Photo By Staff Sgt. David Bickel | A Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 224 F/A-18 Hornet finishes an aerial refuel in...... read more read more
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Students and instructors from Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course 2-18 participated in offensive air support operations on Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, April 10.
The primary focus of OAS is to support units on the ground with a variety of different aerial platforms, aiding in the overall mission of the Marine Air Ground Task Force.
“Today we conducted OAS and as a KC-130J unit, our primary focus is aerial refueling,” said Maj. Jason Ellis, a Weapons and Tactics Instructor and KC-130J pilot. “OAS is the bread and butter of what our platform is responsible for during WTI operations.”
Although the OAS execution primarily takes place in the air, there are multiple military occupational specialties that participate from the ground as well. It is essential that all sections of the Air Combat Element understand the importance and basics of each job that takes place during operations.
“Seeing the refuel from a pilot’s perspective is vital for us as space planners,” said Capt. Murray Best, A WTI student and Air Traffic Control officer. “This is especially helpful as WTI students so we can take the information we learn in an educational environment back to the fleet.”
The OAS execution involves frequent communication with both the air and the ground; this presents many stress factors that ground based members of the ACE might not be familiar with.
“I think experiencing OAS from the air helped us as ATC officers understand how busy they really are during a flight,” said Capt. Travis Powell, a WTI student and ATC officer. “They have so many different forms of communication going on at the same time and it helped us learn how to relieve some of the communication stress on our end, ultimately helping the pilots conducting the mission.”
This training specifically increases our tactical advantage by creating a level playing field where all MOS’s understand what each job entails.
“It was fantastic to see how air to air refueling brings a huge advantage to the ACE,” said Powell. “It allows us to provide OAS on other platforms for a longer time, ultimately helping the troops on the ground.”
One of WTI’s main priorities is to equip officers within the ACE with the ability to seamlessly conduct aerial missions in a variety of training environments. Within that mission set, WTI students are forced to work with many different Marines from across the MOS spectrum, allowing networking and comradery within the MAGTF as a whole.
“This training is an important piece in what the students are learning at WTI,” said Ellis. “The fundamentals of OAS are important across the ACE and it is essential that we train with a variety of MOS’s throughout WTI 2-18.”
| Date Taken: | 04.11.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 04.16.2018 11:58 |
| Story ID: | 273189 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 49 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Aerial Integration: ATC takes flight, by SSgt David Bickel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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