A force in readiness
With so much focus on manning and
operational tempo, it’s hardly surprising
that maintaining a healthy balance is
never far from the wing leadership’s
minds. ‘Because of the expeditionary
nature of the Marine Corps we cover
deployments everywhere from the
Central Command region to Pacific
Command. We have a high operational
tempo plus our regular training cycles
and then you have to add in our
transitions. We’re trying to train our
people yet give them sufficient time to
keep their families resilient to support
our operations. It means that we spend
a lot of time in our planning to keep that
tempo where it needs to be. We always
make it work and that’s because of a lot
of fantastic Marines and sailors who we
have here.’
When asked if he thought force
reductions and high operational tempos
have exacerbated the issue in recent
years, Maj Gen Wise replied: ‘When I
first joined the Marine Corps I was away
from home a lot for carrier deployments
and I did an exchange tour with the Air
Force. I’d say the challenges we face are
cyclic and predictable — but it’s true
that we maintain a high operational
tempo. However, if you talk to our young
Marines they’ll tell you they joined to
deploy. We give them that opportunity.
‘The biggest challenge we face with
regard to manning is the situation we
currently see in the TACAIR [tactical
aircraft] community. You must have a
strategy for taking those experienced
maintainers that you need in order to
seed the new community, but at the
same time take into account the fact
that you’re taking that experience out
of the legacy community. It’s intensified
because of the rate that we’re trying
to make that transition. So, we look
at the optimum ways to retain that
important talent.’
When asked about the readiness
situation regarding the Miramar Hornets,
Wise said: ‘The bottom line — I’m
actually very encouraged. From the
readiness standpoint — and we will
focus on the Hornet, because the AV-8B
is seeing a renaissance — I would also
say the Hornet is finally starting to see
improvement. I look at it from the point
of view of what I’m seeing out on the
flight line. When we see a platform that
is further on down the road than it was
originally designed to be age-wise, thereLeft top to
bottom: The
F-35B continues
to expand its
footprint on the
west coast, with
VMFA-122 being
the latest unit to
stand up.
Inside the
cockpit of a
‘Raiders’
KC-130J on
climb out
from Miramar.
Right page top to
bottom:
Readiness
within the AV-8B
fleet has
improved
thanks to a
number of
manning and
spares-driven
initiatives.
VMA-311
‘Tomcats’ has
shifted down
the order to
receive the
Lightning II, and
is now due to
transition to the
F-35C in FY22.
An MV-22B flies
at dusk on a
mission from
MCAS Miramar,
tanking with a
VMGR-352
KC-130J.(^54) LEADERSHIP INTERVIEW
US NAVY & MARINE CORPS AIR POWER YEARBOOK 2018
50-56 3rd MAW C.indd 54 01/06/2018 10:14