Aviation Specials - July 2018

Acknowledgments: The author wishes to

thank Maj Gen Wise and 3rd Marine Air

Wing Public A airs for their support in

the preparation of this feature.

‘classic’ Hornets. ‘If I’ve got 12 aircraft and

enough maintainers to support those 12,

then I put 16 jets on the line it means I’ve

got another four aircraft that still have

maintenance requirements day-in, day-

out. Now I’ve increased the workload for

the same number of maintainers, so more

is not always better. Receiving the Navy

aircraft means we can take a best-of-

breed approach’. We’re able to harvest o

the best aircraft and those we strike from

the inventory we can use to improve

our spares stores. Statistically speaking,

the big improvement we see is that if

we increase our maintainers we get a far

larger proportion of available aircraft.

‘Older aircraft take longer to maintain,

they tend to break more often and

because we maintain the same safety

standards, it means we have to work

double time on those airplanes.’ Wise

concludes: ‘The people element is the

most important, closely followed by

the parts.’

Team training

Away from the headline readiness

issues, the mission here is to train as a

Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF)

with everything from infantry units to

artillery and logistics. ‘That’s the  rst

part of our focus,’ says Maj Gen Wise.

‘Then we integrate with the Navy in

the Amphibious Ready Group [ARG] for

maximum e ectiveness. Our philosophy,

the centerpiece, is the Marine ri eman;

it’s all about how I make them more lethal

and survivable. The MAGTF — that’s how

we deploy. The Aviation Combat Element

[ACE] brings all of our aviation elements

together and supports the MEU as a

composite squadron.

‘This isn’t just about material, it’s about

the people and having a solid plan that

keeps them resilient. The people of this

wing work so hard and do a wonderful

job. It’s not just about releasing weapons

in anger, it’s also about the humanitarian

role, around the globe, wherever the call

comes from.’

Above: Osprey

squadron

transitions

on the West

Coast are now

complete.

Below left

to right:

VMFA(AW)-225

‘Vikings’ will

transition to the

F-35B at MCAS

Miramar.

Hornet crews

are enjoying

increased

readiness

thanks to a

number of

initiatives.

(^56) LEADERSHIP INTERVIEW

US NAVY & MARINE CORPS AIR POWER YEARBOOK 2018

50-56 3rd MAW C.indd 56 01/06/2018 10:14