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]

FMI: www.marines.mil