Vol. 71, No. 51
December 19, 2013
www.cherrypoint.marines.mil
MAG-14 Marines support exercise Razor Talon
LANCE CPL. VICTOR A. ARRIAGA
Three AV-8B Harriers with Marine Attack Squadron 231 sit on the Cherry Point flight line Friday during Exercise Razor Talon, an Air Force led joint-exercise. The quarterly exercise is a mock conflict involving numerous aircraft from Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force attack and training squadrons from across the Eastern Seaboard.
LANCE CPL. VICTOR A. ARRIAGA MCAS CHERRY POINT
Several Marine Aircraft Group 14 squadrons participated in exercise Razor Talon Friday, an Air Force led jointexercise at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. The quarterly exercise simulates a mock conflict involving numerous aircraft from Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force attack and training squadrons from across the
Eastern Seaboard. MAG-14 provided support with AV-8B Harriers and EA-6B Prowlers for the exercise. “This is a unique opportunity for us to train in a major theater-war conflict mindset with dozens of aircraft airborne at one time,” said Maj. Ryan Ward, the officer in charge of Cherry Point’s Marine Aviation Training System Site. “At the same time, this is very difficult to simulate and perform airborne because this takes weeks
of planning and coordination to do.” Prior to the exercise, all participating MAG-14 units met to plan and brief all pilots and instructors involved in the exercise. “Instead of each individual unit planning in their own spaces, we bring them all in to plan together,” he said. See TALON page A7
MASS-1 conducts direct VMGR-252 Marines return to Cherry Point air support center drill LANCE CPL. JOSHUA R. HEINS MCAS CHERRY POINT
LANCE CPL. JOSHUA R. HEINS
Staff Sgt. Joseph Domann hugs his daughter on the Cherry Point flight line Sunday. Domann was the staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the electric shop work center of Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252 Detachment B. Domann was a part of a nine-month deployment in support of the SpecialPurpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Black Sea Rotational Force and U.S. Africa Command’s SpecialPurpose MAGTF Crisis Response in Moron Air Base, Spain.
Marines with Marine Air Support Squadron 1 are conducting a direct air-support center drill at their squadron headquarters Dec. 16-20. The purpose of DASC drills is to simulate missions Marines could face while deployed, said Sgt. Marissa Miller, the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the drill for MASS-1. “DASC drills prepare the Marines for what they will be facing in combat,” said Miller. The Marines need to understand how critical it is to respond quickly and correctly to anything that fixed-wing or helicopter aircrews may need, said Miller. Miller, who recently returned from Afghanistan, feels it is extremely important for the newer Marines in the DASC to understand the urgency of their mission. “In a real life scenario, MASS-1 is in charge of any aircraft that come in their air space,” said Miller. The Marines of MASS-1 command all military and civilian aircraft below 15,000 feet in their air space. “The biggest mission in the DASC community, which is what MASS-1 supports as a whole, is medical evacuations for the Marines,” said Miller. “Whenever Marines are doing their mission outside the wire and one of them gets hurt, we are the first ones they call because we are the ones that are sending in aircraft to pick that Marine up.” See DRILL page A7
Marines battle for Chef of Quarter title
Adkins-Setty family awarded for outstanding service
LANCE CPL. UNIQUE B. ROBERTS
PFC. GRACE L. WALADKEWICS
MCAS CHERRY POINT
MCAS CHERRY POINT
Three food service specialists with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron competed in the Chef of the Quarter competition Dec. 12 at the Cherry Point Mess Hall. The competition tests the contestants’ ability to create, present and understand the culinary arts specific to their military occupational specialty. Lance Cpl. Nick Vallejo took the first place trophy, creating an Italian dish of penne with zucchini and chicken in pink vodka cream sauce. For desert, he served mascarpone panna cotta with strawberry caviar. “I did about a month’s worth of planning,” said Vallejo. “You can have everything planned out but when it comes to game day, there are still things you have to prepare for, and luckily because I did prepare for those expectations, I
Sgt. Joshua T. Adkins-Setty and his family received the New Bern Military Family of the Quarter Award during a ceremony at the New Bern Golf and Country Club Dec. 12. The New Bern Military Alliance Committee as well as local sponsors and military members expressed their appreciation for the AdkinsSetty family and their volunteer efforts with their church and community. As presidents of a youth organization, they act as mentors to more than 100 young adults. The family also volunteers their time assisting new community members settling in to the local area and dedicate four hours monthly to an elderly woman with no local family. On top of his duties as a father of three boys, a husband and a certified quality assurance representative for the airframes shop with Marine Transport Squadron 1, Adkins-Setty is a volunteer scout leader for a Boy Scout troop in New Bern. As a scout leader, Adkins-Setty
See CHEF page A7
LANCE CPL. UNIQUE B. ROBERTS
Lt. Col. Charles J. Basham, the commanding officer of Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, hands a first place trophy to Lance Cpl. Nick Vallejo, the winner of the Chef of the Quarter Competition Dec. 12.
News Briefs
A2
Exercise Forager Fury
A6
Basketball
A3
Trees for Troops
B2
2nd LAAD Hike
A5
Announcements
B3
See FAMILY page A7
PFC. GRACE L. WALADKEWICS
Sgt. Joshua T. Adkins-Setty and family stand in front of a Christmas tree after the New Bern Military Alliance Committee Family of the Quarter luncheon at the New Bern Golf and Country Club Dec. 12.
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