The Marine Corps Aviation Association (MCAA) John Glenn Squadron presented excellence in aviation awards to six local Marines and four civilians during a ceremony June 2.

Awards, spanning five categories, highlighted achievements in product delivery, test and evaluation, and overall acquisition accomplishment.

Col. Victor Argobright, Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) program office (PMA-263) program manager, shared a new vision for small UAS procurement and employment during the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Symposium, April 4.

During his presentation, Argobright highlighted the program’s vision ─ rapidly deploy systems that are modular, have open architecture, advanced sensors and payloads, and improve autonomy.

The Navy and Marine Corps may soon have a way to resupply warfighters on the front line using unmanned systems capable of delivering necessary supplies from a distance in a variety of scenarios.

The Department is considering several cargo resupply systems and recently demonstrated these capabilities to senior leadership during an event Oct. 27 at NAWCAD’s Webster Outlying Field.

The Marines successfully completed a Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft System (TRUAS) Field User Capability Assessment (FUCA) in March at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, of two prototype systems identified by a successful prize challenge in last year.

Anticipated future end users were given the opportunity to work with both prototype systems – Survice Engineering’s TRV-150 and Chartis Federal’s MK4-RX – to assess the capability in order to inform the final requirement for TRUAS.

The Navy and Marine Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems program office (PMA-263) welcomed a new program manager during a change of command ceremony July 23 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland.

A small ceremony took place for family to witness the transfer of leadership from Col. John Neville to Col. Victor Argobright. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, co-workers, extended family and friends joined the ceremony virtually via a livestream.

The Dept of the Navy successfully completed a tactical resupply unmanned aircraft system (UAS) fly-off competition Jan. 27-31 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, to evaluate existing small UAS and their autonomous aerial delivery capability for the Marine Corps.

The Marine Corps Aviation Association (MCAA) John Glenn squadron presented  Lt. Col Russell Strange with the Acquisition Officer of the Year award during its annual banquet Jan. 30 at NAS Patuxent River.

The Marines recognized Strange for his exceptional acquisition and leadership efforts to support the medium UAS (MUAS) programs within the Navy and Marine Corps Small UAS program office (PMA-263).

The Navy announced a prize challenge Sept. 27 for its future tactical resupply unmanned aircraft system (UAS) that will aid in the distribution of critical supplies for the Marine Corps.

“Our goal is to provide an autonomous aerial delivery capability to the Marine Corps for field user evaluation”, said Col. John Neville, Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical UAS (PMA-263) program manager. “The use of the prize challenge will aid us in getting this capability to the Marines faster and hopefully set another course for the way we do rapid acquisition in the tactical arena.”