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It take just under three hours to drive from Skyharbor Airport in Phoenix to Yuma. Yuma is located where Arizona, California, and Mexico meet. There is a large bombing range nearby that the Marines use to train their pilots. The Army trains special forces personnel in freefall techniques at the nearby Yuma Proving Ground. |
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| The air station is hard to miss. |
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It is not a huge base, you can see most of it from the road. |
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This is the air station taken from the civilian airport side of the field. |
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You are likely to see all types of Marine aircraft, including Harriers and F/A-18's. There is an "enemy" squadron of F-5's for air combat training. |
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Another view of the air station from the civilian side of the field. |
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| If you visit a Marine in Yuma you have plenty of motels to choose from. Or you may decide to stay aboard the air station at the Dos Rio Inn. |
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Panorama at the
MCAS Yuma parade deck. |
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| This was Ben's barracks. He shared a room on the third deck. |
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| Ben's part of the room has a Doberman theme. |
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| This is Ben's bunk. It was taken on a Saturday morning, so the usual Marine precision is lacking. |
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| Two marines equals two TV's. |
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| Ben's part of the room has a decidedly Doberman flair. |
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Panorama of the view from Ben's room |
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This is the control tower. Marines man the tower and provide air traffic control for the civilian airport as well as the military side of the field. |
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This is where Ben worked on position, learning to be a ground controller. Unfortunately, in January 2003, his crew decided he did not have the appropriate aptitude so Ben was dropped from ATC. He was disappointed, he really enjoyed working as an air traffic controller. But after several months, he has been reassigned as a small arms repair technician. His next stop is Aberdeen Proving ground in Maryland. |
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For those of you who know about Ben's brush with Marine Corps discipline, this is "the scene of the crime." |
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For the last few months he was at Yuma, Ben worked in Aviation Operations. This is the operations room at Yuma. |
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No, the Marines have not started recruiting babies. We were there on a Friday night after working hours. This is the wife and child of one the the NCO's. Everyone was very pleasant and polite. |
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Panorama from the flightline side of Ops. |
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| Yuma is out in the desert. The valley floor is irrigated farmland. The skyline is amazingly rugged. |
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Although it is just about smack dab in the middle of nowhere, Yuma is a surprisingly bustling city. This is on the northern outskirts, as we were heading for the desert to see some of the places Ben had gone to during his year in Yuma. |
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Ben joined a paintball club. This is one of the battlefields. |
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I took this during a battle, through the netting that protects spectators from errant paintballs. |
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| When you keep heading north you pass through the Yuma proving ground and can arrive at this landing where people launch there boats for fun on the water. |
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| Ben loved this adobe house, built right on the edge of the lake. |
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| You might not think of the desert as a good place for boating. But dams on the Colorado River have made water sports very popular. |
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