KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --
U.S. Marines assigned to 5th Battalion, 11th Marines, from Camp Pendleton, California, are deployed to Camp Hansen, Okinawa, and recently trained with Airmen assigned to the 17th Special Operations Squadron on proper loading and unloading of the high mobility artillery rocket system.
Used for rapid operations, the HIMAR system is a self-propelled artillery piece with a rocket pod on the back that shoots rockets and missiles.
The Marines and Airmen worked together loading and unloading the HIMAR system onto a C-130 Hercules for day and night time iterations.
“Today there are three Marines in charge of each HIMAR system, and there are the Air Force loadmasters in charge of the plane,” said Crider. “Working together on operations is important because the HIMAR system is still relatively new to most of the different branches.”
Currently, the 5th Battalion possesses the only HIMAR on island, which is why training is extremely important.
“The mission was highly effective; the new drivers received intense driver training and loadmasters trained on an unfamiliar weapons system,” stated U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Tyler Farrell, 17th Special Operations Squadron loadmaster.
“The team integration piece is important because we don’t get to work with Marines often,” said Farrell. “Opportunities like this allow us to develop new capabilities and ensure safe transport of the weapon system day and night.”