thedrifter
02-15-03, 08:20 AM
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT: With departure of VMFA-251, about a third of MCAS' personnel have deployed.
By Rob Dewig
Carolina Morning News
Three-year-old Hayley Gallagher knew her daddy was going somewhere for a long time, but she didn't know where and she doesn't really have any concept of time, so it's difficult to say if she was overly upset about Wednesday's otherwise traumatic event.
Hayley, you see, just wanted out of her car seat. She wanted to play with her father.
"I want out. I can't get out," she cried, as her daddy, Marine Capt. Rob Gallagher, embraced her mommy one last time.
Hayley's father, a pilot of one of those really big, loud things that kept flying overhead, was shipping out with the other 200 or so members of the Thunderbolts for, probably, combat in the Persian Gulf.
"Hayley, you be a good girl for mommy," Gallagher said, blowing her a kiss as her mother, Robin, sadly put their truck in gear and drove off. "I love you. Bye-bye. Take care of yourself."
To call Wednesday's deployment emotional would be a wild understatement.
Members of the squadron, its pilots and ordnance experts and mechanics circulated unhurriedly, and often tearfully, around the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort's movie theater parking lot, saying one last goodbye to the families they were leaving behind for possible war.
"Emotionally, it's been a little hard," said Cpl. Jason Tisdale, 21, patting his wife Shelby's swollen belly. She's due with their first child in May. He won't be there for the birth.
"I'm doing my job," he said, proudly. "But being a Marine Corps wife, that's the toughest job in the Corps."
Shelby, for her part, said she'll head home to Alaska to have the baby.
"It'll just be easier there," she said. "I just wish I could share the diaper-changing duties in the middle of the night with him."
Many wives and families are staying in the Lowcountry, unlike during the base's last major deployment during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Col. Harmon Stockwell, MCAS Beaufort's commander, said the Corps learned a lot from that war and has institutionalized a support network to take care of Marines' families.
"There will be (families) who will be more comfortable if they go back with their moms and dads, but the real test will be for those who stay behind," he said. "We don't know how it will work, but we didn't have anything in place, institutionalized, in Desert Storm like we do now."
Stephanie Walker, whose husband is a captain and pilot in VMFA-251, said Marine wives "all band together and help each other out. At least, that's what I've been told. This is my first deployment."
Walker said she planned to stay in Beaufort during her husband's deployment.
Gunnery Sgt. Robert Lauder, 34, couldn't get enough hugs Wednesday from his wife and children. He'd hug one, then another, then back to the first, then to another.
"I'm anxious to get there and do our part, basically, do what we can do and just get back," he said. "Of course, you can see it's hard on the families. We just want to get over, get done, and get back safely."
Col. David Peeler, the commander of the base's seven Marine squadrons, said it was unusual, but not unique, for a squadron to redeploy as quickly as the Thunderbolts have had to.
The squadron fought in Afghanistan early last year, returning to Beaufort only in March. Ordinarily, squadrons have 18 months of downtime.
"They know the deal and they're just proud to serve and do their part," the colonel said. "Combat experience (like the Thunderbolts') is very good, but it's no replacement for hard work and a good mental attitude. For sure, they've got the potential to be successful again and I firmly expect they will be."
Attitude, they have.
Gallagher, after waving goodbye to his daughter, said he looked forward to boarding the jet that was to ship the squadron eastward - the fighter planes themselves had taken off hours before, leaving the remainder of the squadron to catch up - and the typical "mental adjustment" that leaving family for combat requires. The hard part, he said, was leaving. It's far easier once the leaving's done.
"We're the best squadron in the Marines," he said. "Saying that, though, we did not edge the rest by very much. We're all equally good (but) we'll never say no to anybody praying for us."
Reporter Rob Dewig can be reached at 837-5255, ext. 107.
Where are they now?
Nine squadrons of F/A-18 jet fighters, or about 108 planes, make up the complement of war machines at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
Of those, not quite half are now serving overseas, including the VFMA-251 Thunderbolts, which shipped out Wednesday for duty in the Persian Gulf. There are 12 planes per squadron. Each squadron has about 200 personnel.
Here are the squadrons and their current billets:
* VMFA-251 (The Thunderbolts): In transit to the Middle East.
* VMFA-115 (The Silver Eagles): Onboard the aircraft carrier USS Truman, one of six stationed in the Gulf.
* VMFA-122 (The Crusaders): In Japan. They were to come home last month after a six-month stay, but will be retained in Japan "indefinitely," officials say.
* VMFA-533 (The Hawks): Shipped out Monday for overseas deployment.
