Photos

According to Marine Administrative Message 312/09, officers and staff noncommissioned officers in uniform are no longer required to present identification when buying alcohol, tobacco or cashing checks at military exchanges.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Jakob Schulz

Col. Clyde M. Woltman, left, former Marine Aircraft Group 13 commanding officer, and Col. Anton H. Nerad, the unit’s new commanding officer, review marching troops during unit’s the change of command at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., June 12, 2009. Woltman will continue on to Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C., to work in the plans, policies and operations department. Nerad is taking command of the unit after serving in various billets with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Okinawa, Japan.

Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes

The Marine Aircraft Group 13 color guard marches past Col. Clyde M. Woltman, left, the unit’s former commanding officer and Col. Anton H. Nerad, the new commanding officer, during their change of command at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., June 12, 2009. Woltman will continue on to Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C., to work in the plans, policies and operations department. Nerad is taking command of the unit after serving in various billets with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Okinawa, Japan.

Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes

Col. Clyde M. Woltman, former Marine Aircraft Group 13 commanding officer salutes Maj. Gen. Terry Robling, the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing commanding general, before he is awarded the Legion of Merit during his change of command at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., June 12, 2009. The medal—Woltman’s second—reflects his achievements during his two years in command including streamlining maintenance and logistics to keep more Harriers in operation and the unit’s approximately 13,000 sorties flown. Woltman will continue on to Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C., to work in the plans, policies and operations department. Nerad is taking command of the unit after serving in various billets with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Okinawa, Japan.

Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes

Col. Clyde M. Woltman, former Marine Aircraft Group 13 commanding officer, right, passes the unit’s colors to the new commanding officer, Col. Anton H. Nerad, during their change of command ceremony at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., June 12, 2009. Woltman will continue on to Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C., to work in the plans, policies and operations department. Nerad is taking command of the unit after serving in various billets with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Okinawa, Japan.

Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes

Petty Officer 1st Class Jason Conley, Search and Rescue corpsman, rappels 100 feet onto the Auxiliary Airfield 2 from a HH-1N Huey at the Barry M. Goldwater Range in Yuma, Ariz., June 11, 2009. “It’s practice to rescue patients wherever they are,” said Cpl. Jeffrey Thomasson, SAR HH-1N crew chief.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Josue Aguirre

Marines with Marine Attack Squadron 211, out of the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., mount an AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile onto the wing of an AV-8B Harrier June 8, 2009, at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. The squadron became the first Marine unit to launch the AMRAAM from a Harrier. VMA-211 is currently deployed with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and is participating in Exercise Talisman Saber in Australia.(Photo by Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cordero)

Photo by Photo by Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cordero

Col. Ben Hancock, senior Marine liaison with Marine Forces Central Command, speaks with Maj. Roger Hardy, Marine Attack Squadron 214 executive officer, on the squadron’s parking ramp at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, June 6, 2009. Hancock, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma’s former commanding officer, is serving a six-month billet with MarForCent as the Marine liaison with the U.S. Air Force and British Royal Air Force for aviation operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Gregory Aalto

Col. Clyde M. Woltman is doused with ice water and champagne following his final flight as the commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group 13 on June 5. Woltman, who is scheduled to relinquish command on June 12, flew a Marine Attack Squadron 513 AV-8B Harrier from Camp Pendleton, Calif., where the squadron was training. Woltman's wife and two sons, as well as more than 50 Marines and sailors from MAG-13 greeted him after the flight. During his career, Woltman has served as a pilot with three of the group's four Harrier squadrons. Leading MAG-13 since June 2007, Woltman will turn over command to Col. Anton H. Nerad, formerly with 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Okinawa, Japan. A pilot for more than 20 years, Woltman has flown more than 130 combat missions in operations Desert Storm, Southern Watch and Iraqi Freedom.

Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Bill Lisbon

In full combat gear, Lance Cpl. Brittney Garland, a military policeman from the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., steps off a diving board during water survival training at the Naval Air Facility in El Centro, Calif., June 5, 2009. Throughout June 1-5, 2009, Yuma Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron Marines tested for various qualification levels of combat water survival.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Josue Aguirre

Alan Gonzalez Jr. stands with three Yuma explosive ordnance disposal Marines at his Harvest Preparatory Academy kindergarten graduation in Yuma, Ariz., June 4, 2009. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Simon Wade, left, Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 EOD officer in charge, attended the graduation at the request of Gonzalez’s stepfather, Staff Sgt. Alonzo Smith, MWSS-371 EOD technician, who was wounded May 26, 2009, while disarming an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.(Photo by Lance Cpl. Graham J. Benson)

Photo by Lance Cpl. Graham J. Benson

Col. Clyde M. Woltman, former chapter commanding officer and outgoing Marine Aircraft Group 13 commanding officer, speaks to retired Col. Billy McMillin, a former AV-8B pilot and executive officer of Yuma’s Marine Corps Aviation Association’s Tom Miller Squadron at the Sonoran Pueblo at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., June 3, 2009. Prior to the change of command, Woltman unveiled a display dedicated to the late Lt. Gen. Thomas H. Miller Jr., the first American to pilot the AV-8A Harrier, for whom the squadron is named.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Pete Zrioka

Sgt. Maj. V. Higgins, Marine Aircraft Group 13 sergeant major, receives the guidon for the Marine Corps Aviation Association’s Tom Miller Squadron from Col. Gary Thomas, center, at the Sonoran Pueblo at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., June 3, 2009. Col. Clyde M. Woltman, left, relinquished command of the squadron to Thomas. (Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes)

Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes

Col. Clyde M. Woltman, former chapter commanding officer and outgoing Marine Aircraft Group 13 commanding officer, speaks to members of Yuma’s Marine Corps Aviation Association’s Tom Miller Squadron at the Sonoran Pueblo at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., June 3, 2009. Prior to the change of command, Woltman unveiled a display dedicated to the late Lt. Gen. Thomas H. Miller Jr., the first American to pilot the AV-8A Harrier, for whom the squadron is named.(Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes)

Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes

Maj. James Combs, a pilot from the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., adjusts the controls of a UC-12B during a flight June 2, 2009. Combs, along with fellow pilot Capt. Daniel Groeling, flew Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner, chief of the Air Force Reserve, to Salt Lake City. Since June 2008, the planes have flown approximately 1,150 hours for a total of 314 flights.(Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes)

Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes

Capt. Daniel Groeling, a UC-12B pilot from the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., flies to Salt Lake City to drop off a passenger June 2, 2009.(Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes)

Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes

Cpl. Joseph Clinton, military policeman, searches role-player Sgt. Brent Durrant after apprehending him during a hostage simulation in a training house June 2, 2009, at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz. The exercise, which included the use of nonlethal live ammunition, was designed to improve the officers' tactics and confidence in shootouts.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Austin Hazard

Lance Cpl. Michael Hargrove, left, and Lance Cpl. Brian Ambelis, security augments, clear a room as they make their way to a hostage during a hostage simulation in a training house June 2, 2009, at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz. The exercise, which included the use of nonlethal live ammunition, was designed to improve the officers' tactics and confidence in shootouts.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Austin Hazard

Sgt. Garret Temple, UC-12B crew chief from the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., salutes Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner, the chief of the Air Force Reserve, before boarding the aircraft in Tuscon, Ariz., June 2, 2009. Temple, along with two pilots, flew Stenner to Salt Lake City. Since June 2008, the planes have flown approximately 1,150 hours for a total of 314 flights.(Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes)

Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes

A UC-12B aircraft is towed to the flight line at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., prior to take off June 2, 2009. The station has two C-12s, which serve as transportation for service members on official military business across the country. The C-12 is a fixed-wing, turboprop aircraft used by the Marine Corps since 1982. (Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes)

Photo by Cpl. Laura A. Mapes