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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, S.C. - Maj. Gen. Laura L. Lenderman, Director of Operations, U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) recognized Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron (H&HS) as the Operational Support Airlift (OSA) Squadron of the year for 2023.
“It recognizes all the hard work of the Marines involved in operational support and in the operational support squadron. It's validation that we're doing what we need to,” Maj. Rex Brooks III, operations officer, H&HS, said.
USTRANSCOM annually awards operational units who demonstrate excellence in aircraft availability, reliability and cooperative practices in all OSA mission activities. Different metrics, such as missions supported, availability, cancellations and other statistics, determine the winner.
OSA squadrons operate within larger squadrons to provide time-sensitive air transport to airlift gear, personnel and classified material. These missions are organized by the Joint Operational Support Airlift Center (JOSAC), under USTRANSCOM, to fulfill requests across the DoD.
Staff Sgt. Ciprian Lascu, crew chief, H&HS, compares OSA assets to civilian airports.
“This is more simple, it's strictly going from point A to point B. That's what we're here for. We're here to move, whatever and whenever we can, whether in country or abroad.”
This expedience helped the OSA squadron to serve as a dedicated asset during the F-35B Lightning II mishap in Sept. 2023.
“There were a lot of things happening behind the scenes that our crew was doing, to be able to assist in the completion and the overall success of getting everything taken care of,” Staff Sgt. Stephanie Conrad, operations chief, H&HS, MCAS Beaufort, said.
The OSA squadron collaborated with the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force during the mishap, to ensure mission success. Although the mishap was a unique situation, working with other military branches is typical for the OSA squadron.
“There's a lot of times we transport the Air Force, Army, Navy, Space Force, and even Coast Guard. It's extremely important that we continue to build the bonds that we have with all of our sister agencies,” Conrad said.
Since JOSAC serves joint branch missions, H&HS cooperates with other branches. As well as transporting VIPs from across the DoD, one recurring mission for H&HS is to transport Air Force F-15 reservist pilots stationed in Jacksonville, Florida to a detachment in Homestead Air Force Base.
“[The award] is not just for the Marine Corps, but all assets across the DoD. That includes any other operational support airlift (OSA) squadron, any of those other units that are embedded in the Air Force, Army, National Guard and Navy. So it's a pretty big deal that we were able to win out of fiscal year 23,” Lt. Col. Christopher Lyon, commanding officer, H&HS, MCAS Beaufort, said.
Personnel with the OSA squadron cite teamwork, flexibility and going above and beyond to supporting the JOSAC mission as the reason why they won the award.
“We have a culture of everyone willing to put in extra effort if needed. I don't think you could find a single person within the squadron, who wasn't asked to provide a little bit of extra time and effort to make something happen,” Brooks said.
Brooks attributes the award to MCAS Beaufort as a whole, not just the OSA crew. To support JOSAC, the OSA squadron relies on other sections to keep the airfield operational. Without personnel maintaining an efficient airfield, the OSA squadron would be unable to complete airlift missions. Flying safely requires coordination between air traffic control, base operations and aircraft rescue and firefighting.
“This is our home base. We need the whole air station up and running to keep this airfield operational so we can support those missions,” Brooks said.
The dedication to professional mission accomplishment extends beyond the OSA personnel.
“Not only are our aircrew raising their hand to go the extra mile, but when we are touching down at night at the end of a long day, I have a Marine from an H&HS up in the [ATC] tower saying welcome back, sir,” Brooks said.
Many pilots who support OSA serve the air station in additional roles, such as Col. Mark Bortnem, commanding officer, MCAS Beaufort, who runs JOSAC missions on top of his responsibilities as the station commander. Many of the aircrew Marines also work in H&HS’s S-3 Operations, to schedule and coordinate annual training for the squadron.
Providing OSA support is one aspect of H&HS’s mission. H&HS primarily focuses on supporting the combat readiness of squadrons aboard MCAS Beaufort. Only a small portion of the squadron’s personnel actively work for the OSA mission.
“The C-12 mission only encompasses about 20 people in our squadron of about 600. So it's a very small part of our mission, but it is the only operational mission that we specifically support here in H&HS,” Lyon said.
“Every single person in our section has such a big pull on anything and everything that we do in this office. We're all a team,” Conrad said.
Winning the award sets a standard for the future of H&HS.
“That's the bar now, we got it in 2023. Let's see what we can do in 2024,” Brooks said.
| Date Taken: | 02.28.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.06.2024 14:01 |
| Story ID: | 464928 |
| Location: | BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 114 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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