MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- The July 13 arrival of Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533 brought with it about 10 F/A-18 aircraft and approximately 200 service members.
VMFA(AW)-533’s arrival also brought an honored and fierce reputation that would not have been possible without the maintenance Marines responsible for the safety and upkeep of their aircraft.
Approximately 140 maintenance Marines in the Unit Deployment Program arrived here with VMFA(AW)-533. Master Sgt. Karl Marshall, the VMFA(AW)-533 maintenance chief, said without his Marines the planes just don’t fly.
“It’s a lot of responsibility,” said Marshall. “A lot of these guys are kids. I got 20-year-olds and 21-year-olds. I don’t have older people running the show.”
As maintenance chief, marshall’s job requires him to pace the most qualified Marines in the correct positions.
Marshall explained how his job was made easier because all of his Marines are really great at what they do.
“These are probably the best crews you’ll ever see,” said Marshall. “I’ve been around for a while and these are some of the best Marines I’ve ever run into. It’s a rarity to say I’ve been blessed to end up with a crew like this.”
While deployed here, VMFA(AW)-533 is slated to participate in various training exercises around the Pacific from Kadena Air Base to the Philippines.
Though the VMFA(AW)-533 maintenance Marines will find themselves in surroundings different from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C., the only difference in their job is how much it will increase.
“We tend to fly more when we deploy,” said Marshall. “It doesn’t change what their doing, just how they’re doing it.”
Some of the maintenance Marines find the most difficult part of their job is simply how much there is to do.
“We’re always running around,” said Lance Cpl. Anthony DiVito, a VMFA(AW)-533 fixed-wing aircraft mechanic. We have a flight schedule on top of running around and we have to take care of our maintenance role too.
Though difficult sometimes, the maintenance Marines know how to accomplish the mission.
“There might be some problems, but it doesn’t really affect us,” said DiVito. “We just do our job.”
Among the VMFA(AW)-533 maintenance Marines in charge of aircraft upkeep are aircraft ordnance technicians responsible for loading aviation ordnance on the aircraft.
Marshall said his ordnance Marines would be receiving a lot of training in the upcoming deployments.
“My ordnance Marines get all that air-to-air, air-to-ground kind of training they can’t get in Beaufort,” said Marshall. “They get a lot more hands-on training and they learn their job a lot better.”
The aviation ordnance Marines were also unfazed by how much their workload and environment will change in the upcoming deployments.
“Different place, different people, different rules, we’re still going to work just as hard,” said Lance Cpl. Thomas Tasakos, a VMFA(AW)-533 aviation ordnance technician.
While the maintenance Marines understand that the job to the squadron is vital, they also realize one other thing.
“We’re just another part of the whole circle,” said Tasakos. “One team one fight.”
VMFA(AW)-533 is currently participating in an aviation training relocation exercise in Misawa, Japan, which started July 25 and runs until Saturday.