in support of Operation Provide Promise and Operation Deny Flight. HMM-266 (Rein) returned to MCAS New River on 23 June, and ten days later was recalled to deploy to the Caribbean in support of Operation Support Democracy in Haiti. The squadron deployed in November 1998 and immediately detached three CH-46Es and its two UH-1Ns to conduct contingency operations off the coast of Albania concurrent with Operation Silver Knight. In March 1999, the Fighting Griffins were designated the TRAP stand-by force in support of Operation Allied Force and Joint Task Force (JTF) Noble Anvil strike missions into Serbia. Upon arriving on station, the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) assigned the aviation combat element (ACE) AV-8Bs six excess combat strike sorties per day. The AV-8Bs flew their first combat sortie on April 14 with strike missions into Kosovo. A total of thirty four combat sorties and 65.3 combat hours were flown in support of Operation Allied Force/JTF Noble Anvil. In addition to AV-8B strike missions, two CH-46Es successfully extracted a Navy Special Warfare Team Personal Security Force from Petrovic, Macedonia. Global War on Terror In February 2004, the HMM-266 (Rein) boarded the and sailed east for the Mediterranean Sea. They passed through the Suez Canal and debarked in April to establish a base of operations in Kandahar, Afghanistan to participate in Operation Asbury Park. Operation Asbury Park was extended one month, and HMM-266 (Rein) ceased combat operations on July 10, returning home on September 16, 2004. On August 7, 2005, the Fighting Griffins deployed to Al Asad, Iraq to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Fighting Griffins assumed the mission of medium lift assault support from HMM-264 at 0700HRS on August 20, 2005. The squadron stood down as Marine Medium Helicopter 266 on June 15, 2006, as a CH-46E squadron and stood up as Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 266 (VMM-266) on March 23, 2007. After VMM-263 and VMM-162, VMM-266 became the third operational Osprey unit of the Marine Corps. In September 2008, the squadron again deployed to Al Asad Airbase to support OIF. 2020’s In late 2020, VMM-266 deployed to Spain in support of the North African Response Force, or NARF. See also United States Marine Corps Aviation Organization of the United States Marine Corps List of United States Marine Corps aircraft squadrons References Notes Bibliography External links VMM266