AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
A U.S. Marine Corps Osprey aircraft taxies behind an Osprey carrying members of the White House press corps at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on April 24, 2021.
HELSINKI (AP) — Four U.S. Marines were killed when their Osprey aircraft crashed in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise unrelated to Russia’s war in Ukraine, authorities said Saturday.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere tweeted that they died in the crash on Friday night. The cause was under investigation, but Norwegian police reported bad weather in the area.
The Marines, assigned to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, II Marine Expeditionary Force, were taking part in a NATO exercise called Cold Response.
The U.S. says the identities of the Marines wouldn’t be immediately provided in keeping with U.S. Defense Department policy of notifying relatives.
The aircraft was an MV-22B Osprey. It “had a crew of four and was out on a training mission in Nordland County” in northern Norway, the country’s armed forces said in a statement.
It was on its way north to Bodoe, where it was scheduled to land just before 6 p.m. Friday. The Osprey crashed in Graetaedalen in Beiarn, south of Bodoe. Police said a search and rescue mission was launched immediately. At 1:30 a.m. Saturday, the police arrived at the scene and confirmed that the crew of four had died.
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.
No cause was given for the crash, but the Norwegian armed forces said that Cold Response “will carry on as planned, with the measures we have to take due to the weather.”
A Norwegian rescue helicopter spotted the crash site late Friday and local Red Cross crews were assigned to assist police on the ground, Norwegian media said.
Norwegian newspaper VG said Red Cross members drove close to the crash site with scooters and marked the trail with GPS for police in what they described as extremely difficult weather conditions early Saturday.
“It was a special night, it was a real storm. There were five of us driving towards the scene of the accident. There was one meter of visibility, snow and storm in the mountains, ” Red Cross team leader Oerjan Kristensen told VG. “I guess it was a wind gust of 30-40 meters per second. When it blows like that, it is difficult to stand upright.”
Kristensen added that the rescue operation is being hampered by the risk of landslides in the mountains, and the remoteness of the crash site.
Police launched an investigation into the crash and accident commission members and police representatives were due to arrive at the crash site on Saturday.
“The weather is very bad in the area to complete work at the scene, but police will take it up again as soon as the weather conditions allow it,” operations manager Ivar Bo Nilsson from the Norland police district told reporters.
Lt. Gen. Yngve Odlo, head of the Norwegian Armed Forces’ operational headquarters, said that Cold Response would continue despite the crash.
“Right now there is full focus on ending the rescue operation, taking care of the people and then there will be a normal procedure with causation,” Odlo was quoted as saying by Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
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.
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Photo Credit: Abbey Benson / Shutterstock
Millions of Americans are employed as active-duty military or serve in the Reserves and National Guard. While a much smaller share of Americans hold positions in the U.S. Armed Forces than in years past, a large number of Americans still have direct ties to the military. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 3.2% of the U.S. population lives in a military household with at least one active-duty military, Reserves, or National Guard member.
The draft for military service ended in 1973. Since then, the military has been an all-volunteer force. During the height of the Vietnam war in 1968, there were nearly 3.7 million active-duty military members, comprising 1.8% of the total U.S. population, but the share of active-duty military members has been declining since then. In 2020, 1.5 million Americans, or less than 0.5% of the population, served as active-duty.
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U.S. military demographics have changed dramatically over time as well. Today, a much larger share of women serve—female enlistees account for 16% of enlisted forces, up from 2% in 1973, while the share of female officers has increased from 8% in 1973 to 19%. At the same time, the Armed Forces have become more racially and ethnically diverse, and the share of military members with children has fluctuated over time. In 2010 and 2011, 44% of active-duty military personnel were parents; as of 2020, this figure had dropped to less than 36%.
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As U.S. military demographics change over time, so do the share of Americans who are part of a military family. While just over 3% of Americans are in military households, this figure varies greatly by geography, based on the presence of U.S. military bases. At the state level, Hawaii, which has 13 military bases, is home to the largest share of military household members, at 11.2% of the population. Military families are also common in Alaska, with nine bases, where 10.5% of the population are in military households. At the other end of the spectrum, only about 2% of the population in both Michigan and New York live in a military household.
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To determine the U.S. metropolitan areas with the most military families, researchers at Filterbuy analyzed the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The researchers ranked metros according to the percentage of the population in a military household—defined as one in which at least one household member currently serves in the military, Reserves, or National Guard. Researchers also calculated the percentage of the population who are active-duty military personnel, the percentage of the population who are Veterans, the percentage of the population who are in the Reserves or National Guard, and the military branch with the largest active presence.
Here are the metros with the most military families.
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Photo Credit: lev radin / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 3.4%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.1%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 5.8%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.2%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Army
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Photo Credit: Richard Cavalleri / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 3.7%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.1%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 4.9%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.3%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Navy
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 3.7%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.6%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 6.0%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 0.7%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Army
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Photo Credit: Chuck Wagner / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 3.9%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.3%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 4.6%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.2%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Army
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 3.9%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.4%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 5.9%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.2%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Army
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Photo Credit: Shots by Natalie / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 4.0%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.4%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 6.8%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.1%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Air Force
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 4.0%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.1%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 5.7%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.5%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Air Force
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Photo Credit: Olivier Le Queinec / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 4.3%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.5%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 6.1%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.1%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Navy
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Photo Credit: LHBLLC / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 4.4%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.7%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 7.5%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.1%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Air Force
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Photo Credit: CHARLES MORRA / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 4.4%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.9%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 8.9%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.0%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Navy
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Photo Credit: Felix Lipov / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 4.5%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.5%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 6.0%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.3%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Army
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Photo Credit: Natalia Bratslavsky / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 4.5%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.4%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 6.5%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.3%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Air Force
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 5.4%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 0.6%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 7.4%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.2%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Air Force
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: kan_khampanya / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 5.6%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 1.4%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 6.0%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 0.8%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Navy
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: LorraineHudgins / Shutterstock
- Percentage of population in a military household: 11.6%
- Percentage of population who are active duty: 3.4%
- Percentage of population who are Veterans: 11.4%
- Percentage of population who are Reserve/National Guard: 1.0%
- Military branch with largest active presence: Navy
