KORAT ROYAL THAI AIR FORCE BASE, Thailand -- Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533 Marines wrapped up exercise Cope Tiger 2011 here March 24.
“I think the exercise went extremely well. I was certainly proud of our performance as a squadron during the exercise,” said Lt. Col. George B. Rowell, VMFA(AW)-533 commanding officer. “I was very proud of all the Marines and all the hard work they did.”
VMFA(AW)-533 falls under the Unit Deployment Program, a program created by the commandant of the Marine Corps to reduce the number of unaccompanied tours and improve unit continuity by deploying units to the Western Pacific for approximately sixmonth intervals.
Marines with supporting units Marine Aviation Logistic Squadron 12 and Marine Air Control Squadron 4 also made their return to Iwakuni.
VMFA(AW)-533 worked side by side with the Royal Thai and Singapore Air Forces throughout the exercise.
“I think during any exercise like this where you have three nations working together, there’s always room for improvement on everything,” said Rowell. “Communication can always be better, but that’s something that got better throughout the exercise. As long as we’re making forward progress, that’s what counts. And that’s certainly what we all in the exercise were doing during this time.”
For the exercise, VMFA(AW)-533 and supporting nations focused primarily on conducting and coordinating large force employment.
“I think for the air crew, planning, leading, briefing and debriefing large force integration is probably the number one thing that we took out of the exercise,” said Rowell. “We don’t get the opportunity to fly with over 60 aircraft very often, and that’s the number one thing I think we gained.”
Rowell said the large force employment training was not only beneficial for Pacific flight operations, but also useful for current operations in Afghanistan.
Although flight operations were the main focus, the VMFA(AW)-533 pilots weren’t the only ones to contribute to the success of the exercise.
“The exercise was successful due to a lot of the Marines’ hard work and dedication. The Marines maintained a high morale throughout the exercise,” said Sgt. Maj. Suzie M. Hollings, VMFA(AW)-533 sergeant major. “Of course they always have obstacles, but they overcame every obstacle, and they did a phenomenal job as usual.”
Not only did the Marines accomplish the overall mission, but they presented themselves as good American ambassadors by avoiding any negative incidents.
“Everybody represented themselves, the Marine Corps and 533 very well. That always makes for a very good exercise. On top of that, they accomplished the mission, so I’m extremely proud,” said Hollings.