A bad day for Marine Aviation.

Yesterday was a bad day for Marine Aviation...a stark reminder that even training is dangerous.

First this from NBC News...

One Marine was killed and three injured when a helicopter crashed into a bay on the coast of Oahu, a military spokesman said Wednesday.
The CH-53 D Sea Stallion, with four Marines aboard, crashed about 7:20 p.m. Hawaii time Tuesday, Maj. Alan Crouch, with the Marines' public affairs office in Hawaii, told NBC News.

Then this from Marine Times...

An AV-8B Harrier jump jet crashed Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden shortly after taking off from the amphibious assault ship Boxer, military officials told Marine Corps Times.
The pilot ejected and wasn’t seriously injured, according to Marine Corps and Navy officials.

UPDATE*  It was a worse day than I thought.  Add this to the roll of woe...

From Commander Naval Air Forces Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Ten Sailors aboard the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) were injured March 30 when an F/A-18C Hornet assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 101 suffered a catastrophic engine failure and subsequently caught fire.

The injured Sailors were working on the flight deck near the jet when the incident occurred at 2:50 p.m. They were initially treated by the ship's medical personnel.

Four Sailors have been flown to Naval Medical Center San Diego where they are in stable condition. The pilot was not injured.

The fire was quickly extinguished, and there is no significant damage to the ship.

"I am extremely proud of our crew," said Stennis Commanding Officer Capt Ronald Reis. "The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is an inherently dangerous place, but our personnel are well-trained to operate safely in this environment. They responded quickly, professionally and with purpose, extinguishing the aircraft engine fire."

The cause of the mishap is under investigation.

USS John C. Stennis is homeported in Bremerton, Wash., and was conducting Fleet Replacement Squadron Carrier Qualifications in the Southern California operating area at the time of the mishap. VMFAT-101 is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

Modest Proposal. Attach Riverine Units to MEU's.

I am about to propose something that is pure blasphemy to the Riverine Forces.

Attach them to the Marine Expeditionary Units, subordinate them to Marine Command on deployments and get them out and about with the Amphibious Ready Groups.

As it now stands, these forces are sitting on the beach with a mission but without the means to get into the fight with a Surface Navy that doesn't want to use them...A Special Warfare Community that already has its own Boat Drivers...and a Command (NECC) that doesn't have the clout to get them where they need to be.

That all changes if they're assigned to an MEU.

Consider this sad fact.  Piracy is running rampant off the coast of Africa.  Riverine's aren't there.  The 22nd MEU is deploying to the waters off Libya.  Riverine's aren't going.  Unless we're going to disband this asset then it going to take assigning them to an MEU to get use out of them.

Training foreign forces...or training with allied nations isn't good enough.  Its time to get them into the fight.

*UPDATE*

Hey all.

I don't want the Marines to take back the Riverine Mission.  I do however, want the Riverines to get deployed.  If you believe that Riverine Forces will get there own amphibs then you're smoking crack.  If you think that Riverines will be able to deploy with MPS ships then you're still smoking something illegal.  If you think that you can position gear at forward bases and have personnel fly out and marry up with it you're dreaming.  This unit WILL go away unless you tie it to units that are out doing work.  If its with the Destroyer Force, ARG or Carriers then so be it but NECC does not have the ability to lobby for its own large ships.

173rd Airborne Brigade's Commander is relieved.

There aren't many US Army units that I consider shit hot. 

Fewer still that I think can actually hump with or fight as well as Marines.  The 173rd Airborne is one of those units.  When I first heard this story a couple of days ago, I decided to wait...I wanted to see more info.  It wasn't to be.  The Army is mum and the only thing that exists is rumors. 

On a sad side note, have you noticed an increase in the number of Commanders being relieved?  I don't have exact numbers but it appears to be higher than normal.  This story is from Stars and Stripes.

173rd Airborne Commander Relieved

by Kevin Dougherty

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- The Army has relieved Col. James H. Johnson III of command of the 173rd Airborne Brigade for serious allegations “that were substantiated” following an extensive review, said the deputy commander of V Corps.

The Army announced its decision on Johnson late Friday. Col. Kyle Lear is serving as the acting commander until Johnson’s replacement arrives this summer. However, it didn’t go into any detail about Johnson’s transgressions, or whether he will be court-martialed.

Brig. Gen. Allen W. Batschelet, Johnson’s direct supervisor, said in a telephone interview that Johnson faced “a number of allegations that were (later) substantiated.” Commanders need to be held to the highest standards, he said.

“Once this is compromised, we have an obligation to take action,” Batschelet said. “These sorts of things can become a distraction.”

While the Army says it can’t elaborate on the allegations against Johnson, talk of the colonel’s troubles are the grist of rumors, particularly in the communities where the brigade is based.

“It’s a pretty grave decision we had to make,” Batschelet said of relieving Johnson. “We hold commanders to the highest standards.”

Based in Vicenza, Italy, the brigade includes six battalions. Two battalions are in Vicenza, and four are in Germany, with three of them in Bamberg. The fourth battalion is based in Schweinfurt.

Johnson assumed command of the brigade in October 2008. He led it on a yearlong tour of Afghanistan, with the brigade returning to Europe late last year. The Army suspended Johnson as commander Feb. 17. On Friday, the suspension was lifted.

“He’s officially relieved of command at this point,” said Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green, a spokeswoman for U.S. Army Europe.

Canadian F-35 Cost.

CBCNew has a report out on the cost of the F-35 to the Canadian Government...

But Mike Sullivan, director of acquisition management at the US General Accountability Office, said he doesn't know where that estimate comes from.
"That's not a number that I am familiar with at all," he said in an interview Tuesday with CBC's Power & Politics with Evan Solomon, cautioning he hasn't seen the methodology behind the numbers.
Sullivan said the estimated cost of the F-35A model that Canada is buying is "in the low 100 millions."
"Probably somewhere between $110-115 million," he said.

110 Million for a stealthy, high performance cutting edge airplane?  High.  Above projected costs.  But still a bargain.  And that's if Carter isn't able to drive the price point lower. 

The critics keep losing.

Pegasus Supports Operations in Southern Afghanistan

Is it just me or does the vid seem to repeat the take-off sequence mid stream?

F-35C heads to the Corps.

F-35 News...Acceptance flights...7 Test flights in one day...

The F-35 flight test program completed a record seven flights in one day on 29 March 2011. Four of the flights occurred at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, where F-35B BF-1 completed two flights and BF-2 and CF-1 completed one flight each. Three more occurred at Edwards AFB, California, where F-35A AF-1, AF-2, and AF-3 completed one flight each. AF-1’s mission, its 109th, was the longest of the seven flights at 3.1 hours.

USAF Maj. Matthew Hayden is at the controls for the third flight of AF-7 for the first government acceptance flight of an F-35A on 28 March 2011. The 1.1-hour flight originated from NAS Fort Worth JRB. After government acceptance, AF-7 will head to Edwards AFB, California, to support development testing.