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    Marines Honoring Marines | Raiders Run 60 Miles from MCAS Miramar to Camp Pendleton

    VMGR-352 Raiders run from MCAS Miramar to Camp Pendleton

    Photo By Sgt. Luc Boatman | U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Tyler Chittick, front, a KC-130J Super Hercules pilot with...... read more read more

    SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

    11.09.2024

    Story by 1st Lt. Madison Walls 

    3rd Marine Aircraft Wing

    SAN DIEGO— Beginning at 5:15 A.M. on Nov. 7, 2024, a group of Marines from Marine Aerial
    Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 352, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing,
    conducted a 55-mile relay run starting at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and continuing up
    the coast of Southern California. The event culminated with a 5-mile hike ending at the
    graduation ceremony for Fox Company, Marine Combat Training, School of Infantry West.

    The event was spearheaded with a purpose by Capt. Tyler Chittick, a KC-130J pilot and Marine
    of 16 years. Chittick has run three other ultra marathon events, all in support of a fellow Marine
    veteran Sgt. Milan Franklin, who lost his legs after an Improvised Explosive Device attack in
    Afghanistan in 2011. Each year, Chittick brings Marines together to complete a challenging
    physical activity in honor of fallen and disabled veterans.

    Upon completion of the hike, Chittick presented the VMGR-352 and U.S. Marine Corps flag to
    the Fox Company honor graduate. The presentation of the flag is a tribute to the Marines
    receiving it as well as the nation’s values, history, and sacrifices that the flag symbolizes.

    “I want to bring the young, enlisted Marines back to where they came up in the Marine Corps,”
    Chittick said. “That’s where they started their journey, and we get to embrace this experience
    together where it all began.”

    Every enlisted Marine goes through MCT; the Raider’s run culminating at the graduation of
    some of the newest Marines in the Corps allows Marines from different backgrounds and at
    different stages of service to unite where they all began.

    Chittick’s first run was in 2012 as a sergeant; he and his team ran from Camp Pendleton to
    Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twenty-nine Palms where he handed a flag to Franklin
    in honor of his service and sacrifice.

    “I’m not creating anything; this isn’t a new idea. People go on long runs to honor other people
    all the time, so I thought let’s run a flag from Camp Pendleton to Twenty-nine Palms to honor
    Milan,” Chittick said. “When we arrived, all I could say was ‘Thank you for being here. Thank you
    for coming home. Thank you for bringing Marines home.’ ”

    On the ten-year anniversary, Chittick initiated the run again and has since made the tradition an
    annual event. Each year the event takes place on or around the Marine Corps Birthday and
    Veteran’s Day presenting an opportunity to honor the fallen and disabled veterans while
    celebrating the Marine Corps’ traditions and camaraderie.

    The ten-year anniversary also marked Chittick’s first Marine Corps Birthday and Veteran’s Day as
    a VMGR-352 Raider, where he motivated a new group of young Marines to participate in the
    event.

    One of those Marines is Cpl. Armando Olivares, an aircraft communications and navigation
    systems technicians for the KC-130J, who participated in the 160-mile run in 2022, and this
    years’ 60-mile run and hike.

    “I had just checked into the fleet and heard about the event,” Olivares said. “It caught my
    attention; I saw it as a challenge, and as Marines we take pride in challenges, so I did it.”
    The event was an opportunity for Marines to come together challenging themselves mentally
    and physically for a greater purpose and to remember why they became Marines.

    “We are Marines and should be ready to do anything at a moment's notice,” Olivares said.
    This year’s iteration began at MCAS Miramar where Marines departed VMGR-352's hangar and
    headed north along the coast of Southern California. With check points in La Jolla, Cardiff,
    Carlsbad and Oceanside, the Marines made their way to Camp Pendleton. Upon reaching Camp
    Pendleton, they all met at the Onofre Hill trailhead where they changed into their Marine Corps
    Combat Utility Uniform and hiked the remainder of the 60 miles to the graduation ceremony.

    “At no point in time was I worried about finishing, but it was humbling; especially running all the
    way to meet up with the ground Marines,” Olivares said. “Our battle rhythm is a lot different,
    we are keeping planes in the sky and they are sending rounds down range. To be able to run the
    flag all the way there, show them we appreciate them, and tell them happy birthday meant a lot
    to me.”

    Marines celebrate the Marine Corps birthday in different ways all around the world: Marine
    Corps birthday ball pageants, cake cutting ceremonies, getting together with fellow Marines,
    and holding memorials to honor the service’s legacy.

    “As we celebrate our Corps' birthday this year, I encourage all Marines to reflect on our legacy
    forged in blood on battlefields since 1775, and to rededicate ourselves to carrying that legacy
    untarnished into the future,” stated the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Eric M.
    Smith, in the 249th Marine Corps Birthday message.

    VMGR-352 celebrated the 249th Marine Corps birthday and the 105th Veteran’s Day with their
    Marine Corps brothers and sisters through a physically demanding event honoring all Marines
    to the left and right, the wounded and the fallen.

    The experience showcased the unbreakable bond between Marines and their shared sense of
    purpose.

    “Milan is back in the Pacific Northwest where we first met on the way to bootcamp; we talk on
    the phone all the time,” Chittick said. “I’ll call him again on the [Marine Corps] birthday and tell
    him about today.”

    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 11.09.2024
    Date Posted: 11.09.2024 10:48
    Story ID: 485004
    Location: SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US

    Web Views: 1,173
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN