not only their mission,

But they've realized it.

They know by the end of world war ii,

It's a proof of concept.

♪

[engines roaring]

- Remi, I want to show you the best view on base.

♪

So what you're seeing right here is the full airfield.

♪

We got a two-mile-long runway.

♪

Over here, you've got all of the fixed-wing aircraft--

The jets...

And the c-130s down on the flight line.

♪

F-35, f-18...

♪

A couple of f-16s that are visiting.

And then down on this end of the flight line,

We've got the helicopters--

The ch-53 heavy lift,

And we've got the mv-22 ospreys.

So, over 200 aircraft.

♪

[engine roaring]

So, all of these aircraft, all of the pilots and the aircrew

That operate them, are training for deployments.

They are getting ready to go out on deployment,

And they're coming back home from deployment.

At any given moment, about 20% of the air wing

Is forward deployed, either on navy ships

Or over to bases in japan

Or doing training exercises across the pacific--

The philippines, thailand, out of guam,

Operating out of korea and japan.

So the point of this base

And every single flight you see flying here

Is preparing for combat operations.

- Train how you fight, fight how you train, right?

- That's exactly right.

♪

- The first thing you notice when you get to mcas miramar

Is the sound of fighter jets flying overhead.

♪

Many people first heard about fighter jets

From a certain hollywood blockbuster.

I've always been curious

About these incredible machines.

- Lieutenant colonel fisher. - Nice to meet you, sir.

- Welcome to marine corps air station miramar.

- Colonel fisher's long career of flying fighter jets

Makes him the perfect guy

To show me around these famous flyers.

- This is hangar 3, home to fighter town.

So vmfat-101 is the training squadron.

♪

- Now, the f-18 fighter jet is associated

With the top gun school? - Mm-hmm.

- How true is that? Is that the case?

- It is true.

This has been a part of top gun for almost 30 years.

- Wow.

- So the whole reason we want to do this

Is, one, make guys as good as they can be.

And then, also, they become the best instructors

That the navy and the marine corps has to offer,

So now they can come back to the squadron and the host unit

And then train those people to be as good as they are.

For marines, we've been involved

Side by side with the navy this whole time,

Training and fighting with them.

- I was born in gronau, germany,

In 1942.

♪

In '45, we were forced to leave

For east germany.

My mother said, enough's enough.

We're going to the west.

Went to university.

One of the alumni in the fraternity told me,

Look what the communists have done to you.

Go get even.

There's a war going on. Join the marine corps.

♪

Went through flight school. Went to vietnam.

Got orders back to the united states.

And I got to go to the west coast.

So that was my dream.

♪

I was teaching younger students

How to fly the f-4.

♪

After about eight months,

I was selected to go to top gun

At miramar san diego.

♪

Top gun was

Sort of a provisional fighter-weapons school,

And I was one of the first guys that was sent down there

To go through the course.

During that phase in the early '70s,

The focus was still on the vietnam war.

♪

- To understand top gun,

You have to understand

Where naval aviation was before vietnam.

♪

In world war ii, you're talking about large numbers

Of attack aircraft that would be escorted

By u.S. Navy fighters.

♪

And, of course, they had to worry about dogfighting.

♪

You were shooting down enemy aircraft within sight.

♪

After the war, the main job of the navy carriers

Was to launch heavy nuclear strikes

Against the soviet union.

Instead of their having to come right to you

To drop their bombs or torpedoes,

They do it from a distance.

You have to find them pretty far out.

You have to destroy them pretty far out.

That's why you don't see a lot of thought

About dogfighting after world war ii.

♪

Vietnam was a completely different war.

It was a war of conventional bombs in quantity.

♪

That meant you had to shoot down their fighter jets.

That wasn't what our fighters had been designed for.

♪

Fighters for the navy were large, heavy,

And armed with a lot of missiles.

So the question was, well, how do you change the odds?

And the navy created a school which was called top gun.

- Top gun, perhaps the ultimate training experience

For naval fighter crews.

Men from squadrons throughout the fleet

Who have earned this chance to perfect their skills

In air-combat maneuvering.

- Top gun was strictly a training course

To teach pilots refined fighter tactics.