* VMFA-312 (The Checkerboards): At MCAS Beaufort. They are preparing for a fall deployment onboard the USS Enterprise.
* VMFA-224 (The Bengals): MCAS Beaufort.
* VMFA-332 (The Moonlighters): MCAS Beaufort.
* VFA-82 (The Marauders): MCAS Beaufort. This U.S. Navy unit is preparing for a fall deployment on a carrier.
* VFA-86 (The Sidewinders): MCAS Beaufort. This naval unit will follow its sister squadron, and the Checkerboards, overseas this fall.
* Marine Wing Support Squadron-273: The majority is serving overseas with the various MCAS Beaufort squadrons. Their duties include constructing new landing strips.
* Marine Aircraft Control Squadron (detachment): The majority of this air-traffic control unit is overseas.
* Combat Services Support Detachment-23: Several members of this personnel-oriented unit are overseas.
* In addition, 19 Navy corpsmen from the Beaufort Naval Hospital are deployed.
By the numbers
With the departure Wednesday of VMFA-251, not quite a third of the personnel based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort have been deployed overseas in various roles.
MCAS spokesman Capt. Donald Caetano said about 1,100 of the base's 3,900
Marines and sailors are now overseas.
A history of the Thunderbolts
The unit now known as VMFA-251, The Thunderbolts, was formed Dec. 1, 1941, just six days before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The squadron began World War II flying the Gruman F4F Wildcat fighter. In 1944, serving exclusively in the Pacific, it converted to the famous gull-winged F-4U Corsair fighter.
It was decommissioned later and reformed as a ready reserve squadron at Gross Isle, Mich., before being recalled to active service for the Korean War in 1950.
The squadron flew the AD-4D Skyraider during that war. In 1960, it was assigned to MCAS Beaufort. At times, the squadron flew off the carrier USS Shangri-La.
The squadron began flying the F-4B Phantom II in 1964 and received the Robert F. Hanson Award as the "Marine Fighter Squadron of the Year" in 1969. The group received the modern F/A-18 Hornet fighters in 1986.
Thunderbolt pilots flew close air support in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1994, making them the first Marines in combat in Europe since World War I.
Last year, they flew more combat roles in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. They returned to MCAS Beaufort in March. They shipped out again on Wednesday.
Copyright 2002/2003 Savannah Morning News.
Sempers,
Roger
By Rob Dewig
Carolina Morning News
Three-year-old Hayley Gallagher knew her daddy was going somewhere for a long time, but she didn't know where and she doesn't really have any concept of time, so it's difficult to say if she was overly upset about Wednesday's otherwise traumatic event.
Hayley, you see, just wanted out of her car seat. She wanted to play with her father.
"I want out. I can't get out," she cried, as her daddy, Marine Capt. Rob Gallagher, embraced her mommy one last time.
Hayley's father, a pilot of one of those really big, loud things that kept flying overhead, was shipping out with the other 200 or so members of the Thunderbolts for, probably, combat in the Persian Gulf.
"Hayley, you be a good girl for mommy," Gallagher said, blowing her a kiss as her mother, Robin, sadly put their truck in gear and drove off. "I love you. Bye-bye. Take care of yourself."
To call Wednesday's deployment emotional would be a wild understatement.
Members of the squadron, its pilots and ordnance experts and mechanics circulated unhurriedly, and often tearfully, around the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort's movie theater parking lot, saying one last goodbye to the families they were leaving behind for possible war.
"Emotionally, it's been a little hard," said Cpl. Jason Tisdale, 21, patting his wife Shelby's swollen belly. She's due with their first child in May. He won't be there for the birth.
"I'm doing my job," he said, proudly. "But being a Marine Corps wife, that's the toughest job in the Corps."
Shelby, for her part, said she'll head home to Alaska to have the baby.
"It'll just be easier there," she said. "I just wish I could share the diaper-changing duties in the middle of the night with him."
Many wives and families are staying in the Lowcountry, unlike during the base's last major deployment during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Col. Harmon Stockwell, MCAS Beaufort's commander, said the Corps learned a lot from that war and has institutionalized a support network to take care of Marines' families.
"There will be (families) who will be more comfortable if they go back with their moms and dads, but the real test will be for those who stay behind," he said. "We don't know how it will work, but we didn't have anything in place, institutionalized, in Desert Storm like we do now."
Stephanie Walker, whose husband is a captain and pilot in VMFA-251, said Marine wives "all band together and help each other out. At least, that's what I've been told. This is my first deployment."
Walker said she planned to stay in Beaufort during her husband's deployment.
