MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Az. -- Marine Aircraft Group 13 staged a training exercise Tuesday through Thursday, incorporating the four attack squadrons on station and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 13 in order to expend unspent munitions from previous training.
The exercise, called Operation Desert Thunder, was an intelligence-based scenario in which pilots attacked targets ranging from vehicles and armories to command posts in a desert environment against a force using tactics similar to those in use by insurgent forces in Iraq.
Over 320,000 pounds of munitions were dropped over the three-day exercise, said Lt. Col. Robert A. Wilkerson, operations officer for MAG-13.
Bombs dropped included MK-82 500 pound bombs, MK-83 1,000 pound bombs, 500-pound cluster bomb unit 100 Rockeyes, and 500-pound inert training bombs, nicknamed “blue death,” by the ordnance technicians at the bomb dump, said Sgt. William B. Weatherby, Aviation Ordnanceman for MALS-13.
The station bomb dump was kept busy throughout the exercise, building 593 individual pieces of ordnance, in comparison to the Weapons and Tactics Instructor course, where their duty is kept at a more stop-and-go pace, said Weatherby.
“(We) sometimes rewire the actual internal wiring components, we fuse the bombs, add boosters and set the delays for the pilots,” said Weatherby, a Prescott, Ariz., native.
With 105 sorties were flown by pilots from Marine Attack Squadron 211, VMA-214, VMA-311 and VMA-513; accounting for 114 hours of flight time, this was a chance for station squadrons to stretch their wings and have a bit of fun in the process.
The squadrons participated in a “bombing derby,” which tested their ability and accuracy as a squadron.
The scoring was done by taking into account the speed of the plane at the time of release, the dive angle and the accuracy of the bomb, among other factors.
Competition was fierce, with each squadron making a good showing, but in the end, VMA-211, the Wake Island Avengers, took home a trophy for best bombing during the exercise.
The trophy was presented to the Avengers Thursday at 5 p.m. when they were announced the winners, much to the dismay of the other squadrons.
Munitions left over from previous training exercises are often randomly dropped in isolated sorties as determined by the squadrons themselves, but this time MAG-13 decided to dispose of them in an organized manner that aided he squadrons in training for situations they might face in the future.