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Iwakuni, Japan. (April 7, 2023): In this photo by Corporal Tyler Harmon, fixed wing aircraft mechanic Lance Corporal Herbert Tunley III signals to pilot Major Douglas Kansier, F-35B Lightning pilot and executive director of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242 during flight operations in the Indo-Pacific. This remarkable aircraft is the backbone of American combat aviation and will represent the bulk of the crewed tactical aircraft of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps for several decades to come.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities as needed.
The aircraft comes in three versions, the conventional takeoff and landing F-35A, the short take-off and vertical-landing F-35B, and the carrier-based F-35C.
The Marine variant pictured above is a short take-off and vertical landing jet able to take off from a short runway (or take off vertically if it does not have a heavy payload) and land vertically (i.e. with no runway). Incredibly, the F35-B can clear a 50-foot obstacle and needs only 1,500-foot runway to takeoff. Designed to operate from remote expeditionary airfields or within range of air-capable ships, the F-35B features a vertical lift fan and pivoting engine nozzle to deliver vertical landing virtually anywhere a landing strip can be constructed.
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Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. (April 12, 2023): In this photo by Corporal Mitchell Johnson, Marine Corps Sergeant Steven Gomez, a small arms repair technician with Weapons Training Battalion, fires a World War II vintage French M1 Grand rifle during Marine Corps Championships at Quantico, Virginia. Marines who place in the top ten percent in marksmanship during unit competition are invited to participate in the Marine Corps Championships, a ten-day contest in precision rifle, pistol, and multi-gun action shooting to see which unit has the sharpest marksmen in the Marine Corps.
Quantico is affectionately known as the “crossroads of the Marine Corps” in that no other base touches virtually every aspect of the Corps. The base is primarily used for training and hosts the USMC The Basic School, Officer Candidates School, Marine Corps University, Weapons Training Battalion, and the FBI Academy.
The Commandant of the Marine Corps established Quantico on May 14, 1917, and thousands of Marines would be trained there before World War I. The goal at that time was to make Quantico “and the whole Marine Corps a great university.”
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Philippine Sea. (April 10, 2023) Few modern movies open with a more dramatic scene than Top Gun 1986 with iconic images of Sailors preparing to launch the F-14 Tomcat. Clouds of steam billowing around their ankles, navy crews their final checks before receiving a sharp salute from Tom Cruise whose Phantom screams off the deck. For civilians, launching and recovering aircraft aboard a moving aircraft carrier at sea must be the most complicated and dangerous operation imaginable.
In this photo by MC3 Hannah Kantner, Sailors perform a complicated dance to prepare aircraft for flight operations on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. The Nimitz is part of the U.S. 7th Fleet and is the Navy's largest forward-deployed flotilla. The 7th Fleet operates with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
In the “dance”, each Sailor (identified by color) does their part in a highly choreographed, and dangerous, process where every action must be in perfect sync. The Air Boss, perched above the flight deck, controls every movement on a carrier from helicopters to jet fighters, five nautical miles out from the carrier.
Read more: USS Nimitz… CARRIER SAILORS DO “COMPLICATED DANCE”
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Camp Pendleton, California. (April 5, 2023): In this photo by Sergeant Maximiliano Rosas, Corporal Benjamin McDonald, a bulk fuel specialist with Bulk Fuel Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group pumps excess seawater out of a liquid “bladder” during tactical operations on Silver Strand Beach, California.
Bulk Fuel Specialists install, operate, maintain, and repair fuel handling units and accessory equipment and test petroleum products used in amphibious assault vehicles. They are experts at hazardous materials management, and they test petroleum products to evaluate their quality. These professionals are responsible for refueling everything, from automobiles to jet aircraft, following strict safety protocols.
While the position of Bulk Fuel Specialists may not seem that glamorous, the mission they perform can easily decide the outcome of a battle. After all, what good is it for courageous Marines to seize a beachhead or liberate an airfield if you cannot get fuel, water, ammunition, and food to the troops and their vehicles. In fact, the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, also known as “Big Red”, has been so vital to military success that it has participated in the Viet Nam War, Operation Desert Shield/Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the war against terror in Afghanistan.
Today, Marine planners estimate that an expeditionary force would use 1.2 million gallons of fuel a day when conducting amphibious landings. Without experts at handling, storing, and distributing this precious commodity, even the finest military cannot succeed.
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Hurlburt Field, Florida. (April 5, 2023): In this photo by Airman 1st Class Hussein Enaya, Airmen assigned to the 1st Special Operations Maintenance Squadron remove the rear spinner of an MC-130H Combat Talon II at the Squadron Central Repair Facility at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The Squadron is responsible for maintaining combat-capable aircraft and equipment for Air Force Special Operations Command missions.
Their motto, “Any Time, Any Place”, accurately describes the mission of these highly specialized teams of more than 650 active duty and civilian mechanics and engineers who service and repair a variety of special mission aircraft.
The Squadron operates a Centralized Repair Facility to address problems unique to Air Force Special Operations Command. These highly secretive missions require unique avionics, electronic warfare components, and flight controls. They also provide crash recovery and emergency response for the airfield and surrounding communities.
Read more: 1ST SPECIAL OPERATIONS MAINTENANCE SQUADRON “ANY TIME, ANY PLACE”
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Pacific Ocean. (April 2, 2023): In this photo by MC3 Leon Vonguyen, Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class Garrett Fogg, from Augusta, Ga., conducts maintenance on an EA-18G Growler assigned to the “Gauntlets” of Electronic Attack Squadron 136 in the hangar bay aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. The Carl Vinson is currently underway conducting Tailored Ship’s Training Availability/Final Evaluation Problem certification, a series of assessments of a crew’s ability to train themselves. When at sea, a carrier must make train its crew without any outside help. Crews are evaluated on their proficiency in warfighting, damage control including shipboard firefighting, simulated man overboard, abandon ship drills, and mass casualty events. Meanwhile, support units conduct replenishments-at-sea and do administrative reviews of crew performance.
Modern aircraft like the Growler are extremely complex and require great technical skill to maintain at peak efficiency. That is why one of the most vital Sailors onboard is the Aviation Electronics Technician. The ultimate jack-of-all-trades, these specialists are the consummate problem solvers, dashing between aircraft from tackling on issue after another. The aviation technician must know every aspect of the electrical systems on both fighters and helicopters, from engine wiring to navigation instruments, and be able to diagnose and fix problems “on the fly”. The job demands great attention to detail as these technicians work on flight-critical systems that impact passenger and crew safety.