MCAS Cherry Point News

Retired Col. Wayne Whitten holds a plaque commemorating the delivery of the first EA-6B Prowler to MCAS Cherry Point, which took place Feb. 17, 1977. Whitten was a member of the aircrew that delivered the aircraft here 35 years ago. The Prowler behind him is the same he delivered to Cherry Point and the only EA-6B to never serve in a Navy electronic warfare squadron. - Retired Col. Wayne Whitten holds a plaque commemorating the delivery of the first EA-6B Prowler to MCAS Cherry Point, which took place Feb. 17, 1977. Whitten was a member of the aircrew that delivered the aircraft here 35 years ago. The Prowler behind him is the same he delivered to Cherry Point and the only EA-6B to never serve in a Navy electronic warfare squadron.

Sgt. Jim-Paul Adams, a section leader with Battery B, 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, executes the “Swing, Stand and Jump,” obstacle of the confidence course aboard Virginia Army National Guard Installation Fort Pickett, V.A., Feb. 15. The LAAD Marines are conducting a two-week-long field operation dubbed South Bound Trooper through Feb. 26, and they ran this two-and-a-half mile course in the rain executing various obstacles to work on team building and camaraderie. - Sgt. Jim-Paul Adams, a section leader with Battery B, 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, executes the “Swing, Stand and Jump,” obstacle of the confidence course aboard Virginia Army National Guard Installation Fort Pickett, V.A., Feb. 15. The LAAD Marines are conducting a two-week-long field operation dubbed South Bound Trooper through Feb. 26, and they ran this two-and-a-half mile course in the rain executing various obstacles to work on team building and camaraderie.

Canadian Army Cpl. Stephane M. Hogue, left, a medic with 36th Canadian Brigade, and Lance Cpl. Chad M. Angeli, a team leader with Battery B, 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, patrol a road aboard Virginia Army National Guard Installation Fort Pickett, Va., Feb. 21. The two groups integrated to complete a scenario based humanitarian mission in support of exercise South Bound Trooper. "Working with the Canadians lets us see the bigger picture about tactics they use," said Cpl. Demingo Lara, a section leader with Battery B. "This event makes Bravo Battery a better team of Marines." - Canadian Army Cpl. Stephane M. Hogue, left, a medic with 36th Canadian Brigade, and Lance Cpl. Chad M. Angeli, a team leader with Battery B, 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, patrol a road aboard Virginia Army National Guard Installation Fort Pickett, Va., Feb. 21. The two groups integrated to complete a scenario based humanitarian mission in support of exercise South Bound Trooper. "Working with the Canadians lets us see the bigger picture about tactics they use," said Cpl. Demingo Lara, a section leader with Battery B. "This event makes Bravo Battery a better team of Marines."

Five Marines and a Navy corpsman raise the flag of the United States, during the Battle of Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945. The picture was widely reproduced and came to be regarded in the United States as one of the most significant and recognizable images of the war. “The photograph depicts the potential of victory about to be fulfilled,” said Daniel Kariko, an assistant professor of photography at East Carolina University. “The flag is taking air and is about to unfurl, and the pole is about to become vertical, symbolizing triumph.” - Five Marines and a Navy corpsman raise the flag of the United States, during the Battle of Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945. The picture was widely reproduced and came to be regarded in the United States as one of the most significant and recognizable images of the war. “The photograph depicts the potential of victory about to be fulfilled,” said Daniel Kariko, an assistant professor of photography at East Carolina University. “The flag is taking air and is about to unfurl, and the pole is about to become vertical, symbolizing triumph.”

Lance Cpl. David S. Shouse, a supply clerk with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., pulled a man from a burning vehicle on Feb. 14, in Boiling Spring Lakes, N.C. “I was going to call 911 right away, but then I saw him,” said Shouse, a Ripley, Ohio, native. “The only thing going through my mind when I saw him was, ‘There’s a guy in that truck and I have to get him out.’” - Lance Cpl. David S. Shouse, a supply clerk with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., pulled a man from a burning vehicle on Feb. 14, in Boiling Spring Lakes, N.C. “I was going to call 911 right away, but then I saw him,” said Shouse, a Ripley, Ohio, native. “The only thing going through my mind when I saw him was, ‘There’s a guy in that truck and I have to get him out.’”

Seaman Chase Lapradd, a corpsman attached to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), and a native of Drakes Branch, Va., receives his Fleet Marine Force qualification at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Feb. 16. The Fleet Marine Force qualification is issued to Sailors who are trained and qualified to perform duties in support of U.S. Marine Corps operations, and can only be issued by Marine commanding generals or commanding officers of regimental-level commands. More than 50 Sailors attached to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) have earned the qualification in the past year. - Seaman Chase Lapradd, a corpsman attached to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), and a native of Drakes Branch, Va., receives his Fleet Marine Force qualification at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Feb. 16. The Fleet Marine Force qualification is issued to Sailors who are trained and qualified to perform duties in support of U.S. Marine Corps operations, and can only be issued by Marine commanding generals or commanding officers of regimental-level commands. More than 50 Sailors attached to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) have earned the qualification in the past year.

(Left to Right) Navy Capt. Edgardo Perez-Lugo, commanding officer of Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point, Col. Philip J. Zimmerman, commanding officer of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Lt. Cmdr. Erin M. Simmons, department head of the mental health clinic at the Naval clinic, conduct a ribbon cutting ceremony Feb. 9 for the clinic’s revamped, relocated mental health clinic. The facility used to be on the first floor of the clinic but moved to the third because of a lack of space. The upstairs location provides a much more suitable environment, said Simmons. - (Left to Right) Navy Capt. Edgardo Perez-Lugo, commanding officer of Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point, Col. Philip J. Zimmerman, commanding officer of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Lt. Cmdr. Erin M. Simmons, department head of the mental health clinic at the Naval clinic, conduct a ribbon cutting ceremony Feb. 9 for the clinic’s revamped, relocated mental health clinic. The facility used to be on the first floor of the clinic but moved to the third because of a lack of space. The upstairs location provides a much more suitable environment, said Simmons.

FORT WORTH, Texas (Feb. 29, 2006) A P-38F Lightning and an F-35X Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II are displayed at the Lockheed Martin Corporation in Fort Worth, Texas for a special ceremony in recognition of the past and present success of the company's production of fighter aircraft. This P-38 is named "Glacier Girl" in commemoration of the recovery and restoration of the aircraft from her icy tomb, more than 250 feet below the surface of a glacier, on the eastern coast of Greenland where she crash landed in July, 1942 with four other P-38s and two B-17s in route to England. U.S. Navy photo by MC2(AW) D. Keith Simmons Released - FORT WORTH, Texas (Feb. 29, 2006) A P-38F Lightning and an F-35X Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II are displayed at the Lockheed Martin Corporation in Fort Worth, Texas for a special ceremony in recognition of the past and present success of the company's production of fighter aircraft. This P-38 is named "Glacier Girl" in commemoration of the recovery and restoration of the aircraft from her icy tomb, more than 250 feet below the surface of a glacier, on the eastern coast of Greenland where she crash landed in July, 1942 with four other P-38s and two B-17s in route to England. U.S. Navy photo by MC2(AW) D. Keith Simmons Released

Cpl. Kyle J. Goss, an air frame mechanic with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 366, holds his child at the squadron’s hangar Feb. 11, aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., after returning from a seven-month deployment to the Horn of Africa. The Marines were deployed to provide support preventing conflict, promoting regional stability and protecting coalition interests. - Cpl. Kyle J. Goss, an air frame mechanic with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 366, holds his child at the squadron’s hangar Feb. 11, aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., after returning from a seven-month deployment to the Horn of Africa. The Marines were deployed to provide support preventing conflict, promoting regional stability and protecting coalition interests.

Pamlico County residents Bob and Beverly Fruhling sit on the banks of the Pamlico River near where former Cobra pilot Dennis DeRienzo's helmet was found. The couple thinks the helmet was wept up in the wake of Hurricane Irene in August 2011. The helmet was lost when th Cobra, co-piloted by DeRienzo, crashed during a routine pre-deployment exercise on February 10, 1999. - Pamlico County residents Bob and Beverly Fruhling sit on the banks of the Pamlico River near where former Cobra pilot Dennis DeRienzo's helmet was found. The couple thinks the helmet was wept up in the wake of Hurricane Irene in August 2011. The helmet was lost when th Cobra, co-piloted by DeRienzo, crashed during a routine pre-deployment exercise on February 10, 1999.