Page 40 - F-35B and USMC

The Integration of the F-35B into USMC Operations

torpedo planes finished off on the 13th. The major Japanese effort continued on the 14th, as they brought in
a seven ship troop convoy. The American air forces cut this up as well.

Late that afternoon, Col. Bauer, tired of being stuck on the ground at Fighter Command, went up with Joe to
take a look. It was his last flight, described by Joe Foss in a letter to Bauer’s family. No trace of ‘Indian Joe’
was ever found. Back at Guadalcanal, Foss was diagnosed with malaria. Two great leaders of Cactus Fighter
Command were gone, although Foss would return in six weeks.

He recuperated in New Caledonia and Australia. He met some of the high-scoring Australian aces, who
viewed the Japanese as inferior opponents and were a little dismissive of Joe’s 23 victories. After a brief
relapse of malaria, Joe returned to Guadalcanal on New Year’s Day. Improvements had been made in his
absence, notably pierced steel planking (PSP) for the Fighter Strip. Foss returned to combat flying on the 15th
when he shot down three more planes to bring his total to 26.

He flew his last mission ten days later when his flight and four P-38s intercepted a force of over 60 Zeros and
Vals. Quickly analyzing the situation, he ordered his flight to stay high, circling in a Lufbery. This made his
small flight look like a decoy to the Japanese. Soon Cactus scrambled more fighters and the Japanese planes
fled. It was ironic that in one of Joe Foss’ most satisfying missions, he didn’t fire a shot.

http://acepilots.com/usmc_foss.html

THE USS AMERICA: REDEFINING AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT
By Robbin Laird

10/08/14

The USMC is the only tiltrotar-enabled assault force in the world.

The USS America has been built to facilitate this capability and will be augmented as the F-35B is added to
the Ospreys, and helicopters already operating from the ship and as unmanned vehicles become a regular
operational element as well.

To set the proper landscape to discuss the changes within aviation and the amphibious fleet, one can go back
a decade ago and look at the aviation and ship pairings and their operational reach.

The ARG-MEU a decade ahead operated within the LPD-17, without the T-AKE ship, without the Osprey and
was primarily a rotorcraft, landing vehicle and mixture of Harrier fast jets force. And the three ship ARG-MEU
would operate largely in a 200-mile box affecting the objective area where it was located.

The Osprey has obviously been a game changer, where today, the ARG-MEU can “disaggregate” and
operate over a three-ship distributed 1,000-mile operational area. Having the communications and ISR to
operate over a greater area, and to have sustainment for a disaggregated fleet is a major challenge facing
the future of the USN-USMC team.

A major change in the ship can be seen below the flight deck, and these changes are what allow the assault
force enabled by new USMC aviation capabilities to operate at greater range and ops tempo.

The ship has three synergistic decks, which work together to support flight deck operations. Unlike a traditional
large deck amphibious ship where maintenance has to be done topside, maintenance is done in a hangar
deck below the flight deck.

Second Line of Defense

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