Marines Get Chance To Train With Munitions For First
Time
The student pilots of Marine Attack Training Squadron 203, the
Corps’ lone Harrier training squadron, were able to train
with munitions never before used by students during their training
in Yuma, which they completed over the past weekend. The squadron
travels from its Cherry Point, N.C., home, to Yuma four times a
year to take advantage of the consistent, ideal flying conditions
and range availability.
“We’ve been coming here many years,” said
Capt. Kyle Buchina, VMAT-203 flight instructor. “It offers us
a great opportunity to let the students focus and get some good
experience under their belt.” This visit has featured the
first time students have dropped Joint Direct Attack Munitions,
which are GPS-guided bombs.
“It’s a big step for us,” said Buchina.
“The fleet forces have been transitioning toward more use of
precision-guided weapons for a while now, so we want to give our
students a solid understanding of the weapons before they get to
the fleet.”
It is undetermined whether all future VMAT-203 students visiting
Yuma will also employ JDAMs, since funding for training use of the
weapons is currently limited, said Buchina. The squadron flies
TAV-8B Harriers in its training, which are two-seat
“driver’s education” planes that allow the
instructor to fly with the student and intervene if necessary.
The trip to Yuma is one of the last training objectives that the
future Harrier pilots must complete, as most are 70 to 90 percent
complete with their flight training.
For many of the students, coming to Yuma is a first look at the
place they will call their home in the years to come. Since Yuma
and Cherry Point are the only places in the Corps’ which
house Harriers.
“I’ll be coming to Yuma eventually,” said 1st
Lt. Kevin Smalley, VMAT-203 student pilot. “So it’s
cool to get a chance to see what it’s like out here.”
Though the time when the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter will replace
the Harrier is swiftly approaching, training for future
Harrier pilots is still needed.
“The Harrier isn’t going away anytime soon,”
said Maj. Charles Rounds, VMAT-203 instructor pilot. “Even
once the first Joint Strike Fighters are being operated, we will
still be flying Harriers for some time to come.” The first
F-35B flight instructors will begin their training at Eglin Air
Force Base, Fla., in late 2009. Four of the six Marine instructors
chosen are Yuma pilots. Once they have completed their training,
the first JSF instructor squadron, VMAT-501, will be formed at a
still-undetermined site to teach future JSF pilots.
VMAT-203 and VMAT-501 will operate simultaneously during an
approximate ten year window during the F-35B’s introduction,
before VMAT-203 is eventually phased out, said Lt. Col. Geoffrey
Olander, Yuma’s JSF site activation officer. [ANN Salutes
Lance Cpl. Graham J. Benson, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma]