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Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 13 spouses sit down to eat Meals, Ready-To-Eat during the squadron’s Jane Wayne Day at a remote airfield near Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., June 25, 2010. More than 20 MALS-13 family members spent the day learning and doing what various Marines do, from sparring with Marine Corps martial arts to shooting weapons at an indoor simulator. Units here host Jane Wayne Days to promote camaraderie between the spouses and to help them better understand the Corps lifestyle their Marines are a part of. - Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 13 spouses sit down to eat Meals, Ready-To-Eat during the squadron’s Jane Wayne Day at a remote airfield near Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., June 25, 2010. More than 20 MALS-13 family members spent the day learning and doing what various Marines do, from sparring with Marine Corps martial arts to shooting weapons at an indoor simulator. Units here host Jane Wayne Days to promote camaraderie between the spouses and to help them better understand the Corps lifestyle their Marines are a part of.

Cpl. Jacob Ballard, food service specialist at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., prepares a dish of pepper steak the station mess hall June 18, 2010. Ballard recently graduated the top of his class at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., where he and some of the most talented chefs in the Marine Corps were selected to go. His abilities have not gone unnoticed outside his field, as he is slated to report to Headquarters Marine Corps to be a general’s chef later this year. Ballard is a 22-year-old native of Coventry, R.I. - Cpl. Jacob Ballard, food service specialist at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., prepares a dish of pepper steak the station mess hall June 18, 2010. Ballard recently graduated the top of his class at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., where he and some of the most talented chefs in the Marine Corps were selected to go. His abilities have not gone unnoticed outside his field, as he is slated to report to Headquarters Marine Corps to be a general’s chef later this year. Ballard is a 22-year-old native of Coventry, R.I.

Marine Attack Squadron 214 ordnance technicians arm an AV-8B Harrier at the combat aircraft loading area at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, June 18, 2010. More than 180 VMA-214 and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 13 Marines traveled here from Yuma, Ariz., to take part in exercise Red Flag-Alaska, a multinational, joint-service aviation combat exercise. “Any time you have the opportunity to work in a joint environment, you have to take full advantage of it,” said Sgt. Maj. Leonard Maldonado, VMA-214 sergeant major. “It’s been a positive experience all the way around. It took a few days, but the barrier was broken down by a few Marines, and now I see them interacting with their counterparts on a regular basis.” Both squadrons are based at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma. - Marine Attack Squadron 214 ordnance technicians arm an AV-8B Harrier at the combat aircraft loading area at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, June 18, 2010. More than 180 VMA-214 and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 13 Marines traveled here from Yuma, Ariz., to take part in exercise Red Flag-Alaska, a multinational, joint-service aviation combat exercise. “Any time you have the opportunity to work in a joint environment, you have to take full advantage of it,” said Sgt. Maj. Leonard Maldonado, VMA-214 sergeant major. “It’s been a positive experience all the way around. It took a few days, but the barrier was broken down by a few Marines, and now I see them interacting with their counterparts on a regular basis.” Both squadrons are based at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma.