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    Marines afford VMFA-115 aircraft opportunity to detonate ordnance

    Marines afford VMFA-115 aircraft opportunity to detonate ordnance

    Photo By Staff Sgt. Kenneth Trotter Jr. | Cpl. Trevor J. Fortin, a Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 aviation ordnance...... read more read more

    ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, GUAM

    10.21.2011

    Story by Lance Cpl. Kenneth Trotter Jr. 

    Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni

    ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam — Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 ordnance Marines completed air-to-ground ordnance loading training here, Oct. 21, as part of a month-long deployment to the region.

    The purpose of the exercise was to ensure both VMFA -115 ordnance Marines and pilots were proficient in their capabilities of employing live ordnance.

    “We’re allowing the pilots to work with tools, some of them have only used in simulation,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joy Craig, VMFA -115 aviation ordnance officer. “This is the first time dropping live ordnance for some of them. It’s a refresher training for others. It’s also good training for our ordnance Marines in case of a real world scenario.”

    VMFA -115 is part of the Unit Deployment Program, which gives aviation squadrons stationed in the U.S. an opportunity to conduct training in the Pacific region. VMFA -115 is based out of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C.

    The Marines spent a week fitting F/A-18swith a variety of weaponry and ordnance.The Marines worked with Mark-82 bombs, Mark-83 bombs and Guided Bomb Unit 31 bombs, which weigh approximately 1,000 pounds. The aircraft also employed the GBU-32 bomb, which weigh approximately 2,000 pounds.

    Approximately 43,000 pounds of ordnance was dropped during the week. The squadron is scheduled to deploy approximately 80,000pounds of ordnance by the end of the month.

    “That’s more than we dropped all last year in Beaufort,” said Craig. “Guam gives us an opportunity we don’t normally have.”

    The bombs were dropped on an uninhabited island off the coast of Guam.

    The opportunity to train on live ordnance allows the ordnance Marines to experience a more fast-paced approach to their job. The training helps the Marines become more observant in loading ordnance.

    “We have to be more attentive to the fusing, the codes and the electric checks; everything that goes along with it to ensure it actually [detonates] instead of like the inert weapons we use where they just fall off the plane,” said Gunnery Sgt. Jason A. Hewes, VMFA -115 ordnance chief. “This actually has to blow up.”

    Repetition in loading and preparing ordnance gives the Marines an opportunity to troubleshoot and review their progress from day to day.

    “After a couple of days of doing it, they cut their time down to six planes in 45 minutes,” said Hewes.“They’ve gotten more proficient at what they’re doing. They’ve come together as a group, a team.”

    The training not only served to increase the proficiency and efficiency of the ordnance Marines but also helped those deployed on a different front.

    “These bombs protect other Marines,” said Hewes. “They’re utilized to support ground forces and to ensure they’re protected from an [aerial] standpoint.”

    For some ordnance Marines, live ordnance is a very uncommon part of their job unless they are on deployment.

    “It’s exciting,” said Lance Cpl. Pawel Jamiokowski, a VMFA -115 aviation ordnance technician. “There’s a feeling you get when you’re loading live ordnance. It’s the real [deal].”

    The Marines and sailors plan to continue to drop live ordnance until their training in Guam is complete.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 10.21.2011
    Date Posted: 10.27.2011 04:25
    Story ID: 79087
    Location: ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, GU

    Web Views: 149
    Downloads: 0

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