THE VIKING VOICE

VMFA(AW) - 225 FAMILY READINESS NEWSLETTER

OCTOBER 2010

Commanding Officer A word from the

LtCol Dan Goodwin
Commanding Officer
Executive Officer
Maj Chad Sund
To our Viking families, hello from Iwakuni, Japan!
Sergeant Major
SgtMaj Scott Boyer
By the time you are all reading this, VMFA(AW)-225 and all
Family Readiness Officer of its associated pieces and parts will finally be finished with
Mrs. Stephanie Early its deployment to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. It has
been a long and interesting transit and not without its share
of interesting situations. As always, though, your Marines
and Sailors do what they do best – adapt, improvise, and
overcome all obstacles.

We just completed a 2-week exercise on the island of Guam at Andersen Air

Force Base. I can’t think of a more appropriate test of a combat unit. We
deployed ten aircraft and almost 200 Marines over 6,000 miles to an unfamiliar
field and began simulated high intensity combat operations within days. To put
it simply, had the nation said “GO” on September 6th, 2010, this squadron
would have answered the call.

I can’t thank the Marines and the families enough. The hard work and the long
hours over the past year paid off. We couldn’t have executed our mission
without those long hours and the sacrifices made by each and every Marine and
their families.

Now that we’re settled, hopefully you’ll be getting a few more phone calls and e-
mails each day. I’m watching Marines right now walk past my door checking in
with admin, finalizing travel claims, and figuring out what to do and where to
go next. I’m sure they’ll hit the base exchange for the “necessities” – internet,
cell phones, comfy pillows, and the like.

This is an exciting time to be a CO. I look forward to a successful and SAFE

deployment with your Marines and Sailors. Don’t hesitate to contact me or my
Family Readiness Officer if you have any concerns. I promise to take care of
your Marines. Please take care of each other back home.
VIKINGS
Semper Fidelis,
RULE!! LtCol Goodwin
 Resources:
A word from the
AlertSanDiego, is a
regional notification Sergeant Major
system used to send
telephone notifications to
residents and businesses To our Viking families, greetings from Iwakuni, Japan!
in San Diego County
impacted by an The Viking Marines are doing a tremendous job here at their new duty
emergency or disaster.
station. The Marines have overcome obstacles that they haven’t seen in
As the wildfire season is
upon us it is a great past deployments which brought out the finest quality in any Marine,
service that I encourage adaptability. The pack-up and movement across the sea had challenges
everyone to sign up for. but we overcame the obstacles and landed in Guam safely.
In the case that your
home is at risk While in Guam the squadron was tested for their combat effectiveness.
AlertSanDiego will It was good to see the members of this unit working together in order to overcome
automatically notify you homesickness and work related stress while maintaining 11 aircraft. Although it may have
with suggested actions seemed like the Marines were living “high on the hog” they worked tirelessly every day in
(such as evacuation). If order to accomplish the aggressive flight and maintenance schedule. With the days and
the telephone called is
nights being consumed with maintaining the aircraft, the Marines only had a few days in
busy or does not answer,
the system will redial that which to enjoy the climate and local hospitality.
number up to three times
in an attempt to deliver The sacrifices that family members have given allowed the Squadron to be successful and
the message. To register combat mission ready up to this point in time. I know at times it is difficult to let your
your cellular telephone or Marine go to various locations to perform their job. I can’t thank you enough for being
email address, please fill strong and holding down the fort while they are gone. I know that since arriving in
out the registration form Iwakuni the Marines have been given the opportunity to get internet, phones, and creature
at: comforts of home. Without your support we would not be where we are today.
http://www.sdcounty.ca.g
ov/oes/ready/signup.html
I hope that since we are settled into a routine everyone has heard from their Marine. I am
excited to be the squadron Sergeant Major and I look forward to a successful and safe
deployment. I will take care of your Marines and ensure they stay in contact and connected
to you. This is a great time to be a Sergeant Major, do not hesitate to contact me if you have
MILITARY
ONESOURCE
concerns. Be safe, and stay connected with other family members.
Whether it’s help with
child care, personal Semper Fidelis,
finances, emotional SgtMaj Boyer
support during
deployments, relocation
info or resources needed A word from the
for special circumstances,
Military OneSource is
Family Readiness Officer
there for military
personnel and their Viking Families and Friends,
families 24/7/365!
All Services are available As we settle into week 6 of the deployment I hope you are all beginning
by phone 1-800-342-9647 to find stability and confidence as you tackle life on the homefront.
and online. When you Take this time to discover a new hobby, join a club, or participate in a
call Military OneSource,
support group. I have many of these resources and more and I am
you’ll talk with a
Master’s level consultant,
happy to point you in the right direction for whatever you may be
trained to offer looking for.
confidential support and
practical solutions. I’m excited and proud of our families for all you have been doing to keep busy. We had a
www.MilitaryOneSource. fantastic group of ladies join us at our Fight Like a Girl workshop in September to learn
com
 Mark your
Calendars for
these Upcoming some tactics to feel more safe and secure at home while our Marines are away. We also had
an amazing group of families and friends join us at Oma’s Pumpkin Patch at the beginning
Viking Family of October for a potluck and to enjoy all of the Halloween festivities around the farm.
Events: Thank you so much for your participation and support of one another. We’re building a
great network of Viking families, something that will carry us all through this deployment
Monthly Luncheon together.
October 21, 2010
1:30pm Each month one of our volunteers is hosting an informal luncheon at a local restaurant.
Mimi's Cafe Please feel free to join us whenever your schedule allows. It’s a great opportunity to get to
Mira Mesa Blvd know your fellow Viking families. Stay tuned for the evite for November’s luncheon.

