27 Dec 2020
ROYAL AIR FORCE STATION MILDENHALL, United Kingdom Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller on Monday visited American troops stationed in the United Kingdom, including the U.S. Air Force air wing who took part in the rescue of an American hostage from Nigeria in October.
During that operation, MC-130J refueling aircraft, CV-22B Ospreys tilt-rotor aircraft, and KC-135 refueling aircraft based at Royal Air Force Station Mildenhall deployed to Rota, Spain, on October 29. From there, U.S. special operations were flown and parachuted into Nigeria, traveled on foot approximately three miles, engaged the hostage-takers in a firefight, and rescued American hostage Philip Walton, taking him to an extraction site where CV-22s flew them to safety, according to The Aviationist.