2013-06-19 By Sgt. James Mecure AT SEA - The U.S. Marines made their first landing with an MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor helicopter aboard a Japanese Ship, June 14, 2013. The landing is significant because it provides another avenue of approach during any future humanitarian and disaster relief operations in the region.…
06/18/2013: By Robbin Laird In these photos provided by the 33rd Fighter Wing, F-35As are being tanked by a KC-135. The photos were shot from the tanker during the tanking operation. Earlier this year, I wrote a piece in the Canadian journal Front Line Defence on the F-35 and tanking,…
2013-06-18 Colonel “Turbo” Tomassetti is retiring after a distinguished 30-year career as a USMC aviator. To both honor and to learn from “Turbo,” Second Line of Defense travelled to the 33rd Fighter Wing, where “Turbo” retired as Vice Commander. We are going to publish three articles based on the interview…
2013-06-17 By Robbin Laird At the recent Trade Media Briefing 2013, journalists who attended were given the opportunity to fly the aircraft for more than an hour. Francis Tusa, the well-known British journalist and hardly a Euro hugger, underscored what we all felt: The lack of noise within the aircraft was…
2013-06-15 by Richard Weitz Why is the People’s Republic of China not a member of the Group of Eight (G-8) industrial countries, who are holding their 39th annual heads-of-state summit in Northern Ireland on June 17? China has the world’s largest population and second-largest national economy. The PRC belongs to…
In a follow up interview with Lt. General Robling, MARFORPAC, the challenges of executing the Pivot to the Pacific were discussed. In the earlier interview, Lt. General Robling underscored the centrality of persistent presence as a core element of shaping an effective strategy and capability for the US in the…
By Robbin Laird The Paris Air Show occurs every other year and alternates with Farnbourgh as the major European Air Show. As the world has changed, air shows have been altered as well, with regional air shows in India and the Middle East becoming more important to the vendors seeking…
[slidepress gallery='usmc-special-purpose-magtf'] Recently, we had a chance to speak with Brigadier General James S. O'Meara currently serves as commander, U.S. Marine Forces Europe, and deputy commander, U.S. Marine Forces Africa about the newly formed Special Purpose or SP MAGTF. https://slsp.manpower.usmc.mil/gosa/biographies/rptBiography.asp?PERSON_ID=3335&PERSON_TYPE=General To give a sense of what the SP MAGTF is…
