at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina,
at which point VMA-231 ‘Ace of Spades’
will assume the Harrier training role until
it closes as the nal AV-8B squadron in- The ‘Black Sheep’ are on course
to convert to the F-35 in 2021. All of
the West Coast Harrier units will have
transitioned by 2022, with the Harrier
remaining in service at Cherry Point
until 2026.
Harrier readiness
The improvement in readiness at the
Harrier squadrons is largely attributed to
having more sta on site to x aircraft.As McGregor puts it, ‘The Harrier is doing
well in terms of readiness right now.’
The Harrier Independent Readiness
Review put a lot of focus on the supply
chain and how squadrons manage
spare parts. However, more importantly,
it concentrated on maintainer
quali cations and their ability to
remain with units once they are fully
trained, maximizing their e ectiveness.
McGregor says, ‘That’s a delicate balance
because a lot of guys are getting pulled
away to become F-35 maintainers, just
like we are seeing with pilots, so we are
walking that ne line of maintaining the‘legacy’ eet and not burning that down
whilst standing up our fth-gen eet.’
Maj Keith Bucklew is the maintenance
o cer at VMA-214. He says, ‘Our biggest
impact is the number of personnel we
have now. It’s not so much about the
material condition of the aircraft; it’s the
Marines we have available to x them.
While readiness has improved, we’re still
understa ed and the Harrier is a tough
aircraft to x. This is actually compounded
by having more aircraft here at the
moment. They all have scheduled
inspections that need to be completed
and we just don’t have the personnel‘Black Sheep’
AV-8B+ deployed
ashore at Al
Udeid, Qatar, in
November. The
Harriers are
there as part of
the 15th Marine
Expeditionary Unit
and absorbed
into VMM-161
(Rein) in support
of Operations
‘Inherent Resolve’
and ‘Freedom’s
Sentinel’. US ANG/
MSgt Phil SpeckAt Yuma, pilots fl y a few vertical landings
each week to maintain profi ciency but
they mainly fl y 60kt rolling vertical
landings (RVLs). Harriers always vertically
land (VL) on the boat. Jamie Hunterhttp://www.combataircraft.net // February 2018 29
24-35 VMA-214 C.indd 29 13/12/2017 14:43