Photo By Cpl. Sullivan Laramie | A Marine with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 holds his son after returning from...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. - They waited in the chilled night air of the open hangar with pounding hearts and eager minds. A mass of family and friends holding welcome-home signs and young children cheered as Marines with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 emerged from the edge of darkness and the buses beyond.
VMM-261 returned from another successful deployment to Marine Corps Air Station New River, Feb. 13.
What lies ahead of those Marines remains to be seen, but behind them is a list of successes and accomplishments carried out while on a half-year deployment with Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Crisis Response – Africa, supporting NATO operations and ready to react to a disaster at a moment’s notice.
“Our mission was to stand on alert for any military operations in Africa and provide emergency support for nearby embassies and crisis response,” said Cpl. Alek Maten, a collateral duty quality assurance representative, or CDQAR, for the unit. “We also supported multiple multi-national military exercises in the southern European and African area of operations.”
VMM-261 participated in the Allied Maritime Basing Initiative with Spanish, Dutch and British allies, during which time the unit had five MV-22 Ospreys on the Spanish amphibious assault ship Juan Carlos I. The unit also conducted operations in Senegal and France and supported the Tactical Leadership Program Flying Course, hosted by 10 NATO countries.
Working with other countries, however, was not always simple. Differing training standards, policies and languages occasionally made working together difficult, but not something that couldn’t be overcome.
“There was a language barrier at first,” said Sgt. Bolivar Ruano, a CDQAR with VMM-261. “However, after a month or two it didn’t seem to slow us down. We always remained flexible to changing timelines and the other nations noticed and adopted the same trait to a certain degree.”
The squadron conducted support operations from up to three locations at once several times during the deployment. The mission was an important one for the Marine Corps, its fellow armed services and allied nations, who worked closely together and formed tighter bonds while standing ready to provide aid in the area of operations.
“We stood a mission that is very necessary,” Maten said. “We’ve been on standby for a call that we never hoped to get. Nobody wants to get the call that our troops are in a bad spot or worse.”
For Maten, the SPMAGTF-CR-AF mission came after a deployment to Afghanistan and, after returning home he had a thought shared by many in the unit: “I’m glad to be home and hope to be here for a bit before we go on the next [deployment].”
| Date Taken: | 02.18.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.18.2016 11:24 |
| Story ID: | 189158 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 335 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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