My understanding is the “mail run” just shifts over to the CMV-22 setup, plus whatever they can shove onto helos when it makes sense. I never rode a C-2, but I’ve been around enough shipboard aviation to know COD is basically the duct tape solution for everything urgent: parts, bodies, and yes, the morale stuff. The downside is you’re trading a pretty straightforward fixed-wing pipeline for something that’s more weather and maintenance sensitive, and it tends to ripple into the air plan when you’re already juggling a million other priorities.
On the safety/age question, that part tracks. When an airframe’s been around forever and you’re not getting fresh production and modern updates the way the E-2 community has, you start running out of “easy” options. Even if the crews are absolute pros (and they are), you can’t out-fly metallurgy and parts availability forever.
