combat aircraft

at a time. The situation should improve

as more personnel are trained in the

relatively new role of crewmaster, swelling

the unit’s sta ng numbers.

When Burks was assigned to VMGR-252

in 2013, the squadron was taking part

in three separate deployments. ‘We had

Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ [OEF] in

Afghanistan, another was supporting a

Marine expeditionary unit [MEU] and the

other was the SP-MAGTF. We started to

shut down the OEF deployments with

the drawdown and then we merged the

MEU and SP-MAGTF [deployments]. I

took the SP-MAGTF detachment in 2014

where we had four aircraft supporting

both the MEU and the SP-MAGTF for the

 rst time. We were all over north, east and

west Africa and were doing everything

from battle eld illumination and aerial

delivery to aerial refueling.’ The squadron

also performed aviation-delivered ground

refueling (ADGR) sorties, essentially

involving the KC-130 being used as a

portable gas station. It would land at a

forward operating base, and other aircraft

and helicopters could take fuel from it

via hoses.

African deployment

SP-MAGTF-CR Africa was established after

the 2012 attack on the US consulate in

Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans

including the ambassador. The US Marine

Corps deployed the  rst detachment of

the task force to Morón, Spain, in April

2013. It is tasked with rapidly reinforcing
      US diplomatic sites in Africa and Europe
      should they come under attack, as well
      as supporting marine operations in the
      Mediterranean region. The combination
      of KC-130s and MV-22B Ospreys allows
      the marines to arrive at hard-to-reach
      locations all over Africa, at short notice.
      To land where necessary across the
      continent, the SP-MAGTF maintains
      several austere co-operative security
      locations that give it the ability to pre-
      stage equipment if it anticipates having to
      respond to a crisis far from Morón.
      Originally the SP-MAGTF operated with
      a dozen MV-22s and six Hercules, but this
      was reduced to six Ospreys and three
      KC-130s, which helped reduce the burden
      on participating squadrons. Maj Chuck
      Casey, 252’s operations o cer, explained,
      ‘We maintain a three-plane detachment
      to SP-MAGTF-CR Africa and they are

Below: This

head-on shot

neatly illustrates

the difference

between a

standard KC-130J

and a Harvest

HAWK-confi gured

example. The

latter features

a station for the

AGM-114 Hellfi res

in place of the

port refueling pod.

Left: Lt Col

Brendan

‘Cletus’ Burks

is VMGR-252’s

commander.

USMC

UNIT REPORT // VMGR-252

104 September 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

102-109 VMGR-252 C.indd 104 20/07/2018 12:27