Photo By Sgt. Lydia Davey | Staff Sgt. Brett Trahan, a navigator with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron...... read more read more
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KENITRA, Morocco — Clad in a tan flight suit, U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Brett Trahan trades barbed jokes - the kind born of long hours spent working and living together - with his flight crew. Yet the group, no matter how familiar they may seem, treats him with a friendly respect. Trahan is legendary in his unit, and a hard worker; he is also marked. However, one would be hard pressed to recognize him as an endangered Marine Corps species if it weren’t for the unit patch sewn to his uniform, and two increasingly rare numbers typed into his service record book.
“There are only about 50 of us left in the Marine Corps,” said Trahan, a navigator with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 234. “Navigators are only useful on the KC-130 legacy aircraft, and the Corps is phasing in a newer model aircraft. They’ve stopped sending us through the school house altogether.”
Trahan’s stocky figure looks relaxed, but his deep blue eyes remain alert.
Since his early high school years, the Orange, Texas-native had dreamed of becoming a Marine. Although Trahan’s sister joined the Air Force, and his brother joined the Navy, something about the Corps drew him on. In 1995, he took the plunge.
“I came in open contract and fell into the navigator position,” said Trahan. “I’ve stayed because of missions like AFRICAN LION – from the planning stage to the execution stage. I’ve stayed because of the camaraderie, and the opportunity to explore new places with a group of friends.”
The Mission
After 15 years in the active reserve, Trahan has a wealth of experience and knowledge.
That knowledge has lead to some exciting assignments, according to Maj. Charlie Pickett, aircraft commander with VMGR-234. For example, since 2006, Trahan has been the lead planner for the aviation aspect of AFRICAN LION 2010, the largest exercise within U.S. Africa Command’s area of activity.
“For the joint task force planning exercise, my main mission is to progressively employ the Royal Moroccan Air Force KC-130s in their tactical development, as well as maintain currency with their F-5 pilots in aerial refueling,” said Trahan. “I brought the original C-130 out here in 2006 to start this, and ever since I’ve been in on the planning phase just due to the consistency of having a reservist.”
Because the majority of the squadron’s pilots are reservists, their commercial airline schedules make it hard to keep the same person in the planning phase, according to Trahan.
“He is experienced way beyond a staff sergeant level,” said Pickett. “We give him the responsibility normally reserved for a major when it comes to planning this exercise. He handles it from the ground up, and comes out here several times a year for planning conferences. He is well versed in the intricacies and specifics of flying out here. He knows how much planning is required. Trahan literally gets this thing off the ground.”
The mission involves training pilots with the Royal Moroccan Air Force to employ the KC-130 in tactical environments through aerial refueling with fixed wing and rotary aircraft, rapid ground refueling, and night fueling capabilities training, according to Trahan.
“Aviation training is very important, primarily for the Moroccans,” said Maj. Nebyou Yonas, AFRICAN LION 2010 action officer with U.S. Marine Forces Africa. “They just recently purchased the equipment to outfit their C-130s to be aerial refueling capable, which means it is a combat multiplier. They can go further with their fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.”
Since 2006, the mission has evolved from a ground school, to this year’s focus on aerial refueling refreshers and the introduction of rapid ground refueling.
“Each year we’ve added a new layer,” said Pickett. “The Marine Corps operates the C-130 in such a broad range of aerial delivery, troop hauling, and refueling missions, that we could never teach everything we do in one month. So each year, Trahan comes out and works with the Moroccans to identify another training opportunity, and we tailor what we do to that.”
Training others brings value to the Marine Corps as well, according to Pickett.
“In training the Moroccans, we hone that skill as well,” he said. “We have to sharpen that skill before we come out to teach it. By training them, we’re actually improving our readiness. This year’s rapid ground refueling is a unique mission. We take the hoses off the airplane and offload fuel into ground-based vehicles. It’s useful for anything that can burn J-3 (similar to diesel) – which is almost everything we have.”
The unit uses a team of 38 Marines and two U.S. Army helicopter pilots to accomplish the mission, according to Pickett.
“We operate in a basic detachment mode with an officer-in-charge, senior enlisted, and we work internal to our positions as well to perform the staff functions of the squadron: the safety officer, maintenance officer and operations officer. There are six aircrew positions, and we have at least three Marines for each,” he noted. “We also have associated maintenance Marines to perform full maintenance out here.”
Camaraderie
Working with Moroccan pilots is an easy task, according to Pickett.
“They’re very sharp; they’re very good at what they do,” he said. “We learn just as much from them as we teach them, so it’s a great experience.”
Yet, although the formal friendship between the U.S. and Morocco dates back more than 200 years, personal relationships add greatly to mission effectiveness.
“Everybody knows Tray,” said Pickett, using a familiar nickname for Trahan. “He knows all the players here, and they respect him as much as we do. His value here is hard to quantify, but an example is this: as Marines, sometimes we just figure it out – kinda by the seat of our pants. Sometimes out here that doesn’t work so well. The Moroccans are great, extensive planners. A smile and a handshake from Tray go a long way to facilitate any problems we may come across.”
Although Trahan has a penchant for spending time with his wife and son, football, and Southern country culture, his easygoing nature makes him relatable regardless of his friends’ interests.
“He is a consummate professional, but also a great friend,” said Yonas. “He is honorable, loyal and fun.”
Pickett agrees.
“I’ve known Tray since 2001,” said Pickett. “He’s been a mentor and a friend. He’s a teacher as well as a navigator.”
Trahan leads by example, according to Pickett.
"It’s easy to tell someone how to do a job, but it’s much more difficult to show them,” said Pickett. “As a leader, Trahan picks up on trends before his Marines do, and points them out. He takes the crummy missions and gives them the good ones. He does all the things you would hope a senior Marine would do.”
As a navigator, Trahan is exceptional, Pickett added.
“He goes all in,” Pickett said. “He does not give into typical hurdles, and he’ll never present a problem without already having planned out options A-Z as solutions. He is tenacious. As a navigator, his situational awareness for the area is well beyond capable, and well into exemplary. He is exceptionally capable.”
The Marine Corps, according to Yonas, would do well to hold on to Marines of Trahan’s caliber.
“Trahan possesses talent and expertise that the Marine Corps and his community as a whole cannot afford to lose,” said Yonas.
AFRICAN LION 2010 is an annually scheduled, joint, combined U.S.-Moroccan exercise. It brings together nearly 1,000 U.S. service members from 16 locations throughout Europe and North America with more than 1,000 members of the Moroccan military. AFRICAN LION is designed to promote interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation’s military tactics, techniques and procedures.
| Date Taken: | 06.15.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 06.15.2010 04:01 |
| Story ID: | 51393 |
| Location: | KENITRA (EX PORT LYAUTEY), MA |
| Web Views: | 206 |
| Downloads: | 113 |
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