It was about 50/50 academics, lectures,

And then you flew at least once a day

To practice what you learned.

♪

You would fly x number of one-versus-one tactics.

♪

If you were fighting a mig-21,

Your tactics are going to be different than a mig-17,

'cause the performance of the airplane you're fighting

Is different.

Then after the one-v-one phase,

You would then learn how to take on two guys.

- I got him, I got him, I got him.

- 3 1/2 minutes.

- [speaks indistinctly over radio]

- And then the last phase was multi-aircraft tactics,

Which, again, changes,

Because you got to decide

Who are the good guys, who are the bad guys.

- Three o'clock now. - I've got him, I've got him.

- No time.

♪

- At the end of the war,

Navy fighters were doing extremely well

Against the north vietnamese.

We were able to beat up smaller, more agile

Enemy aircraft on a favorable rate.

[gunfire]

- The navy ended up with a 12-to-1 kill ratio

Compared to about a meager 2-to-1 kill ratio

Prior to the top gun training.

♪

Top gun was a little bit of a fraternity.

They had their secret meeting

To vote on which one of the students coming through

Would be a good potential instructor.

- Okay, gents, basically,

The bogies were in a very, very tight fighting wing.

- Another fellow marine, larry richard, and I

Were assigned as the first two marine instructors.

♪

I got up early, checked in at 8:00.

He checked in at 8:30.

So I can claim I was the first marine instructor at top gun.

♪

[engine roars]

- I want to show you some things about the f-18 hornet.

Okay, I want to show you some unique capabilities.

Up front here, under the nose behind this,

That's where our radar is at.

This system is designed

To detect air-to-air and air-to-surface targets

At advanced ranges.

You're talking lots of miles far out.

So, within the nose, above it, if you see up here,

We got these holes and these vents up here.

That's where

Our m61 vulcan 20-millimeter six-barrel gatling gun's at.

It can shoot anywhere from 4,000

To 6,000 rounds per minute.

- Wow. - Yeah, so really fast.

[gunfire]

It's very versatile.

It was the first aircraft in the dod inventory

That was said right away that that can be fighter

And attack roles all in one mission.

- Wow.

- Probably one of the most important things is,

On the side here, we always put our names.

So you'll have the pilot name's up there.

And then a lot of times, we'll put our call signs underneath.

It's part of our legacy

And something we've done historically forever, so...

- What's your call sign, sir? - Yeah, my call sign is goonch.

So it's a man-eating catfish from the himalayas.

- How'd you come up with that one?

- I guess it's my aggressive nature.

- [laughs] I like it. - Yeah.

So these are called lexes.

These are leading-edge extensions to the wing.

These provide enhanced maneuverability

And ability to dogfight.

So this jet is really, really good

At getting its nose around and pointing at the enemy.

- What is it like flying this thing?

- It's amazing.

Just the speed...

♪

Maneuverability, and then all the sensors--

It's the greatest job in the world.

- I bet you get a lot of speeding tickets

When you're down on the ground. - I know, right?

Yeah, absolutely. - [laughs]

- You know, one thing that we really looked at

Was, like, ergonomics and the ability for a pilot

To sit comfortably in here

And find the systems he needs rapidly.

So, if you look on the stick and on the throttle,

There's lots of switches and buttons.

So, as I'm fighting and as I'm doing stuff

And I'm looking outside, I can manipulate sensors, weapons,

And also my throttle and my energy

So I don't have to pull my hands off,

So I can continue fighting

While I'm adjusting my sensors and my system.

♪

- Maybe I can get up in this thing one day.

- Oh, yeah, I'll get you in the back seat.

- Yes, sir.

♪

- When the marines took over miramar from the navy in 1997,

It became home base for the 3rd marine aircraft wing,

Or maw for short,

♪

Which sits ready to deploy any moment around the world.

♪

And who better to ask about the 3rd maw...

Than its assistant wing commander?

- Remi, I'm gonna go change over.

- All right. - And then I'll see you

Up in the team room, all right? - All right. Yes, sir.

- You got it.

♪

What's your call sign?

- Bams, b-a-m-s.

- How did you come up with that?

- It's short for bam bam. - Bam bam?

