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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. - Over the trenches of World War I, 2nd Lt. Ralph Talbot and his observer, Gunnery Sgt. Robert G. Robinson, fell behind a group of fighters heading into enemy territory for a raid. Talbot and one other Allied fighter were attacked by 12 enemy aircraft. In the ensuing fight, they shot down two enemy aircraft and Robinson was shot 13 times. His arm was detached below the elbow, hanging on only by a single tendon. Talbot reached Allied lines safely, Robinson lived and his arm was reattached. On this day, in early military aviation history, the pilot’s skills can be credited with the outcome of the mission, and the same holds true throughout the last century.
“The airplane itself has capabilities, but the pilot has to know how to use those capabilities,” said retired Maj. Gen. Michael P. Sullivan, an F-4 Phantom pilot who commanded 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing 1987 through 1988. “In two equally performing airplanes, one guy would win because he could fly it better. It was the pilot’s skill that made the difference.”
The Marine Corps has its own aviation to support infantrymen on the ground. Capt. David W. Fickle, an AV-8B Harrier pilot with Marine Attack Squadron 231, said that the support of ground troops with aviation is partly due to the attitude toward warfare. While the Air Force focuses mostly on the strategic picture, Fickle said, Marine pilots do everything they can to support the riflemen on the ground from a tactical standpoint.
“Pilots understand that the basic building block of the Marine Corps is the rifleman,” said Fickle. “They understand that whether it’s assault support through an MV-22B Osprey or providing close air support from an AV-8B Harrier, it all comes down to putting a young rifleman with an M-4 in front of our nation’s enemies so he can close with and destroy them. Depending on the situation on the ground, a pilot can choose to increase his risk level and go further than an average pilot would because he knows he’s supporting a U.S. Marine down there.”
Becoming a pilot is a major commitment in life, said Fickle. A first-term pilot commits for a minimum of 11 and a half years. For a jet pilot, school takes up to three and a half years to get the pilot’s wings and his eight-year commitment of service doesn’t start until the day the pilot receives those wings. Prospective pilots can’t just become a pilot; they must chase this goal with an indomitable competitive spirit.
“We all share a common history that we were all higher up in our class rankings in college and high school, and we’ve always been the leader of the pack in terms of being able to outperform other people,” Fickle said. “But now, all of a sudden, you assimilate a bunch of these people together, the playing field’s been leveled out and now you all want to fly a jet. How do you select that? You do it by who’s got the most will power and who’s got the most dedication. It can get very stressful in flight school because they want it that bad.”
Sullivan concurred, saying pilots have swagger, confidence and a little bit of an ego. These attitudes are necessary for the pilots, because they have to take an active role in the decision-making processes determining where to drop their bombs.
“It’s an extreme amount of pressure on your shoulders when you are entering into a tactical scenario and you’re carrying 500- or 1,000-pound weapons that, if they go off target just a little bit, can do extreme damage,” Fickle explained. “It can be an international incident. You have people’s lives in your hands, and they’re not just Marines on the ground, they’re civilians as well. You have to have somebody up there who’s proactive, who has that type-A personality, because that’s the kind of person who can handle that kind of pressure.”
Fickle said that attitude is why Marines excel at close air support. With the mindset of supporting the rifleman on the ground, pilots seek excellence in their job and are willing to go the extra mile to achieve this.
With the new technologies in aircraft like the F-35B Lightning II, Sullivan said the “who” factor in aerial warfare may be going away. He cited missile systems that can engage targets beyond visual range, meaning no dogfighting is necessary to shoot down enemy aircraft. With automated systems, the pilot doesn’t have to work as hard to fly the aircraft and engage the enemy.
“I flew F-4s for 23 years and I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” said Sullivan. “The best airplane I ever flew was the F-18, the most fun airplane is the Harrier. All those airplanes took a pilot. The F-18 though, I used to kid about it saying everything works in this airplane but the pilot, compared to F-4s and Harriers. I’m glad I was around when I was so I got to fly it, instead of it flying me.”
| Date Taken: | 04.05.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 04.06.2012 15:36 |
| Story ID: | 86404 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 96 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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