MCAS Cherry Point News

New Wing Operations Center offers critical training opportunities

The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing’s recent large force exercise, Exercise MAILED FIST 1-11, breathed life into a brand new tool that leaders say will redefine the way 2nd MAW conducts training and local operations. The Wing Operations Center, a windowless room with rows of work stations, a panel of large, wall-mounted monitors and, sometimes, an air of

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Maj. Gen. Jon M. Davis, left, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing commanding general, and Lt. Gen. John M. Paxton, right, II Marine Expeditionary Force commanding general, arrive at Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue, N.C., after riding in a UH-1N Huey with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167 June 20 to observe operations taking place in support of Operation Mailed Fist. - Maj. Gen. Jon M. Davis, left, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing commanding general, and Lt. Gen. John M. Paxton, right, II Marine Expeditionary Force commanding general, arrive at Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue, N.C., after riding in a UH-1N Huey with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167 June 20 to observe operations taking place in support of Operation Mailed Fist.

2nd MAW wraps up massive East Coast exercise

Friday marked the end of the largest 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing training exercise in more than a decade, when Marines and Sailors up and down the East Coast successfully wrapped up MAILED FIST 1-11, after two weeks of field testing and operations. Although wildfires have held siege over much of eastern North Carolina, blanketing the region in thick

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Lance Cpl. Carl L. Swanguarim, an ordnance technician, checks the weapon racks aboard an AH-1W Super Cobra prior to a mission by Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 467 helicopters aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., June 23. This mission was possibly the last firing of tube launched, optically tracked, wire guided missiles by HMLA-467. - Lance Cpl. Carl L. Swanguarim, an ordnance technician, checks the weapon racks aboard an AH-1W Super Cobra prior to a mission by Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 467 helicopters aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., June 23. This mission was possibly the last firing of tube launched, optically tracked, wire guided missiles by HMLA-467.

Marines learn to call in airstrikes during MAILED FIST

It looks like a scene straight out of a movie. Sleek shapes moving fast and low over a blasted landscape. Destroyed tanks and other vehicles litter the ground, many of them having been shot hundreds of times before. Marines on the ground communicate the target information to the helicopters in the air. Once the helicopters are on track, they launch

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An AV-8B Harrier from Marine Attack Squadron 542 takes off to conduct training sorties out of Marine Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue June 21. Marine Wing Support Squadron 274 provided engineering capabilities, firefighting assets and pure water amongst other services, to ensure MCALF Bogue could successfully support VMA-542. - An AV-8B Harrier from Marine Attack Squadron 542 takes off to conduct training sorties out of Marine Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue June 21. Marine Wing Support Squadron 274 provided engineering capabilities, firefighting assets and pure water amongst other services, to ensure MCALF Bogue could successfully support VMA-542.

Marines, Sailors endure heat, smoke during MAILED FIST field ops

Common scenes unfold at Marine Corps installations around the world. Marines stand guard around the perimeter, swatting at flies as they keep an eye out for the enemy. Harrier pilots receive their briefs in a hot, stuffy tent lacking air conditioning, then fly off to support troops on the ground. Convoys come and go, delivering the supplies needed

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