Photo By Sgt. Joshua Young | Marines with Marine Light Attack Training Squadron 303 board a UH-1Y Venom helicopter...... read more read more
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CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Camp Pendleton’s skies wouldn’t be as exciting if Marine Light Attack Training Squadron 303 wasn’t on the job, training Marines every day.
On a normal day in the hangar of HMLAT-303, some Marines conduct or receive training, some repair helicopters and others direct traffic on the flightline. Outside the hangar, the squadron’s helicopters constantly conduct flight missions and undergo training scenarios.
The squadron’s mission is to provide well-trained and combat-ready aviation forces for future deployments on short notice.
“We train Marines who come through in student status,” said Sgt. Robert Thompson, a UH-1Y Venom helicopter crew chief. “Our job is to train new Huey crew chiefs and pilots so they can go down the line to deploying units. We also train conversion pilots, which are the pilots coming from another aircraft.”
HMLAT-303, known as “Atlas”, trains newly commissioned Naval aviators, conversion pilots, refresher pilots and enlisted aircrew. Atlas was a Greek god who is often depicted as having a globe on his shoulders.
“Atlas is known for having the weight of the world on his shoulders,” said Thompson, who deployed to Afghanistan as a CH-46 Sea Knight crew chief and reenlisted to be on the UH-1Y Venom. “Sometimes it kind of feels like that here. We train the future crew chiefs and pilots. That’s a big responsibility.”
Atlas crew members and mechanics ensure the helicopters are maintained and ready for the training Marine students undergo.
“Keeping the aircraft ready is a challenge,” Thompson said. “Our aircraft are flown harder and longer than most of the deploying units. We’ll have aircraft that will fly eight to 10 hours a day, taking out crews so we can get the job done.”
The squadron’s Marines educate student by answering questions, providing an example of how to do their job and teaching them what they know.
“There’s a big sense of pride when you have junior Marines coming up to you because they know you are the go-to guy who knows all the answers to any questions they have,” said Sgt. Joshua Palmer, a helicopter mechanic with HMLAT-303. “It’s just part of the job, I love to teach people what I do and what I know.”
Atlas helicopter mechanics make sure every nut, bolt and component on the machines are in the proper place. The Marines emphasize to the students the importance of precision when dealing with the helicopters.
“There’s a huge sense of accomplishment whenever an aircraft has a big problem and you go out and figure out that problem, and get that bird back in the air again,” said Palmer, 26, from Jennings County, Ind. “They are charged with the responsibility of making sure the aircraft is ready to go.”
The squadron’s students go through mechanical training first to get a grasp of how the helicopter works and how to fix it. They then go through extensive crew training to learn how to work as a team with the pilots and their crew members.
“Every day it’s a new guy with a new experience coming into a new shop who doesn’t know anything and you have to take him by the hand,” Palmer said. “You have to show him everything he needs to know to make him safe, efficient and to teach him to do his job.”
With the weight of the world on their shoulders, Atlas has been training Marines since 1982. Anything could go wrong during a flight and these Marines train crew members to take on the challenges they could face.
“Atlas is the training heart of the flight line itself,” Palmer said. “This is their canvas, this is where they all start. They get their base coat here and they go down the line and paint the picture of their individual Marine Corps careers.”
| Date Taken: | 02.01.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 02.03.2012 16:57 |
| Story ID: | 83311 |
| Location: | CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 387 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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