WASHINGTON — The U.S. Marine Corps has identified the four Marines who died when their Osprey aircraft crashed Friday night in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise.
The men, all assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261, Marine Aircraft Group 26, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing stationed on Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, were identified as:
— Capt. Matthew J. Tomkiewicz, 27, of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
— Capt. Ross A. Reynolds, 27, of Leominster, Massachusetts.
— Gunnery Sgt. James W. Speedy, 30, of Cambridge, Ohio.
— Cpl. Jacob M. Moore, 24, of Catlettsburg, Kentucky.
In a statement issued Sunday night, a Marine Corps spokesman said the bodies were removed from the crash site and were in the process of being returned to the U.S.
The cause of the crash remained under investigation, but Norwegian police reported bad weather in the area.
Officials in Norway said the MV-22B Osprey crashed in Graetaedalen in Beiarn, south of Bodoe.
The Marines were taking part in a NATO exercise called Cold Response. It was unrelated to Russia's war in Ukraine, authorities said Saturday.
The Cold Response drill includes around 30,000 troops, 220 aircraft and 50 vessels from 27 countries. Non-NATO members Finland and Sweden are also participating. The exercises began on March 14 and end on April 1.
The first Cold Response exercise was held in 2006, and the drills are conducted every two years. They take place in southeastern, central and northern Norway.
Travis Pittman contributed to this report.
