An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Marines

MCAS Miramar-EMS HomeNewsNews Article Display

News Article

News Article Display page
Photo Information

Sgt. Evan Price, airframe mechanic, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, reunites with his girlfriend after his squadron?s seven-month deployment to Iraq. During the deployment, HMM-161 never missed a casualty evacuation or dropped a single mission.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Scott McAdam

Download
Details

HMM-161 returns home to Miramar

6 Mar 2006 | Lance Cpl. Scott McAdam Marine Corps Air Station Miramar-EMS

PRINT
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- It was an emotionally charged evening when more than 150 Marines and sailors from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, touched down on the flight line here and were greeted by their friends and families.

HMM-161 returned from a seven-month long deployment to the Al Anbar Province of Iraq.
The squadron arrived at Al Asad, Iraq, Aug. 5 and immediately went to work putting their
aircraft together. In three weeks all of their aircraft were ready for operations. 

HMM-161 started flying missions in September 2005, said Cpl. Carson D. Clover, airframe mechanic, HMM-161.

“The aircrews are the ones out there saving lives, we’re the ones turning wrenches to make it happen,” said Clover, a 21-year-old Ashland, Ore., native.

While deployed the “Greyhawks” performed casualty evacuations, troop insertions, troop extractions, raids and general support missions, said Cpl. Isaac M. Avendano crew chief, HMM-161.

“Our main mission was saving lives,” said Avendano, a 24-year-old native of Ventura, Calif.

Not only did HMM-161 help save the lives of Marines, but they also evacuated soldiers, Iraqi military and police, civilians and wounded insurgents, said Avendano.

“We take pride in the fact that we never missed a casualty evacuation or dropped a single mission,” said Avendano.

HMM-161 ran missions around the clock. 

However, not every mission was combat related.  Some of the general support missions consisted of transporting mail for the Marines in country, transporting Marines to Baghdad for sick call, transporting VIPs, and transporting voting ballets as well as the Iraqis who ran the polling sites, said Avendano.

While in Iraq, HMM-161 also achieved 55,000 mishap-free flight hours, according to Capt. Matt Salas, pilot, HMM-161.

Now that his fellow Marines are home, most want to spend time with their families and get back into the swing of things, said Salas a 27-year-old Hacienda Heights, Calif., native.

For the Marines of HMM-161 the mere sight of their families and friends waiting for them was a welcome one from the fast-paced deployment.

“It feels good to rest from the 24-hour operations tempo,” said Cpl. Steven B. Young assistant operations chief, HMM-161.

POLICY

The most important starting point for an EMS* is the development of an environmental policy. ISO14001 requires local governments to implement their own environmental policy. The environmental policy acts as a basis for the environmental management system.

PLANNING

ISO14001 requires that an environmental management system is planned properly. It requires the organization to consider the following carefully: Environmental Aspects; Legal and Other Aspects; Objectives and Targets; and an Environmental Management Program.

IMPLEMENTATION

The two requirements for implementation of an EMS is to define, document, and communicate roles, responsibilities and authorities, and to allocate the resources needed to implement and control the EMS.

CHECKING

The key requirement in this EMS step is to regularly monitor and measure key characteristics of activities and operations that could have a significant impact on the environment. Changes to EMS procedures may become necessary in order to deal with nonconformances with the EMS, with mitigating environmental impacts, or corrective and preventive action.

REVIEW

The management review process ensure that information is collected to enable management to carry out proper review. Top management review the need for changes to policy, objectives and targets, and ensure that a commitment to continual improvement is being demonstrated.

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar-EMS