Posts Tagged ‘ marine-corps ’

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, S.C. — A Marine Corps F/A-18 pilot and his weapons officer tried to make it back home after both engines on their warplane failed and a fire broke out, but they were forced to eject and ditch the aircraft in the ocean, a spokesman said Thursday. “The fire was making its way toward the cockpit, so they determined they could not make it back and they were forced to eject,” said Marine Corps spokesman Gunnery Sgt. Chad McMeen. The accident Wednesday ended safely when the two pilots were plucked from a survival raft by a Coast Guard search and rescue crew from Charleston, McMeen said. “It really was a miracle. They were back on land within about two hours of the incident,” McMeen said. Neither man suffered serious injuries, but they were sent for medical evaluations as a precaution, McMeen said. The names of the Marines were being withheld while they contact their families. An investigation will begin into why the $29 million fighter jet suffered the engine failures. McMeen said the Marines detected a problem while they were conducting a training mission about 60 miles off shore. The aircraft hit the water about 35 miles off the coast of St. Helena Sound, north of Beaufort. A Coast Guard cutter has been patrolling the crash site to help locate and recover pieces of the plane, he said. Related reading • 2 Marine pilots rescued; SC crash probed

View original post here: Corps says fire forced pilots to ditch Hornet

The Pentagon will resume the stalled My Career Advancement Accounts spouse education benefit program as of noon Saturday, restoring tuition benefits to 136,583 military spouses who had applied for and been enrolled in the program. However, the MyCAA program will not accept new applicants at this point, Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan said Thursday. “This is the first step of how the department is going to address this program.” Whether new applicants will be accepted at some point “remains to be seen,” Lapan said, adding that the Pentagon comptroller “is working hard to fund this program.” The program provides up to $6,000 in tuition assistance to spouses for a variety of educational programs. Tuition payments were abruptly halted Feb. 16 “due to overwhelming demand,” Lapan said. Military spouses found out about the shutdown just as they tried to request funding for classes that were to start within a month. They could not request payment for classes for which they had already registered.

Read the original here: DoD to restart stalled spouse tuition program

Two Marine Corps fighter pilots have been rescued from the ocean off South Carolina after their aircraft went down.

Originally posted here:
Marine Hornet Pilots Rescued Off Coast

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Marine Corps is trying to determine why a fighter jet suffered engine failures, crashing into the ocean off South Carolina and forcing the pilots to bail out. Officials at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort say neither the pilot nor the weapons officer on the F/A-18D Hornet suffered serious injuries when they ejected late Wednesday afternoon about 35 miles offshore. The Marines' names were not released. They were picked up by a Coast Guard helicopter about an hour after the plane went down and were checked by a doctor as a precaution. A Marines spokesman says a Coast Guard cutter was patrolling the crash site late Wednesday to help locate and recover pieces of the plane. The plane was on a training mission when the two engines on the $29 million jet failed.

The rest is here:
2 Marine pilots rescued; SC crash probed

U.S. military units in Iraq and Afghanistan advising host-nation security forces can still project combat power, Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Read more from the original source:
Mattis: Future Units Need Balanced Capabilities

On Okinawa, long-suffering residents are fed up with U.S. Marine Corps helicopters relentlessly beating above their rooftops.

Here is the original post:
US, Japan Alliance Grows Uncertain

Two area men, allegedly deserters from the U.S. Marine Corps, have been arrested in Connecticut. The men are being held pending transport to a military facility, Officer Jeff Nielsen said.

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Alleged Deserters Arrested in Connecticut

Inspired by his son, a Marine Corps noncommissioned officer shattered the glass roof of his dream by wrestling his way to the top.

Originally posted here:
Face of Defense: Son Inspires Marine to Succeed

USAF is expected to issue final terms for $35 billion aerial tanker competition this week . DID’s “ The USAF’s KC-X Aerial Tank RFP ” provides background on the issue. Seeking Alpha: L-3 Communications’ benefits from robust defense spending. Oshkosh to sell $500 million in senior notes to repay debt. Up to $378 million to AECOM-CACI venture to provide vehicle and facilities maintenance to 3-401st Army Field Support Brigade in Afghanistan . AeroVironment gets $37.9 million order for Digital Raven UAVs and equipment . Jacobs secures $38.7 million contract to support transition of Navy Marine Corps Intranet to the NGEN network . WIRED Danger Room: DARPA to test Falcon Hypersonic plane in April 2010.

Follow this link: Rapid Fire: 2010-02-24

NORFOLK, Va. — A seventh-month anti-piracy deployment for a Norfolk-based guided missile destroyer is ending with its return to Virginia waters. The destroyer Donald Cook is scheduled to arrive Thursday at Naval Station Norfolk after maritime security operations in the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Aden. It has a crew of 275. The Arleigh Burke-class ship is named in honor of Marine Corps Vietnam War hero, Col. Donald G. Cook . He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. Cook was wounded and captured by the Viet Cong on New Year’s Eve 1964.

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DDG returning today from anti-piracy deployment