Hornets to deploy with Corps' Middle East crisis response unit: The second rotation of the Marines' crisis response force in the Middle East will include a new squadron of fighter aircraft.
Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command is swapping out its AV-8B Harriers for a squadron of F/A-18 Hornets from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 out of Miramar, California officials with the rotation confirmed.
Activated this fall, the task force has proved a crucial support element for Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led effort to counter the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. Col. Jason Bohm, the commanding officer of the task force, told Marine Corps Times the unit had used its Harriers to conduct multiple strike missions on IS targets.
