Photo By Master Sgt. Charles McKelvey | Lance Cpl. Kathleen Trimble, an aviation ordnanceman with Marine All-Weather Fighter...... read more read more
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ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE BASE TINDAL, Australia – One of the goals for Marines during this year’s iteration of Exercise Southern Frontier, in Australia’s Northern Territory, is to gain qualifications.
Some of those qualifications involve live ordnance; and where there is ordnance, there are ordnance Marines.
“The training here is not just for the aircrew it’s for all the shops involved,” said Sgt. Cody Craven, an ordnance day crew supervisor with Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242. “This (detachment) is specifically an ordnance related (detachment). So if the pilots are able to drop ordnance then they are able to get their qualifications. In the process, I’m able to get all the members in my team qualified as well.”
While at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, the squadron cannot use live ordnance. This forces the squadron to train with inert ordnance as opposed to live, high explosive ordnance, which they can use at SF13.
“I like to think of this as a real combat environment,” said Craven. “It’s basically practice for if we get that call to go and drop ordnance for real.”
Craven said the procedures they follow during SF13 are the same procedures they would use if they were doing a mission in a combat zone.
“We take it slow, and we have a checklist for absolutely everything we do,” said Craven. “We go by the numbers for everything, and make sure everyone is doing everything safely so we have no mishaps.”
Another benefit of SF13 is the ability to train junior Marines in a safe, but real-time situation.
“The most important thing a junior Marine can learn here is the high paced required for a live ordnance (detachment),” said Craven. “Whenever we are doing inert ordnance, the pace is much slower, so here, they need to be on the ball, ready to make quick decisions, ready to have a whole bunch of changes happen throughout the day, and be able to hustle to get the aircraft out on time so that aircrew can get that training.”
One difficulty the ordnance Marines face is adapting to the changing environments of different exercises and detachments.
“We’re concerned with operations and making things flow,” said Lance Cpl. Ryan Schladitz an aviation ordnanceman and team leader with VMFA(AW)-242. “The good thing about coming out here, and it’s different everywhere, is how we adapt to the situation we have; the different layouts of the flight line and the different rules of the different countries.”
Besides operations and flow, Craven and Schladitz, both stressed the importance of getting the job done right, the first time.
“There’s a ton of trust with this job. We go by the saying ‘trust, but verify,’” said Schladitz. “Everything we do is double-checked by another Marine. I check everything my junior Marines do, and a sergeant, then checks everything that is checked by me. Everything goes up until that final inspection and we say the aircraft is good. It’s really important on us because everything has to be good because one little slip up can result in a (dud) bomb.”
Schladitz says one thing he keeps in mind is how his work helps the Marines on the ground, and that is what he and his fellow Marines train to every day.
“If we go into the fight, and there are Marines on the ground that need air support they rely directly on us to make sure our weapon systems work,” said Schladitz. “They rely on us, as well as the pilots, to make sure they get those bombs and rounds on target.”
| Date Taken: | 08.12.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 08.20.2013 01:05 |
| Story ID: | 112244 |
| Location: | ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE BASE TINDAL, NT, AU |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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