- Yes, and so, when I was a young pilot,

I tend to pull a little bit harder on the stick

Than I should have.

And after about three or four times of that,

I walked back into the ready room,

And they had drawn a little figure of--

Remember bam bam from "the flintstones"?

- Flintstones, yeah, yeah.

- Instead of holding a club, it was me smashing a hornet.

And so I've gotten much better, though, remi, over the years.

- [laughs]

- I'll tell you-- what really is different

About the marine corps than any other service

Is that when we say every marine is a rifleman,

Every young marine

Goes through marine combat training.

And every officer goes through the basic school.

- Yeah. - That is to see--

Do you have what it takes to even be a marine.

- And that pipeline essentially ends here.

So, once the pilot has finished,

They arrive here at miramar.

- That's right. So this is 3rd marine aircraft wing.

Within the wing, we then have groups.

Those groups

Are pretty much specific to an airplane,

For the most part.

So they have f-35s, or they have f-18s,

And then nested underneath the groups are squadrons.

And that's kind of how we tier it out.

Believe it or not, we have 40 squadrons.

We have 14,000 marines and sailors

Working in our particular wing and over 400 combat aircraft.

- Wow.

- So it is the largest wing in the marine corps.

The marine corps brings air,

Ground combat arms, and logistics together,

And that's how we fight.

♪

- What is your mission set or your mission focus?

- So we're looking at the whole world,

And we're capable of deploying anywhere, anytime.

What makes this marine air wing special

Is the fact that we're expeditionary.

That means that we show up, and we can, number one, seize

An airfield with our infantry.

We can set that airfield up to be able to patch it,

Fix it, put radars into it.

And then we're able to fly out of that airfield.

- Got it.

- And, really, desert storm--

We saw we were able to pick

Our air-combat element up and forward-deploy it rapidly

Into a position to be able to support

Our allies and partners.

♪

- It is not the united states against iraq.

It is iraq against the world.

♪

- Operation desert storm was a response

To saddam hussein's invasion of kuwait in 1990.

♪

- Rising from the barracks

Where the royal guard still hold out,

The view over kuwait city

Just before 10:00 on the 2nd of August.

♪

- The iraqi reason for invading kuwait is,

They claimed that they were drilling wells

Right on the border with iraq

And then they were actually drilling oil underneath iraq.

- Good evening.

The middle east will never be the same again.

- The coalition was about 39 countries,

Led by the united states.

And the united states marine corps,

Notably its marine corps aviation capability,

Played a very large role.

♪

- The 3rd marine aircraft wing going into desert storm--

The idea was that they would be able to have

Air superiority and ground superiority.

♪

- So we got there in October of 1990

And basically trained for about three, four months.

I was the commander of marine aircraft group 11.

♪

I was also designated as the c.O. Of mag-70.

When the 3rd marine aircraft wing

And general moore moved out,

Then, of course, we worked for him.

So the focus was not so much on integrated operations

But more air to air, air to ground.

♪

We practiced coordinated strikes.

We would be hitting heavily defended targets.

♪

But then, of course, once saddam hussein

Started moving again, on February 1991...

♪

Then it became the real thing.

♪

- There were about 400 aircraft

That were involved with the 3rd marine air wing iv

For desert storm.

And they performed a number of missions.

♪

A huge part of their mission set was attack.

♪

- We started bombing iraq.

♪

I remember the first strike,

We took down some air-defense facilities outside baghdad.

That's the first time we went into iraq itself.

♪

- They attacked saddam's military,

Destroyed artillery.

They destroyed tanks. They destroyed vehicles.

But their primary role in the gulf war

Was to support the marines on the ground.

- Ready? Pull!

- The grunts were getting shot at.

Go take out the mortars,

Take out the guns that are shooting at them.

Take care of our boys on the ground.

♪

- The 3rd marine aircraft wing,

They had built up.

They deployed, and they were ready for the fight.

♪

- The 1991 gulf war ended in swift success.

It was a--

Decimated saddam's military.

♪

- For the part that we played, the actual invasion of kuwait,

You know, this was the first major combat deployment

In 19 years,

And I thought we did a pretty darn good job.

♪

- At miramar, the air wing is ready to take on any mission.

♪

I've gotten to see f-18s and v-22s

And other aircraft up close.

