What It Takes To Keep The U.S. Navy's Hornet Fleet In The Air

USMC

Warzone/The Drive: Confessions Of A U.S. Marine F/A-18 Hornet Maintainer

What it really takes to keep the USMC's tired Hornet fleet in the air and first-hand experience of Marine Aviation's waning readiness.

We have heard so much lately about poor readiness across America's air arms, but the USMC, in particular, has left some of its most essential aircraft communities in especially dire straits. The service's worked over F/A-18 Hornet fleet is one of them. Over the last ten years, it has become all too common to see Marine tactical air squadrons with rows of planes sitting in pieces on the apron, their key components having been cannibalized to help healthier jets limp back into the air. Maintainers have even had to scrounge through the boneyard and even museums looking for impossible to find parts. And all of this negatively impacts a unit's ability to stay current on critical skills, not to mention morale and personnel retention.

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WNU editor: An excellent review on what it takes to keep these jets in the air.