MARINE CORPS AUXILIARY LANDING FIELD BOGUE,N.C.- --
The retrieval of downed aircraft
is a dangerous, but crucial task for the Marines of Marine Wing Support
Squadron 274.
The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing unit
honed their skills during an aircraft retrieval training exercise at Marine
Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue, Feb.
2.
Aircraft rescue and firefighting
Marines, heavy equipment operators, bulk fuels specialists, motor transportation Marines and combat engineers
worked hand-in-hand to retrieve a simulated downed aircraft . They were given a
scenario and were tasked with providing a security perimeter around the
aircraft while securing and transporting the aircraft in a safe and effective
manner.
“There are multiple purposes
for recovering an aircraft,” said 1st Lt. Joshua Adams, the motor
transportation platoon commander with MWSS-274. “Recovering the aircraft gives
us the ability to salvage parts off of it that may contain intelligence or
special equipment. Recovering the aircraft also alows us to understand what
happened during the crash.”
MWSS-274’s primary mission is
to provide all essential aviation ground support requirements to a designated
fixed-wing component of the Aviation Combat Element and all supporting or
attached elements of the Marine Air Control Group. The ability to retrieve
aircraft without the aid of outside resources increases the units’
effectiveness and their expeditionary capabilities.
“This training exercise is
the first time many of us have been involved in an aircraft recovery,” said
Lance Cpl. Michael Hayes, a motor vehicle operator with the squadron. “Knowing
different scenarios and familiarizing ourselves with different aproaches is
giving us a better grasp on the protocol with first hand experience.”
According to Adams, the
Marines are also familiarizing themselves with tactical aircraft recovery prior
to their training deployment to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., where the
Marines will be evaluated on their ability to perform the recovery with speed
and proficiency.
“We train how we would answer
to these calls,” explained Hayes. “When reality hits out on deployment, we will
rely on the fundamentals we learned here to accomplish the mission.”