♪

Now it's time to get a taste

Of a day in the life of a pilot.

And who better to join me than san diego native

And son of a world war ii pilot

Who's known to get air himself?

- Hey, mr. Hawk. - How are you?

- Pro skater tony hawk.

- I'm sure you got a lot of cool memories here on miramar,

Where you used to skate and shop

And do some other cool stuff.

- I didn't skate on the base.

Yeah, that's a surefire way to get in trouble.

♪

My dad was in the navy.

He flew in world war ii off the coast of okinawa

On an aircraft carrier.

- And how long did he serve for in total, would you say?

- I think he served for about five years.

This was the last place my dad was stationed,

And then he retired here,

And I grew up here, and I have never left.

- What about your connection to the military

Would you find important?

- I think it taught my dad such a great sense of values.

And he was very supportive of his children.

I have three older siblings. - Yeah.

- He taught us the value of persistence,

Perseverance, determination,

All of it, I think,

Because of what he learned in the military.

And we're super thankful for his guidance.

[engine roars]

- So I think the squadron is going to show us the ropes

On how to get suited up

And give us some intel on these jets.

- Do we get the keys? - We might.

We might be able to do that. [laughs]

♪

- Hey, guys, - hey.

- Tony, how you doing? - How are you?

- Branson reid. - Oh, good to see you.

- Nice to meet you.

You guys aren't dressed to go fly,

So we're going to have to show you how to do that.

- What do you mean? This is my usual flying attire.

- Not in our fighter aircraft.

So we're going to put on the gear

And show you what it feels like

To be a real fighter aviator for the marine corps.

- All right. Well, come on in.

♪

- I think you can just throw that one on over your clothes

Right there. - All right.

- Yeah, I've skydived in these a few times.

♪

- My wedding attire.

- [laughs]

- So we got to make you a sharpshooter first.

Welcome to the squadron. - Oh. Thank you.

♪

- Welcome to the squadron, remi.

- Ah, thank you. Appreciate it.

- I know you're not going to be able to actually go flying,

But I want you to get the full effect of what it feels like

To wear all this gear inside the cockpit.

So the first thing you got here is your g-suit.

What this does is it plugs into the jet.

And as you start pulling gs, this thing inflates

And keeps the pressure and your blood flow

Up near your upper body and your head

So you don't pass out while you're flying.

So this will wrap around your back right here.

- Okay.

- And then you'll snap this side over here.

♪

Now straighten this out, and it's kind of like stirrups.

It'll wrap around your entire leg.

♪

Looks like remi's winning the flight-gear race right now.

- Am I doing it wrong? [chuckles]

- Can I just put my skate pads on?

That'd be a lot easier for me.

[laughter] - yeah.

♪

- So, after that's going to be your parachute harness.

- All right. - So you're going to kind of

Lay it down on the ground, and you want to step through,

Get your feet through the bottom portion down here.

♪

This is captain mullins. - Oh, nice.

- He's a student with us.

He's doing one of his final flights today.

It's one of the big events.

So he's going out as number two plane

In a four-ship flight to train to fight enemy aircraft, so...

- I'm going to be the enemy aircraft.

- Oh. - So I told him I'm coming.

- All right.

- So he told me it's not a problem.

He's going to take me out, so...

- Good old-fashioned dogfight, huh?

- That's right. - Simulated, though, right?

[chuckles]

- All right, one last piece of gear here.

You got your parachute harness. You got your g-suit on.

And then now you've got to put on your survival vest.

- All right, let's do it.

♪

- So this thing will-- - this was not in the brochure.

[laughter]

- So what you have on here is your survival radio.

You have your life preserver that will automatically inflate

If you go through an ejection and hit the water.

And then you have your oxygen mask

And then a couple of other survival-type items.

So what you want to do is just zip this guy all the way up.

- I don't believe you guys wear all this.

You're doing that to make us look silly.

♪

- All right, well, let's walk to the jet.

What do you think? - All right, I'm down.

♪

- This way, guys.

♪

Pilots walk on a very specific timeline.

We're exact tot with every single thing that we do.

They'll greet their plane captain at their jet,

And then they will do what's called

A preflight walk-around.

