Photo By Sgt. April Price | Marines with 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force are...... read more read more
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SAN DIEGO — The Marine Corps is the branch of the United States Armed Forces that is responsible for providing power projection from the sea. With the mobility of the Navy, they rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces.
Throughout history, traces of war can be spotted all over the world, leaving behind reminders of peoples’ history. The USS Midway is one of many sites that echos its history throughout its passage ways.
Marines with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I Marine Expeditionary Force, visited the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, for a professional military educational trip, May 6, to get a better understanding of the carrier and its history.
The Marines recently returned from a deployment in the Western Pacific for approximately seven months. Their command thought this was an ideal moment to educate the Marines on why it’s vital to understand the purpose of these types of deployments.
“It’s important for the Marines to know their history, not just what we have done on land, but what we were a part of at sea,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Adrian D. Virges, the operations chief with the 11th MEU, I MEF. “It’s a different experience when learning about an event when you’re able to physically see and feel it.”
The USS Midway was an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, commissioned a week after the end of World War II. It was the largest ship in the world until 1955 and was the first U.S. warship too big to transit the Panama Canal.
Its design gave it better maneuverability than previous carriers. The USS Midway served for an unprecedented 47 years, seeing action in the Vietnam War and was the Persian Gulf flagship in 1991's Operation Desert Storm.
Decommissioned in 1992, it is now docked in San Diego as the USS Midway Museum and the only remaining U.S. aircraft carrier of the World War II era that is not an Essex-class aircraft carrier.
As a museum, it has 60 exhibits including the crew's sleeping quarters, a massive dining area, engine room, the ship's jail, officer's country, post office, machine shops, and pilots' ready rooms, as well as primary flight control and the bridge high in the island over the flight deck.
“It’s also important to know that most Marine aviation assets ultimately derive from the Navy,” Virges said. “Navy aircraft carriers, such as the USS Midway, typically deploy with a Marine squadron alongside Navy squadrons.”
The Marine Corps and Navy have a close relationship. Training alongside each other is viewed as critical, as the Navy provides transport, logistical, and combat support to put Marine units into the fight.
The USS Midway museum preserves the legacy of those who serve while also inspiring and educating future generations.
| Date Taken: | 05.06.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2015 12:29 |
| Story ID: | 162690 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 193 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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