Marines Plan More Night Training for Aviators at Tustin, El Toro Bases

Night training of aviators will increase at the El Toro and Tustin air stations, but the shift from day to night maneuvers will not increase noise for nearby residents, the new commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing said last week.

Maj. Gen. Royal N. Moore Jr. said he plans to increase the nighttime training of helicopter and jet fighter crews by between 15% and 20% to boost the fliers’ capabilities to perform in nighttime conditions.

The change means that the Marines will be spending between 30% and 40% of their training at night.

Much of the training will be with night-vision goggles and infrared devices, so the aircraft will head out of the hazy and well-lighted, populated areas into more remote areas at Camp Pendleton, China Lake, Yuma, Ariz., and parts of Nevada. There, Moore said, aviators will “get the use of the total light” from the moon and stars.

Maj. Jim McClain, director of the joint public affairs office for El Toro and Tustin, said he did not want anyone to be misled by the shift in training. He said there would be no change in the night-carrier practice landings at El Toro.

“I think it is safe to say there won’t be more noise,” McClain said.

History of Cooperation

Tustin Mayor Ursula E. Kennedy said that the city and the Marine Corps have a long history of cooperation, and that she is sure the Marines will notify the city if there is any significant change that affects residents.

In his first news conference since taking over the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing in August, Moore said the number of flights into and out of Tustin and El Toro air stations should be constant over the next few years.

“It should remain at about the same level,” Moore said. “We’re pretty much at a peak.”

Moore also pointed out that some of the helicopter training that was formerly done on or around the bases has been moved to more remote areas at Camp Pendleton. He said residents will see the helicopters only when they leave and return from training at Pendleton.

Meanwhile, Moore defended the continued use of controversial night-vision goggles used by Army and Marine Corps helicopter crews. A congressional committee investigating the goggles said more than 150 military aviators were killed during night training missions in which night-vision goggles were authorized.

The battery-operated goggles, originally designed to help tank drivers and foot soldiers find their way through the darkness using available moon and star light, were first used by military helicopter pilots in the mid-1970s. The latest models, which are still being delivered to the Army and Marines, are more efficient and use less light.

“We got to use them,” Moore said. “They are very important to me . . . mainly because I got to fight a 24-hour-a-day war. . . . Two in the morning is as important as 1300 (1 p.m.) in the afternoon to win on a battlefield.”

But, he said, the goggles have constraints and cannot be used all the time. Moore said one-third of the month the moon does not provide enough light for the goggles to operate efficiently. Moore, 54, a fighter and helicopter pilot who has spent many hours flying with night-vision goggles, said “you have to stay within those limitations.” He said new goggles were being delivered to the 3rd Air Wing but “not as rapidly as we want.” Although it could be a couple of years before the old goggles are replaced by the new model, Moore said he has a “comfortable number” of the newer goggles.

Transfer Bombers

During Tuesday’s news conference, Moore said that the familiar sight of the A-6E Intruder and the RF-4 Phantom will disappear from the skies around El Toro air station. He said the two aircraft would be replaced over the next two years by the new F-18D, a two-seat fighter and attack jet. The Marines have signed an agreement with the Navy to transfer its A-6E all-weather bombers to Navy fleet squadrons. It is part of a program to reduce the number of different aircraft that the Marines fly.

“It was killing us. Killing us in maintenance and supply,” Moore said. “We were getting eaten up.”

Moore, who was director of operations for the Pacific command in Hawaii before taking command of the wing here, said the Marines are attempting to reduce the different types of aircraft, including helicopters, to seven. Seven years ago, he said, the Marines were flying 21 models of fighter planes and helicopters.

Also, Moore said Tuesday that Marine pilots from El Toro, Tustin and Camp Pendleton will be required to file a flight plan so the military will know their approximate route in case their aircraft malfunctions or crashes. This is in response to the crash involving a Marine Corps OV-10 from Camp Pendleton that vanished into the desert for two weeks until a Civil Air Patrol plane spotted the wreckage 10 miles north of Banning in the San Bernardino Mountains. The aircraft’s pilot and observer died in the crash.

The flight plan will be left with the operations duty officer, Moore said.

“He will have that, and he will know where they are at any particular time in their route,” Moore said.