So it's basically a last-look inspection of the aircraft

That they signed for and took ownership of

Before they go fly today,

To ensure that everything looks good

And it's safe and ready to go flying.

♪

- So what is the training cycle like?

- Everything goes from a classroom environment--

Teaching--

Then a simulator, and then do it in the jet.

These young pilots,

Like captain mullins that you met

Inside the flight-equipment area getting dressed,

He's about to be a brand-new guy out in the fleet,

And he's just going to get thrown into the fire,

And he's going to go defend our country in the skies

All over the world, so it's pretty incredible.

[engine roaring]

♪

- I'll tell you what--the best sound that I would ever hear

Was when I was on an op on the ground,

Maybe in a bad situation...

- And you hear that overhead, right?

[engine roaring]

- General, thank you. - Yes, sir.

It's great to meet you. - Same, same.

- Yeah, same goes. - It's probably redundant,

But I'm going to say it anyway--safe flight.

- [laughs] - let's do it.

- All right, see you all. - Bye, sir.

- I know it's probably getting a little hot

In that flight gear.

If you want, we can go get you out of it.

- It's already not easy. - Yeah, that's true.

I feel like a scarecrow.

- We haven't even done anything.

- [laughing] I know. - All right, thanks, guys.

♪

- I just want to show you this--

My dad's helmet from world war ii, 1945.

Flew off aircraft carrier in an avenger.

Fits me, sure.

This is probably less soundproof

Than the one I wore today.

♪

- I'm just lucky that I had a dad like mine

To have it lead me here.

All right, see ya.

It's been an honor.

[engine roars]

- Fighter jets

Might be the most famous planes here at miramar,

But there are several other aircraft

With their own storied pasts that call this base home.

One of them is the first of its kind--

The mv-22 tilt-rotor osprey.

♪

- The mv-22 is the world's first tilt-rotor aircraft.

A tilt-rotor aircraft is a hybrid of a helicopter

And an airplane.

It can take off and land virtually anywhere,

Like a helicopter, and it can fly like an airplane

And go far and fast and carry a lot.

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- The osprey helps support marine aviation

In many avenues,

From troop movement

To employment, to insertion, extraction.

It is a multi-mission airframe.

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- The technology for the osprey,

To transition from a helicopter into an airplane,

It's tremendously complicated.

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A nacelle is what houses the engine.

And at the top is the three-blade prop rotor.

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The osprey will take off vertically,

Then rotate the nacelles into aircraft mode.

And it will fly like an airplane.

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And then it will come,

And it will rotate back into helicopter mode and land.

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The entire airframe is transitioning

Into a higher airspeed.

It's very complicated to balance thrust

Coming off of the prop rotors

And how much of it's going for forward speed.

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- The development period for the osprey was a rough one.

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The mv-22 was first envisioned

As early as the 1970s.

They knew that they wanted something

That could take off vertically or horizontally.

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There was "learn as you go" mentality,

And it had its challenges.

- The setbacks include 2 deadly crashes in 2000

That killed 23 marines.

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- The loss of life and the sacrifices

Are something in any emergent technology.

No loss of life is ever acceptable,

But there are technological challenges.

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- When you develop an entirely new aircraft type,

There are all sorts of issues that will arise.

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There was some hesitancy about its use,

But it performed flawlessly.

And the breadth of its operational capabilities

Has expanded.

- Turning to afghanistan,

Today the u.S. Launched a major offensive in the south--

Operation cobra's anger.

- Cobra's anger was planned and executed

To disrupt anti-coalition militia activity

In afghanistan in 2009.

- 1,000 marines swooped into a taliban hotbed--

The now zad valley in helmand province.

This offensive will pave the way for the surge

Of 30,000 additional troops.

- The goal of operation cobra's anger

Was to disrupt the taliban, the haqqani network,

And other types of militia

That were operating throughout afghanistan.

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The osprey's role in this was, move a lot of stuff,

A lot of people really quickly and get it on target

And land it right exactly where it needed to be landed.

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One of the big risks

For helicopters when they're close to the ground

Is small-arms ambushes, notably with rpg--

Rocket-propelled-grenade-- attacks.

