Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan

Due to construction upgrades and modifications, the precision vertical landing practice capability on the Ie Shima training facility will be unavailable through mid-2017. In order for our AV-8B Harrier pilots to maintain their precision vertical landing proficiency, they will use a helicopter runway aboard Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni as the interim solution.

Beginning Monday, 4 April, and continuing through Thursday, 7 April, AV-8B aircraft will conduct flight operations to validate MCAS-I as a temporary training alternative.

AV-8B vertical landing qualifications require pilots to land at a single point on the ground replicating the flight deck of a U.S. Navy large-deck amphibious ship.

AV-8B vertical landings are not new at MCAS Iwakuni. On a rotational basis, AV-8Bs are based at MCAS Iwakuni, and in the past have conducted vertical/short takeoff and landing (VSTOL) activities here – procedures similar to precision vertical landings.

Training will occur during both daylight and nighttime hours, according to established MCAS Iwakuni procedures, and will adhere to normal field operating times, pattern restrictions and noise abatement procedures.

Qualification training such as this is necessary to safely and effectively uphold Marine Corps obligations under the Japan/U.S. security alliance, as well as to ensure Marine Corps preparedness to assist in the defense of Japan, to perform humanitarian-assistance and disaster-relief operations, and to fulfill other alliance roles.