{"id":181420,"date":"2014-10-09T04:00:35","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T18:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=181420"},"modified":"2014-10-09T04:00:35","modified_gmt":"2014-10-08T18:00:35","slug":"forager-fury-iii-comes-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/forager-fury-iii-comes-close\/","title":{"rendered":"Forager Fury III comes to a close"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By LANCE CPL. TYLER NGIRASWEI<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>III Marine Expeditionary Force<\/em><\/p>\n<p>ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam\u2014Despite the eye of Typhoon Vonfgong passing by Guam with winds estimated at 105 miles per hour on Oct. 6, Forager Fury III on Andersen Air Force Base was still marked a success.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-181420 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/forager-fury-iii-comes-close\/forager-fury-pix3\/'>Forager-Fury-pix3<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-181424'>\n\t\t\t\tAn F\/A-18 Hornet takes off from Andersen Air Force Base on Oct. 1 during Forager Fury III. The aircraft is with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 currently assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force under the unit deployment program. (LANCE CPL. TYLER NGIRASWEI)\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/forager-fury-iii-comes-close\/forager-fury-pix1\/'>Forager-Fury-pix1<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-181426'>\n\t\t\t\tCpl. Giovani Perezvargas showcases a device used by air traffic controllers to Okkodo High School\u2019s Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers\u2019 Training Corps cadets on Oct. 3 during Forager Fury III. The cadets were provided the opportunity to witness some of the different tools used by Marine Corps air traffic controllers. Perezvargas is an air traffic controller navigational aids technician with detachment B, Marine Air Control Squadron 4, Marine Air Control Group 18, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force. (LANCE CPL. TYLER NGIRASWEI)\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>An estimated 1,300 personnel participated in Forager Fury III, a Marine Corps-led exercise that emphasized unit level tactical aviation and aviation ground support to further develop a distributed, expeditionary combat capability while training within the Marianas Island range complex.<\/p>\n<p>The training included close air support, forward air controller (airborne) training, air interdiction, air-to-air missions, defensive counter-air, offensive counter-air, air-to-surface and air-to-air missile shootings. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cForager Fury III was a fantastic exercise punctuated by high quality unit level training on ranges supporting live ordnance deliveries,\u201d said Col. Hunter H. Hobson, commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force. \u201cThese and other missions on these ranges greatly improve our combat readiness for the whole MAG, not just the aircrew and maintainers. We are a far more capable and ready unit following these exercises.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even with the weather posing an obstacle during the exercise, fully cancelling operations on Tinian earlier than expected, Marines did what they do best: adapt and overcome.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite the harsh weather conditions, we managed to get more than a thousand hours in flight,\u201d said Capt. Nicholas P. Minko, a pilot with MAG-12 operations. <\/p>\n<p>Forager Fury III is a tactical exercise, but the participating service members also volunteered in the local community during their days off by visiting Guam\u2019s Department of Youth Affairs\u2019 inmates, helping repaint bus stops as part of a Habitat for Humanity project and also providing a chance for Okkodo High School\u2019s Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers\u2019 Training Corps cadets to witness the different jobs the Marine Corps provides.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important to give back to the neighboring community and to show that the armed services appreciate their support. It is good to reflect a positive light on the armed services while we are here,\u201d according to Petty Officer 1st Class Cosme Rosete, from Waimanalo, Hawaii, a religious program specialist with Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was good for the Marines to have the [JROTC] cadets visit because they have a hand in forging the next generation of Marines, the ones that haven\u2019t signed up yet,\u201d according to Cmdr. Bob Vance, from Las Vegas, Nevada, a chaplain with MAG-12. \u201cAnybody that has a chance to give back to the community, no matter what branch, is always good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With all the accomplishments of the service members, the hardships they have faced and FF III complete, they can now return home.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile we have been in Guam and Tinian, we have been hit by two tropical storms and a typhoon, not to mention an earthquake,\u201d said Hobson. \u201cDespite the challenging weather, the aircrew did a superb job managing risk and getting the most of every training opportunity. I am happy and very proud of the hard work and dedication shown by all of our Marines and sailors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By LANCE CPL. TYLER NGIRASWEI III Marine Expeditionary Force ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam\u2014Despite the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":181424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[51,304,1229],"class_list":["post-181420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-guam","tag-las-vegas","tag-marine-corps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}