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Any of those operations are extremely dangerous,

Because if there's a person

At the right place with the right weapons system,

They can take a shot.

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The way the marines fly the osprey,

They don't give the enemy a chance

To know that they're coming until they're right there.

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The operation was a success

In great measure due to the osprey.

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- You are able to get marines

To places you never thought you could.

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- Go! Go!

- When you talk about response rate

And combat survivability time,

That's amazing.

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- The mv-22 osprey and all of the aircraft at miramar

Are incredibly complex machines.

And when something goes wrong,

Only an expertly trained professional

Can fix the issue.

How's it going? - How's it going?

- Gunnery sergeant lumet is a maintainer at miramar,

Who specializes in tilt-rotor aircraft like the osprey.

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- Remi, what we have here is our engine.

It's what drives the aircraft.

Up here, you can see, like your car back home,

We'll have your transmission.

So this aircraft has five transmissions.

Two of them are here,

And one of them is in the middle of the aircraft.

And then you have your generator--

That's right there-- which produces electricity

For the aircraft to power all its avionics.

Hydraulic pumps, which help power

All the flight-control systems.

And you have your flight-control module,

Which essentially gives power to all those components.

- And everything matches on each end, correct?

- Correct.

Yeah, so this side here

Essentially mirrors the left-hand side.

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- How much training is required to be able

To maintain something as big and complex as this?

- Every marine assigned to work in marine corps aviation

Will go to a schoolhouse essentially

To get the basic understanding

To be able to work on this aircraft.

And then from there, they'll get assigned

To a unit much like this one,

Where it's very important to get that on-the-job training.

- So I would assume the pilots can't do your job.

So pilots can't do what they do up there

Unless you do what you do down here, is that right?

- Yes, and that's one of the things

We tell all our junior marines.

And their job is extremely important

Because they actually get to put hands on this aircraft

And ensure that it's safe to fly.

- It shows the benefit

Of being able to, you know, be a part of a team

And be a part of this community.

You get some awesome responsibilities.

- Exactly.

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- While there's a lot to see and hear...

On the ground at mcas miramar,

I think it's time to get some air.

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I've learned about the nuts and bolts of an osprey.

Now it's time to take one for a spin.

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- What's up, guys? - Hey, how's it going?

Captain dylan hansen.

I'm the aircraft commander for today's flight.

- Nice to meet you, captain. - Nice to meet you, too.

- The pilots and crew chief have logged hundreds of hours

On this tilt-rotor aircraft.

Now, what type of operations

Do you typically use an osprey for?

- So we use those for assault support.

Basic understanding for that is taking people and things

To where they need to go.

We also use it for humanitarian aid.

The crews are specifically trained

To handle personnel and cargo.

So we can easily transfer those skills

From the combat environment

Into the humanitarian environment as well.

- So what are you going to have

This old salty frogman doing today?

- We're going to go out over the hill today

Into the imperial valley

To a normal training area

To do some confined-area landings.

And then we're also getting training for our copilots

In the other plane as well.

- Any guys jumping out the back?

- Yeah, I've had people jump out the back, yeah.

- Think I'll be able to jump out the back today?

- No, not today, not today. - [laughs]

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- The osprey-- I've ridden on it.

And they lift it off--

It's just like a collective in a helicopter.

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It's an incredibly smooth liftoff experience.

It's almost like you think, oh, wow, we're moving.

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I remember lifting off, and the only way I knew was,

You know, I saw the ground get a little bit smaller.

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- When I first saw the osprey,

It was almost childlike, my response.

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You saw it lift up,

And then all of a sudden, you go, what?

You just couldn't get your mind around it.

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- And then they rotate the nacelles.

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And so that's when they move the nacelles forward.

And everybody knows that, hold on,

Because it's really going to start accelerating.

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And you can feel--get pressed back into your seat.

It's like no other aircraft experience.

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- Yeah...

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[engines rumbling]

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- Marine aviation has a unique past

And distinct place within the united states military.

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Despite hurdles since its inception...

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These elite men and women

Have been able to surpass the moment

And realize the mission...

Delivering time and time again.

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And marine aviation's adaptability

Has made it one of the most versatile outfits

In the military,

Protecting troops on the ground

And the country from threats around the world.

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