Marines close fiscal year 2020 with milestone

No fatal aviation mishaps recorded in Marines or Navy – first time since 1922

Congratulations to the U.S. Marine Corps! According to a recent report in the Navy Times, during fiscal year 2020, there were zero fatal aviation mishaps in the Marine Corps and the Navy. In fact, it’s the first time this milestone has been achieved since record keeping began in 1922.

Yuma takes great pride in its flying weather, which plays a critical role in the success of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.

That weather allows MCAS Yuma to host its twicea-year Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course (WTI), which involves giving Marines realistic training that is consistent with a mission that they may have to execute in the real world. It involves days of flight time in and around Yuma County, leading up to a massive “foreign humanitarian assistance exercise” conducted in Yuma. In the most recent WTI exercise, landing zones included Centennial and Crane middle schools, as well as Kiwanis Park and the pads at Yuma Regional Medical Center. The scenario including flying in security forces into a simulated mass casualty scenario, providing aid, and supporting casualty evacuation.

But that’s not the only flight time that occurs in Yuma.

MCAS Yuma is home to the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter and the AV-B Harrier, as well as the Osprey and more, all of which can be spotted flying around Yuma County.

MCAS Yuma’s history here stretches back to 1928, when Col. Benjamin Fly persuaded the federal government to lease 640 acres of desert from Yuma County, which became Fly Field. Through a variety of changes over time, that space eventually was signed over to the Navy in 1959, and it’s been a Marine Corps facility ever since.

MCAS Yuma supports approximately 80% of the Marine Corps’ air-to-ground weapons training, with access to 2.8 million acres of training ranges in Arizona and California.

Yuma is seriously invested in the success of the Marine Corps. Our county is a patriotic one, and watching those planes fly overhead is a part of life here, and one that we welcome.

But that doesn’t come without some degree of risk. These Marines are training for real-world scenarios, and accidents can happen. Fortunately, fiscal year

2020 was a year without any loss of life due to aviation mishaps – and frankly, that’s a milestone worth celebrating.

To our Marines stationed here in Yuma, we salute your efforts and your service.

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