JAX AIR NEWS, NAS JACKSONVILLE, Thursday, October 2, 2008 13

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“We have 115 tenant commands on NAS Jax and each one has a CFC volunteer who will manage pledge cards for the 2008 cam-paign,” said Jakes.

Individuals can donate to CFC with a cash contribution up front or by pledging a specific amount to be withheld regularly from their pay beginning in January 2009 and continuing through December.

Many commands also hold special fund-raising events to benefit the CFC drive.

Command involvement and leadership are essential ingredients to making the campaign successful.

For more information on this year’s CFC drive, contact CW03 Charles Jakes at 542-4539 or email charles.jakes@navy.mil. or CSC (SW/AW) Rosalind Holmes at 542-4239 or email rosalind.holmes@navy.mil.

VS-32: ‘Maulers’ disestablishFromPage1

and stepped seamlessly into the XO billet. He’s been my sounding board, my crutch and my good friend. The Navy is losing a truly great officer tomorrow when he retires. Thanks for allowing me to fly with you on your final flight in the Viking.”

Later in the ceremony, Paulsen present-ed Carpenter with the Meritorious Service Medal for his unmatched personal initia-tive and intense commitment to excellence that sustained high-tempo combat support operations during the squadron’s sunset cruise.

Carpenter, in turn, presented the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal to AE1(AW/SW) Robert Barber Jr., who is also VS-32 Sailor of the Year. His leadership for plane captains and trouble-shooters in the line division led to the completion of 308 sorties and 520 mishap-free flight hours.

The Maulers completed their sunset cruise and the final carrier deployment for the S-3 Viking in December 2007. Although an Atlantic Fleet squadron, VS-32 completed the last deployment onboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65) in the western Pacific. As a component of Carrier Air Wing 1, the squadron supported ground forces in Afghanistan and Iraq by conduct-ing maritime security operations. During

the deployment, Mauler aviators flew 960 sorties totaling more than 2,200 flight hours. The squadron was at sea for 180 days, with only 13 days in port.

The ceremony concluded as Carpenter read his orders and relinquished his com-mand to close another chapter of the S-3 aviation family album. The Navy’s only remaining S-3 squadron, the VS-22 “Checkmates,” is slated for decommission-ing at NAS Jax in January 2009.

FIREARMS:NHJ staff train

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special firearms evolution, Sept. 5-7. This event took place at the Army National Guard Camp Blanding range, a few miles south of Jacksonville, Fla.

In this event, 75 medical Reservists from OHSU underwent M9 pistol and M16 rifle weapons training. Trained in accordance with OpNavInst 3591.1E, they went through classroom training and firing range courses to meet sharpshooter and marksmanship qualifications.

Hospital Security personnel who volun-tarily coordinated the training as range safety officers were NH Jax Security’s MAC Thomas Mace and MAC Luis Abreu. Volunteering as line coaches were GM1 Robert Hardwick, HM2 Thomas Mclean and HM3 Marcos Rosado. Volunteering their expertise as instructors from the NAS Jacksonville Weapons Department were AO1 Justin McCray and GM2 James Bilicki.

Day one of the training consisted primar-ily of classroom instruction on firearms han-dling, marksmanship and safety according to Mace. He said from the start, “Safety was the most important part of the program.”

This continued to be the case when the shooters were issued their weapons and ammunition. “Despite intense heat, the training was conducted in a very safe envi-ronment,” said Abreau. We had line coaches who knew how to provide proper instruction as well as shooters who were very recep-tive.”

HMC Regina Adam, OHSU Jax headquar-ters project manager said, “We had a variety of people, from those were very experienced to those who had never fired a weapon.”

She agreed with Mace, that all were enthusiastic, from the most junior sailors to the higher ranking officers involved. Mace

said it was a “fun, safe” weekend on the range.

Adam said she had numerous e-mails from the Reservists involved lauding the instructors for their expertise, patience and attention to safety. “They were fabulous,” she said. “They definitely deserve a BZ.” Adam noted that they volunteered their weekend, with no reimbursement. She said that Reservists regularly deploy, often as Individual Augmentees (IAs) in the same hostile environments as their active duty counterparts and this training is something they definitely need.

A total of 60 personnel qualified. Eighteen earned expert pistol medals and 16 earned expert rifle medals. Qualifying on the pistols required a minimum of 180 points out of a possible perfect score of 240. Rifle qualifying required a minimum score of 140 out of a possible perfect score of 200. Each bullet fired was worth a possible five points.

With this training under their belts, these warriors are better prepared for the battlefield and will be more valuable assets to the units they serve.

PhotosbyClarkPierce“Once aMauler, always aMauler.” FormerVS-32 commanding officers, (from left) Cmdr.DougCarpenter,retiredCapt.RandyBahr,Capt.MartySmith,Capt.KellyHenderson,retiredCapt.Mark Kitka, retiredCapt.ArtHarris II, retiredCapt.MattTuohy,Capt. Evan Piritz,retiredCmdr.P.E.Bruce,retiredCapt.BobLaBelleJr.,Capt.RonCarlson,Capt.TedFinkandretiredCapt.BobBuehnJr.

VS-32 Commanding Officer Cmdr. DougCarpenter (left) is presented theMeritoriousServiceMedal by Capt. Jim Paulsen, com-mander,CarrierAirWingOne.

VS-32CommandingOfficerCmdr.DougCarpenterpresentsAE1(AW/SW)RobertBarberJr.withtheNavyandMarineCorpsAchievementMedalforhisdeck-plateleadershipinthetheMaulers’linedivision.

PhotobyHM1(SW)MichaelMorgan(From left) Lt. Cmdr. Chris Glass ofDetachment A-Atlanta, along with HM1StephanieGrimes, a Jacksonville police offi-cer;HM3KathleenWeber, a certifiedmedi-calassistantfromJacksonvilleandRegisteredNurseHM3CarmonColon ofDetachmentP-Jacksonville loadM9 pistolmagazines inpreparationforlivefiretraining.

CFC: Volunteers will handle commands’ pledge cards