MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- When everything hits the fan and chaos breaks out, will you run away from the fight or toward it with the Marines?
This is the theme of the new 2012 Marine Corps recruitment commercial entitled “Sounds of Chaos.” The commercial features the full spectrum of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force carrying out an attack against an enemy, including troops on the ground and an assault from the air.
Five squadrons from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing flew to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton to demonstrate the airborne power of the MAGTF.
“Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 sent two CH-53E Super Stallions to do fly-overs of an assault zone to display the Marine Corps’ aerial force capabilities,” said Capt. Kent W. Arnold, a pilot with HMH-361 “Flying Tigers” and a Hyrum, Utah, native. “The wing squadrons that participated served as a visual presentation for what would be found on a Marine Expeditionary Unit or with another forward deployed unit.”
Camera crews filmed the events at Pendleton from both the air and ground over the course of four days. While photographers on the ground shot images and video of troops running along the ground with aircraft flying overhead, a photographer also filmed the scene from the back ramp of a CH-53E Super Stallion. The Flying Tigers’ pilots, in coordination with other squadrons participating, circled the troops on the ground in various formations to ensure the view point of every Marine in the fight was seen.
“All of the images we capture during this evolution are to promote the intensity the Marines show when they go full-force into a conflict,” said Collin Chappelle, a photographer with Jason Maris Photography hired by Marine Corps Recruiting Command. “They can be used for posters, videos, print stories, and commercials. Being able to actually be in the aircraft is good because we can see [the MAGTF] from every angle the Marines [involved] do.”
The aerial support showcased from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar included MV-22B Ospreys, the Super Stallions and F/A-18 C/D Super Hornets. Other aircraft seen in the MAGTF attack were KC-130J Hercules and UH-1Y Hueys.
Each participating 3rd MAW squadron can now say they had something to do with the recruitment of future Marines through their participation in what will soon be the Marine Corps’ newest recruiting commercial.