A Marine KC-130 crash lands in California Sept. 29, 2020.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The first F-35B Lightning II pulled up to the KC-130J Super Hercules aerial tanker, took its sip of fuel from the left-wing tank and pulled away, just as planned. Read More
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Austin McBain, a fire support specialist with 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Information Group, monitors a radio during exercise Summer Fury 20 in Yuma, Ariz., on July 14, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo
This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.
2020 was a turning-point year for the Marine Corps. After previewing changes to come in his Commandant’s Planning Guidance released last year, Commandant Gen. David Berger released a Force Design 2030 document this year outlining major changes in how the service would operate and equip itself. No longer would the Marine Corps be a service schlepping around tanks for sustained ground operations; rather, it would be light and mobile, using small ships to maneuver around islands and shorelines to attack an adversary from all angles and challenge their ability to track and target the small and on-the-move units. Read More
A Marine KC-130 crash lands in California Sept. 29, 2020.
The Marine Corps has released new information about its F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter that crashed earlier this week after a mid-air collision with a KC-130J tanker. Read More
(From top left, clockwise) Lt. Col. Kevin R. Herrmann, Maj. James M. Brophy, Staff Sgt. Maximo A. Flores, Cpl. Daniel E. Baker and Cpl. William C. Ross
A review of two previous Marine Corps aviation mishaps and their subsequent command investigations concludes that “organizational culture and command climate” contributed to both a 2016 and 2018 mishap within 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Japan – and it adds that some conclusions made by the chain of command regarding the fatal 2018 crash were inaccurate or misleading. Read More
31st Marine Expeditionary Unit Marines embarked aboard San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay (LPD-20) operate assault amphibious vehicles during a rehearsal exercise with Royal Thai military in support of Cobra Gold 2020 on Feb. 27, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo
The Marine Corps’ new force design may allow East Coast expeditionary units to look much different than West Coast or Japan-based units, a nod to the complex but different environments they’ll operate in and threats they’ll face in the future. Read More
The following is the recently released investigation into the Dec. 6, 2018 crash between an F/A-18D Hornet and a KC-130J Super Hercules aircraft that killed six Marines and injured one off the coast of Japan. Read More
(From top left, clockwise) Lt. Col. Kevin R. Herrmann, Maj. James M. Brophy, Staff Sgt. Maximo A. Flores, Cpl. Daniel E. Baker and Cpl. William C. Ross
The Marine Corps found that pilot error, inadequate oversight of training and operations and an unprofessional command climate contributed to the Dec. 6 crash of an F/A-18D Hornet and a KC-130J Super Hercules aircraft that killed six Marines and injured one. Read More
A Marine with Echo Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, posts security during a simulated airfield seizure after a long-range raid from the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) at Ie Shima Training Facility, Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 12, 2019. US Marine Corps photo.
The U.S. Marine Corps has been refining a pair of related concepts, Expeditionary Advance Base Operations (EABO) and the overarching Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment, for the past couple years. Read More
A U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J Super Hercules with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 152 conducts Assault Landing Zone landings during Exercise Kodiak Mace at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 31, 2019. US Marine Corps photo.
The Marine Corps has identified the remains of three Marines recovered during a recent salvage operation to retrieve a KC-130J that crashed in December during a refueling mishap off of Japan. Read More
A U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J Super Hercules with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 152 flies off the coast of Japan on Feb. 28, 2019. US Marine Corps Photo
A salvage team recovered remains of Marines who were killed in a 2018 crash off the coast of Japan, III Marine Expeditionary Force said on Monday. Read More
