USMC Insertion and Extraction Exercise with CH-53E

12/31/2013
12/31/2013: U.S. Marines from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment (1/5), 1st Marine Division from Camp Pendleton, Calif. conduct a company extraction and insertion aboard a CH-53E Super Stallion transport helicopter with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466 (HMH-466), Marine Aircraft Group 16 (MAG-16), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (3rd MAW)…

Eglin F-35s In All Three Variants Fly Joint Training Sorties

12/12/2013
12/12/2013: A Marine F-35B Lightning II breaks left out of a formation flight with United Kingdom F-35B aircraft over Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Dec. 4. The joint-program reached a new single-day record for F-35 sorties Dec. 4 with 45 training missions between all three models of the aircraft. The…

The 36th Contingency Response Group in the Philippine Relief Effort

12/12/2013
12/12/2013:The Marines and the USAF worked together with support from the USN to establish an infrastructure to enable relief operations. It was an insert, support and withdraw effort in which the 36th Contingency Response Group (CRG) and the USMC played a key role in rapid insertion, and responsible withdrawal. As…

Exercise Forager Fury II

12/01/2013
12/01/2013: The Forager Fury exercises in the era of the Opsrey and KC130J have migrated from operating forward to reshaping USMC strategy with regard to leveraging sea and land bases. As then Commanding General First Marine Air Wing put in the interview he did with us last year: SLD: There…

Fork Lifts in Operation Damayan

11/25/2013
11/25/2013: When first standing up a relief effort, getting supplies off of a plane requires a fork lift.  Bringing your fork lift with you is an important tool for the operation.  This point was highlighted when we interviewed Col. James from AFPAC.  In this slideshow, the USMC loading effort highlights…

Getting the Initial Job Done: Time is the Most Precious Commodity

11/19/2013
11/19/2013: When doing disaster relief, professionals will tell you that time is your most precious commodity. The Osprey-KC-130J pairing bought time for the current HA/DR mission.  By having the pairing, the USMC team was able to move in rapidly and prepare for the insertion of additional forces and aide teams.…