The US Marine Corps’ VMGR-252 ‘Otis’ holds the distinction of being the service’s oldest continually active squadron. It is also one of its busiest, having aircraft consistently deployed since 2005.
UNIT REPORT
VMGR-252
VMGR-252 ‘OTIS’ IS one busy unit. It’s tasked with transporting assault troops, equipment and supplies, and to provide a refueling service to fixed and rotarywing aircraft. The squadron — which has been in existence for 90 years — flies around 6,800 hours per annum, which equates to having a ‘bird’ in the air somewhere in the world for about 19 hours of every day.
Lt Col Brendan ‘Cletus’ Burks is the unit’s commander. He told Combat Aircraft, ‘Our squadron has been consistently deployed since 2005, so it’s been 13 years since we had the whole squadron together here at our home base, MCAS Cherry Point. We are currently on our 13th consecutive Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force [SP-MAGTF] detachment since 2013, so the tempo has been very high for us’.
The squadron flies 15 Lockheed Martin KC-130J Hercules, which might seem like a lot, but they are rarely all available at the same time. Burks says, ‘Right now, we have one away on test work and another three are going through their…
