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Yuma-based Marines Gunnery Sgt. Fred Suniga, Lance Cpl. Shane Fields, Pfc. Adrian Velasquez and Lance Cpl. Anthony Scott march along the course of the 2010 Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., March 21, 2010. The annual 26.2-mile march is held in memory of the nearly 75,000 American and Filipino service members forced to march across 90 miles of the Philippine Bataan peninsula with limited rations and harsh heat after being captured by the Japanese in 1942. The Marines, along with a record-breaking number of 5,700 marchers, stepped off at 8 a.m. The Marines marched for over ten hours, endured debilitating weather, high altitudes and unforgiving terrain to commemorate Bataan survivors. At least nine Marines from the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., participated in the event. - Yuma-based Marines Gunnery Sgt. Fred Suniga, Lance Cpl. Shane Fields, Pfc. Adrian Velasquez and Lance Cpl. Anthony Scott march along the course of the 2010 Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., March 21, 2010. The annual 26.2-mile march is held in memory of the nearly 75,000 American and Filipino service members forced to march across 90 miles of the Philippine Bataan peninsula with limited rations and harsh heat after being captured by the Japanese in 1942. The Marines, along with a record-breaking number of 5,700 marchers, stepped off at 8 a.m. The Marines marched for over ten hours, endured debilitating weather, high altitudes and unforgiving terrain to commemorate Bataan survivors. At least nine Marines from the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., participated in the event.

An F-35B Joint Strike Fighter descends to its first vertical landing March 18, 2010, at the Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Md., confirming the future Marine Corps aircraft’s ability to land in confined areas. During the test, the plane, which is slated to replace all Marine Corps combat jets, rode 41,000 pounds of thrust from its single engine to land on the runway 150 feet below. Despite delays and budget overages within the JSF program, the Marine Corps is on track to reach an initial operating capability of 29 planes by December 2012. - An F-35B Joint Strike Fighter descends to its first vertical landing March 18, 2010, at the Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Md., confirming the future Marine Corps aircraft’s ability to land in confined areas. During the test, the plane, which is slated to replace all Marine Corps combat jets, rode 41,000 pounds of thrust from its single engine to land on the runway 150 feet below. Despite delays and budget overages within the JSF program, the Marine Corps is on track to reach an initial operating capability of 29 planes by December 2012.

Cpl. Jorge Martinez, Marine Attack Squadron 214 airframer, stands with his certificate of citizenship at the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Ariz., March 10, 2010. Both he and Cpl. Marvin Medeiros, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron food service specialist, received their certificates during a ceremony before a San Diego Padres and Milwaukie Brewers game. Martinez and his family immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1986, while Medeiros emigrated from Peru in 2000. Both Marines are based at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz. - Cpl. Jorge Martinez, Marine Attack Squadron 214 airframer, stands with his certificate of citizenship at the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Ariz., March 10, 2010. Both he and Cpl. Marvin Medeiros, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron food service specialist, received their certificates during a ceremony before a San Diego Padres and Milwaukie Brewers game. Martinez and his family immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1986, while Medeiros emigrated from Peru in 2000. Both Marines are based at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz.

Lance Cpl. Dustin Campbell, provost marshal’s office military dog handler, holds back Rex, a military working dog, from Chad Conley, Cocopah Police Department dog handler, during an aggressor demonstration at a training warehouse off Avenue B in Yuma, Ariz., March 11, 2010. The police department has been training its dogs and strengthening their capabilities by working with the Marines for the past five months. “We’re glad to have these resources to tap into,” said Chad Conley, CPD dog handler. “The Marine base has been an irreplaceable asset to our program.” Normally, the CPD take their dogs to the station to train. Using the warehouse was meant to adapt the dogs to strange settings and keep training from becoming stagnant. During training, the dogs sniffed out and located objects carrying the scent of substances such as marijuana and heroin, and also practiced subduing aggressors, who wore thick bite-resistant suits. - Lance Cpl. Dustin Campbell, provost marshal’s office military dog handler, holds back Rex, a military working dog, from Chad Conley, Cocopah Police Department dog handler, during an aggressor demonstration at a training warehouse off Avenue B in Yuma, Ariz., March 11, 2010. The police department has been training its dogs and strengthening their capabilities by working with the Marines for the past five months. “We’re glad to have these resources to tap into,” said Chad Conley, CPD dog handler. “The Marine base has been an irreplaceable asset to our program.” Normally, the CPD take their dogs to the station to train. Using the warehouse was meant to adapt the dogs to strange settings and keep training from becoming stagnant. During training, the dogs sniffed out and located objects carrying the scent of substances such as marijuana and heroin, and also practiced subduing aggressors, who wore thick bite-resistant suits.

Michael Danko, left, John Gloshen, Gus Tomerelli and Mike Traficano, former station military policemen from the mid ’80s, reminisce as they look through photos from their time spent in Yuma during their 25-year reunion March 12. The group of nine friends returned to Yuma March 12 to visit their roots, renew old friendships and witness the growth of the city and the air station. “It’s great to get together with these guys I worked with 25 years ago and share stories and experiences about the base,” said Traficano, who served as a station MP 1986-87. “I hope we have another one of these in the future. It’s all about the camaraderie.” - Michael Danko, left, John Gloshen, Gus Tomerelli and Mike Traficano, former station military policemen from the mid ’80s, reminisce as they look through photos from their time spent in Yuma during their 25-year reunion March 12. The group of nine friends returned to Yuma March 12 to visit their roots, renew old friendships and witness the growth of the city and the air station. “It’s great to get together with these guys I worked with 25 years ago and share stories and experiences about the base,” said Traficano, who served as a station MP 1986-87. “I hope we have another one of these in the future. It’s all about the camaraderie.”