Photo By Sgt. Luc Boatman | U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Tyler Chittick, front, a KC-130J Super Hercules pilot with...... read more read more
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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.”
| Date Taken: | 11.09.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.09.2024 10:48 |
| Story ID: | 485004 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 926 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Marines Honoring Marines | Raiders Run 60 Miles from MCAS Miramar to Camp Pendleton, by 1LT Madison Walls, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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