Osprey engines are logging less than 200 hours of wing time in Afghanistan

And then they must be shipped home for overhaul, reports Bill Sweetman, the king of military aviation journalists.

There is a good PhD dissertation to be written on the whole V-22 Osprey mess -- how many billions of dollars have been spent over the decades to produce a fast but very expensive long-range troop transport helicopter. One of the biggest untold stories in the military, I think, is the sorry state of Marine aviation -- ancient CH-53 helos, hangar queen V-22s, and multi-role expensive fighter jets -- when what the Corps should be flying is Black Hawks and A-10s, or even long-legged prop-driven aircraft.

Meanwhile, news of a Marine aviator being sent off to federal prison is right here.