Photo By Lance Cpl. Madisyn Paschal | A U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18C assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 112 (VMFA-112),...... read more read more
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SANTIAGO, Chile – As a warm wave of the sun’s rays crest the snow-covered mountains, they begin to illuminate an unusual site of U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy aircraft awaiting their pilots and crew amid a quiet Chilean flightline on a cool September morning. The U.S. Marine F/A-18C Hornets, KC-130J Hercules and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft eagerly await a busy day of flight operations.
Chile hosts this year’s exercise UNITAS LXV, the 65th iteration, from Sept 2-12, featuring training areas along the length of the narrow country on Pacific coast of South America. Among the geographically distributed training sites, the air combat element finds itself in the heart of Santiago, Chile.
This is not the first time U.S. aircraft have entered Chile, but the U.S. Marines and Navy pilots relish at the ability to train in this new environment, landscaped with new terrain, like the mountains opening to the South Pacific Ocean unlike the flat lands of Texas and Florida.
The journey began as three F/A-18C Hornets and Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 112, the Cowboys and one KC-130J Hercules with Marines assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 234, the Rangers, both squadrons under Marine Aircraft Group 41, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, flew 4,869 miles from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Ft Worth. The Cowboys and Rangers jetted off flying for 12 hours over two days, making a brief stop in Panama, then continued the next second leg of their journey down the western side of South America arriving in Santiago.
One of the ACE planners, pilot and operations officer for VMFA 112, Maj. Anthony Heiser stated, “It is a massive undertaking to move a squadron from Fort Worth, Texas to Santiago, Chile. Months of planning and preparation went into moving all our cargo, jets and Marines to Chile for UNITAS LXV. Once the jets and Marines arrived in Chile, the squadron was immediately ready to execute missions in support if the exercise”.
While supporting exercise UNITAS LXV, VMFA-112 conducted a wide variety of missions, starting with aerial refueling supported by VMGR-234, in which the F/A-18C jet will fly alongside a KC-130J, connect to the larger aircraft through fuel lines attached to fuel tanks on the wings. This allows the F/A-18Cs to continue flying for a longer period, stay on station or extend the area of aerial patrols.
VMFA-112 then moved onto dogfighting with the Fuerza Aérea de Chile F-16s Fighting Falcon. Over two days, the two squadrons conducted different scenarios of mock dogfighting, first was two Marine F/A-18Cs vs two Chilean F-16s, then it moved to two F/A-18Cs vs one F-16 and last one F/A-18s vs two F-16s. All the dogfights had to be in visual range and allowing the pilots to challenge each other through fast paced maneuvers.
Lt. Col. David Merritt, one of the U.S. Marine pilots involved in the mock dogfights, said, “We had two countries training together by pitting the mastery of their aircraft against each other and sharpening each other’s skills. It was a pleasure to dogfight the commander of the FACH (Chilean Air Force) F-16 squadron today, and while we competed against each other in mock aerial combat, we departed the airspace as closer friends than before we started and with respect for each country’s capabilities.”
He continued, “They demonstrated true professional airmanship with seamless integration with our own briefing, flying, and safety standards.”
While the jets of VMFA-112 were dogfighting, VMGR-234 was supporting military freefall parachute operations in Viña del Mar, northwest of Santiago. The Rangers supported (number of jumps) by the U.S. Marines with 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, Chilean Marine Commandos, and Argentinian, Ecuadorian, Peruvian marines.
The U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon with Patrol Squadron 5, the Mad Foxes, had a slightly shorter journey flying 4,462 from Jacksonville, Florida which took roughly 10 and half hours, making one fuel stop in El Salvador.
The P-8 Poseidon was developed by Boeing and is derived from the Boeing 737 passenger jet but can conduct a wide variety of missions and can be armed with torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and other weapons. The P-8 can also drop and monitor sonobuoys and operate in conjunction with other assets providing key capabilities in the maritime environment.
The VP-5 crew completed 11 missions during UNITAS supporting nearly all of the countries participating. Their support consisted of anti-submarine warfare, maritime dominance awareness, identification, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
When asked about training in Chile, Maj. Heiser replied, “The training environment during UNITAS provided the squadron and air command element the ability to execute this mission set in a complex. Joint environment alongside dozens of partner nations. UNITAS sharpened the skills of all Marines in an expeditionary environment and prepared us for future conflict with peer and near-peer adversaries.”
UNITAS, Latin for “unity,” is the world’s longest-running multinational maritime exercise that develops and sustains relationships to improve the capacity of our reemerging and enduring maritime partners to achieve common objectives. Additionally, the military-to-military exchanges foster mutual cooperation and understanding among participating navies and marine corps.
| Date Taken: | 09.10.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.02.2024 14:10 |
| Story ID: | 482350 |
| Location: | SANTIAGO, CL |
| Web Views: | 334 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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