U.S. Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 542 perform flight operations with an F-35B Lightning II jet at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, May 31, 2023. VMFA-542 received its first F-35B Lightning II jet as the Marine Corps’ first East Coast operational F-35B Lightning II squadron. The arrival of the aircraft marks the beginning of F-35B Lightning II deliveries to MCAS Cherry Point, continuing 2nd MAW’s transition from legacy fixed-wing aircraft to the F-35B Lightning II. VMFA-542 is a subordinate unit of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, the aviation combat element of II Marine Expeditionary Force. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Lance Cpl. Rowdy Vanskike)
U.S. Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 542 inspect an F-35B Lightning II jet at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, May 31, 2023. VMFA-542 received its first F-35B Lightning II jet as the Marine Corps’ first East Coast operational F-35B Lightning II squadron. The arrival of the aircraft marks the beginning of F-35B Lightning II deliveries to MCAS Cherry Point, continuing 2nd MAW’s transition from legacy fixed-wing aircraft to the F-35B Lightning II. VMFA-542 is a subordinate unit of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, the aviation combat element of II Marine Expeditionary Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Anakin Smith)
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. — On a Friday night, a group of friends celebrated a birthday at a local bar. They met a patron shortly before closing time. The thought of pulling this individual from a flipped car never crossed their minds as they wished him a safe travel home. However, the scene that the U.S. Marines encountered while traveling back to base tested instincts and skills instilled in them since boot camp.
“As we were coming around a bend, it looked like there was a car waiting to pull out,” said Cpl. John Graham, an unmanned-aerial vehicle avionics technician with Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron (VMU) 2. “But then we saw that it was upside down. There were three smaller trees knocked over,...
