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The Marine Corps formally deactivated two Hawaii helicopter models this week as a part of a significant restructuring that can imply fewer helicopters and quieter skies over Oahu.
Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 (HMH-463) was formally deactivated Thursday night and Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 (HMLA-367) was deactivated Friday morning at ceremonies held at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay.
The Marine Corps is revamping its total service over the subsequent decade by means of an initiative referred to as Force Design 2030.
The plan is geared towards returning the Marines to their roots as a naval department targeted on coastal and island operations, significantly within the Western Pacific as tensions simmer within the South China Sea — a vital waterway by means of which over a 3rd of all international commerce travels.
The new design requires eliminating all the service’s tanks and placing a larger emphasis on missiles and drones and seeking to a leaner, agile drive. Force Design 2030 additionally requires a reorganization of the service’s air property, with a roughly 28% discount in plane within the Marine Corp’s general stock.
In Hawaii the Marines are sending all of their conventional helicopters elsewhere. In 2021 they started decommissioning some and planning to relocate others to new houses with different Marine models on the mainland and in Asia.
Force Design 2030 has proved divisive amongst each active-duty and retired Marines.
On Friday the web navy information outlet Task & Purpose printed an opinion piece by retired Marine Gen. Terry Dake through which he argued that “ongoing divestitures of assets, in particular Marine aviation assets, to focus on a single specific threat, make the reality of global deployment when required by any of the Combatant Commanders highly problematic.”
But the Marines aren’t giving up on plane in Hawaii. Commanders want to the service’s V-22 Ospreys to play a central function in operations across the Pacific. The Osprey is a “tilt-rotor” plane that has the traits of each helicopters and airplanes and is ready to fly lengthy distances. In 2017 Marine V-22s efficiently accomplished their first trans- Pacific flight between Hawaii and Australia.
In place of the helicopters which can be leaving, the Marine Corps hopes to herald extra KC-130J tanker planes to refuel the Ospreys midflight as they haul troops across the area for coaching and operations. It’s additionally taking a look at bringing in stealthy new Reaper MQ-9A drones at its Hawaii base that it hopes to make use of for surveillance missions across the Pacific rather than the smaller RC-21 Blackjack drones on the base now.
“It’s about force design, but also routine modernization for the (drone) squadron upgrade to a new platform,” mentioned Marine spokesman Capt. Jordan Fox. “Those are both proposed. There’s a home- basing environmental assessment going on right now that started in January.”
HMLA-367, identified within the Marine Corps by the decision signal “Scarface,” was first activated as a Marine statement squadron on Dec. 1, 1943, at Quantico, Va., offering assist as spotters for artillery throughout island- hopping campaigns within the Pacific throughout World War II. It participated within the occupation of North China from October 1945 to June 1947 earlier than ultimately being deactivated in 1949.
It was reactivated through the Vietnam War, the place it first adopted its notorious name signal. The squadron supported floor operations in Vietnam and high secret reconnaissance missions in neighboring Laos, and ultimately assisted within the evacuation of South Vietnam after the Communist victory in 1975. The unit later served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Hawaii the squadron flew AH-1Z Vipers and UH-1Y Venom, each upgraded variations of Bell helicopters that made their debut within the Vietnam War. The Viper is the subsequent evolution of the AH-1 Cobra assault helicopter, whereas the Venom is the fashionable model of the enduring Huey, which featured prominently in movies like “Apocalypse Now.”
The Vipers changed the AH-1W Super Cobras that had been used for greater than three many years in Hawaii. A Marine Corps information launch from 2017, when Kaneohe acquired its first Vipers, proudly proclaimed that “the arrival of the fourth generation attack helicopters enhances the capabilities and power projection” of forces in Hawaii. The transition was solely accomplished in 2019.
At $31 million apiece the Vipers had been anticipated to serve many extra years in Hawaii. But final spring the Marine Corps started sending a few of Hawaii’s Vipers to the navy plane boneyard at Davis- Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona to organize for the squadron’s deactivation in assist of the brand new reorganization.
However, it’s not the top for the squadron. The Marines intend to reactivate the unit later this yr at Camp Pendleton, Calif., the place it’ll merge with the third Marine Aviation Wing’s HMLA-469.
“Considering the history and lineage on Scarface’s resume, it’s entirely appropriate that we send them home,” Col. Brian T. Koch, commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group 24, informed the squadron Friday throughout its deactivation ceremony.
HMH-463, identified within the Marine Corps as “Pegasus,” was first activated July 20, 1944, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., as Marine Bombing Squadron 463. Since 1971 it had referred to as Kaneohe Bay residence.
The squadron carried out operations in Vietnam, Cambodia, Saudi Arabia throughout Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Iraq throughout Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Afghanistan throughout Operation Enduring Freedom. Most lately, the squadron returned from a nine-month rotation with the thirty first Marine Expeditionary Unit in Japan in May.
At the ceremony the HMH-463’s commanding officer, Lt. Col. Kelly Allen, informed Marines that “while our time here at Pegasus may be coming to an end, the bonds, memories and achievements that we have live forever.”
In Hawaii the squadron flew CH-53E Super Stallions, the most important and oldest helicopter within the service’s stock. The Super Stallions first entered service in 1981. The airframe is finally anticipated to proceed serving as a part of Force Design 2030 — Fox mentioned the Marines are present process a modernization program transitioning from the CH-53E to the brand new CH-53K.
The deactivation of HMH-463 will ship Pegasus’ 12 Hawaii Stallions to different aviation models throughout the Corps.
“The CH-53E has proven itself as a capable and worthy heavy-lift platform here in Hawaii, as noted in HMH-463’s lineage and history,” mentioned Fox. “The platform is capable of conducting interisland flights and missions, but the Osprey’s speed and range make it a more suitable platform for operations across the vastness of the Pacific Theater. An MV-22 Osprey, coupled with a KC-130J, can place Marines and equipment anywhere they need to go.”