Gunnery Sgt. Robert Lauder, 34, couldn't get enough hugs Wednesday from his wife and children. He'd hug one, then another, then back to the first, then to another.
"I'm anxious to get there and do our part, basically, do what we can do and just get back," he said. "Of course, you can see it's hard on the families. We just want to get over, get done, and get back safely."
Col. David Peeler, the commander of the base's seven Marine squadrons, said it was unusual, but not unique, for a squadron to redeploy as quickly as the Thunderbolts have had to.
The squadron fought in Afghanistan early last year, returning to Beaufort only in March. Ordinarily, squadrons have 18 months of downtime.
"They know the deal and they're just proud to serve and do their part," the colonel said. "Combat experience (like the Thunderbolts') is very good, but it's no replacement for hard work and a good mental attitude. For sure, they've got the potential to be successful again and I firmly expect they will be."
Attitude, they have.
Gallagher, after waving goodbye to his daughter, said he looked forward to boarding the jet that was to ship the squadron eastward - the fighter planes themselves had taken off hours before, leaving the remainder of the squadron to catch up - and the typical "mental adjustment" that leaving family for combat requires. The hard part, he said, was leaving. It's far easier once the leaving's done.
"We're the best squadron in the Marines," he said. "Saying that, though, we did not edge the rest by very much. We're all equally good (but) we'll never say no to anybody praying for us."
Reporter Rob Dewig can be reached at 837-5255, ext. 107.
Where are they now?
Nine squadrons of F/A-18 jet fighters, or about 108 planes, make up the complement of war machines at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
Of those, not quite half are now serving overseas, including the VFMA-251 Thunderbolts, which shipped out Wednesday for duty in the Persian Gulf. There are 12 planes per squadron. Each squadron has about 200 personnel.
Here are the squadrons and their current billets:
* VMFA-251 (The Thunderbolts): In transit to the Middle East.
* VMFA-115 (The Silver Eagles): Onboard the aircraft carrier USS Truman, one of six stationed in the Gulf.
* VMFA-122 (The Crusaders): In Japan. They were to come home last month after a six-month stay, but will be retained in Japan "indefinitely," officials say.
* VMFA-533 (The Hawks): Shipped out Monday for overseas deployment.
* VMFA-312 (The Checkerboards): At MCAS Beaufort. They are preparing for a fall deployment onboard the USS Enterprise.
* VMFA-224 (The Bengals): MCAS Beaufort.
* VMFA-332 (The Moonlighters): MCAS Beaufort.
* VFA-82 (The Marauders): MCAS Beaufort. This U.S. Navy unit is preparing for a fall deployment on a carrier.
* VFA-86 (The Sidewinders): MCAS Beaufort. This naval unit will follow its sister squadron, and the Checkerboards, overseas this fall.
* Marine Wing Support Squadron-273: The majority is serving overseas with the various MCAS Beaufort squadrons. Their duties include constructing new landing strips.
* Marine Aircraft Control Squadron (detachment): The majority of this air-traffic control unit is overseas.
* Combat Services Support Detachment-23: Several members of this personnel-oriented unit are overseas.
* In addition, 19 Navy corpsmen from the Beaufort Naval Hospital are deployed.
By the numbers
With the departure Wednesday of VMFA-251, not quite a third of the personnel based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort have been deployed overseas in various roles.
MCAS spokesman Capt. Donald Caetano said about 1,100 of the base's 3,900
Marines and sailors are now overseas.
A history of the Thunderbolts
The unit now known as VMFA-251, The Thunderbolts, was formed Dec. 1, 1941, just six days before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The squadron began World War II flying the Gruman F4F Wildcat fighter. In 1944, serving exclusively in the Pacific, it converted to the famous gull-winged F-4U Corsair fighter.
It was decommissioned later and reformed as a ready reserve squadron at Gross Isle, Mich., before being recalled to active service for the Korean War in 1950.
The squadron flew the AD-4D Skyraider during that war. In 1960, it was assigned to MCAS Beaufort. At times, the squadron flew off the carrier USS Shangri-La.
The squadron began flying the F-4B Phantom II in 1964 and received the Robert F. Hanson Award as the "Marine Fighter Squadron of the Year" in 1969. The group received the modern F/A-18 Hornet fighters in 1986.
Thunderbolt pilots flew close air support in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1994, making them the first Marines in combat in Europe since World War I.
Last year, they flew more combat roles in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. They returned to MCAS Beaufort in March. They shipped out again on Wednesday.
Copyright 2002/2003 Savannah Morning News.
Sempers,
Roger