MCB HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii -- The first Hawaii Combined Arms Exercise of 2004 featured special training from an aviation perspective, thanks to Marine Aircraft Group 24 and an all-star cast of supporting squadrons from around the Marine Corps.
Six squadrons joined MAG-24 at the Marine Corps Air Facility aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, to support HCAX with fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, as well as jets from the 1st and 3rd Marine Aircraft Wings.
Aircraft from Marine Corps Air Stations Miramar, Calif.; Iwakuni, Japan; and Futenma, Okinawa; in addition to Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York, were active in HCAX. Ten squadrons flew support for the exercise, including P-3 Orions from Patrol Squadrons 4 and 9.
"The variety of air frames involved in missions gave us, at MAG-24, a much better idea of how to schedule various types of aircraft, and how to use them together to accomplish the mission," said Capt. Thaddeus Berry, assistant future operations officer with MAG-24. "It also gave guys on the ground a better idea how to use different aviation resources."
Local squadron, Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, known as "Pegasus," trained at HCAX by supporting troops during night flights, simulated Nuclear, Biological, Chemical attack evacuations, and completed a live-fire course.
The CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters from Pegasus also participated in company troop-lifts and the noncombatant evacuation operation at the end of HCAX, said Berry.
Reserve units got in on the HCAX mission, too. Marine Air Refueler Transport Squadron 452, the "Yankees," flew refueling support missions at the Big Island.
F/A-18Cs and F/A-18As from Marine Fighter Attack Squadrons 212 and 134, respectively, flew close air support missions, an air-combat maneuvering mission and a live missile-fire exercise.
The two squadrons, the "Lancers" and "Smoke," are from Iwakuni and Miramar, respectively.
"Having the F-18s and the other planes up at the same time helped us train for situations where the MAG might have more than one type of aircraft assigned to it," said Berry.
The exercise helped improve Marines' warfighting skills through the better use of close air support.