Ugly Gown Ball Hopefully most of you have heard by now that we’re on Facebook! We’ve had a fantastic
Celebration response to our site and continue to improve our communication and information
October 29, 2010 distribution while utilizing this new tool. Please keep in mind that this is a public tool so
6:30-8:30pm information about homecomings, squadron movements, and other threats to OPSEC will
Miramar Room never be distributed via Facebook. We ask that you please use caution as you post things on
the squadron page as well as your personal pages. Use it to network with one another,
Glam Gala check in and let us know what you like about our Family Readiness Program, and gain
November 13, 2010 useful information about deployment, events, and our Vikings forward.
6:00-10:00pm
The Palms MCAS Your Family Readiness team continues to organize and plan events to keep you busy
Miramar throughout the deployment and we hope you’ll be able to join us at one of future events.
Details for our Glam Gala are included at the end of the newsletter. This is a joint event
Christmas Party with other deployed squadrons aboard MCAS Miramar. The fee is $30 per person and we
December 12, 2010 invite you to bring a friend. Childcare is completely FREE for Viking families! We hope
1:00-4:00pm you’ll be able to join us!
Hangar 3
I encourage you to continue to network with fellow Viking families. Whether this is your
first deployment or your sixth, no deployment is the same and we can all learn and grow
Important from one anothers’ experiences.
Phone Numbers
Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help support you.
Family Readiness
Stephanie Early Sincerely,
wk: 858-577-6537 Stephanie Early
cell: 858-864-4778
stephanie.early@usmc.mil

MAG-11
Group Duty Officer
A day in the life of an Ordie
858-577-1775 or
858-577-1666 Cpl Roberts
MAG-12
Group Duty Officer To begin our journey the ordnance shop of VMFA(AW)-225 along with
Japan other counterparts launched aircraft in early September for our
011-81-827-79-4029 or deployment to the Pacific Theater. We had a couple of hiccups in the
011-81-827-79-4620 beginning with having tools and other personnel spread thin over
Japan, Guam, and even in Miramar. It did not stop us though from
Chaplain completing our mission at hand, the squadron was still able to
Rabbi Kreisler
neal.kreisler@usmc.mil successfully launch all the aircraft required.
wk: 858-577-4443
cell: 858-967-7425
 Resources:
It took us about a week to get the “band” back together from the other continents but once
FREE TUESDAY all together we started moving without delay. Day crew Ordnance was responsible for
NIGHT DINNERS loading and launching the aircraft while the night crew of Ordnance was performing the
at the downtown USO to
checks to ensure that every piece of ordnance would release and come off with deadly
all active-duty military
and their dependents precision. There were so many things going on both day and night crew were running right
with current military ID. back and forth into each other slapping hands for the other crew to go home. There were
USO San Diego times when the day crew would be leaving the hotel at 0230 for a delivery of Ordnance and
303 A Street, Suite 100 the night crew would not be going home till 0400.
San Diego, CA 92101
619-235-6503 Night and day crew worked effortlessly to ensure that all of the required missions would
happen without fail. The Ordnance Shop of VMFA(AW)-225 was successful in getting all of
the ordnance loaded off of the ground. One key thing that the shop was really proud of was
that we were the only Marine squadron to successfully load and get off the ground, a
AMERICAN RED particular Air-to-Ground Missile known as the AGM-84K Standoff Land Attack Missile
CROSS MESSAGES Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) which is a subsonic, over the horizon, all weather standoff
(Emergency Leave cruise missile. By the end of the exercise the Ordnance crew loaded over $11,000,000 worth
Official Communication) of live ordnance.
(877) 272-7337 (toll free)
What you need:
*Service Member’s Full
Name Squadron News
* Rank/Rating
*Branch of Service
*Social Security Number
*Military Address Warmest Congratulations to:
*Information about the
deployed unit and the
home base unit. LCpl & Mrs. Compton who welcomed
www.redcross.org
a baby boy.

FREE MAILING
SUPPLIES
Sending care packages is Maj & Mrs. Sund who welcomed a
a great way to let your
Marine know you’re baby girl.
thinking of him or her.
For USPS rules,
restrictions, and other
helpful mailing
information visit:
http://www.usps.com/sup
portingourtroops/maillin
grestrictions.htm
To receive FREE
mailing/packing supplies LCpl & Mrs. Porter who welcomed
from the Postal Service,
call 1-800-610-8734 and a baby boy.
request CAREKIT04.
 From the Homefront
Fight Like a Girl
Vikings in Action
Guam
 January 30, 2010
0900-1600

Jessica James
L.I.N.K.S. Program Trainer
(858) 577-4810
jessica.james@usmc.mil