Marines make first landing on renovated WWII airfield in the Pacific

The Marines recently landed their first fixed wing aircraft on a recertified airfield on the Pacific island of Peleliu, which jarheads captured after brutal combat in 1944.

The KC-130J Super Hercules tanker with 1st Marine Air Wing landed Saturday, marking the first time the Corps has landed such an aircraft on the installation since the service recertified the airfield in early June, according to a Marine Corps press release .

The Marine Corps Engineer Detachment Palau, MCED-P 24.1, contains engineers from the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group. The detachment spent the past few months rehabilitating the airfield to accommodate large, fixed-wing aircraft such as the KC-130J.

“I feel privileged because I was in Peleliu in 2021 and saw the airfield transform into what it is now,” said Sgt. Brandon Gonzalez, a combat engineer squad leader who led vegetation removal and assisted with unexploded ordnance sweeping. “It truly is an honor to have been a part of this mission and see it come to fruition with a KC-130 landing.”

That airfield puts Marine aircraft within 1,000 miles of Manila, Philippines, which is a major Pacific partner nation of the United States. The island is approximately 1,400 miles from Okinawa, Japan ― home of the 3rd Marine Division and the bulk of U.S. Marine forces in the Pacific.

Guam, which has seen a flood of military investment, construction and is the planned future home of a new Marine littoral regiment in the coming years, is about 1,500 miles from the Philippines.

The next closest major Marine contingent is in Hawaii, which is more than 4,600 miles from both Peleliu and Okinawa, Japan.

“Today is a historic moment as we land a Marine Corps aircraft on the ‘Sledge’ runway,” remarked Maj. Christopher Romero, Marine Corps Engineer Detachment Palau commanding officer. “This remarkable achievement demonstrates the strategic importance of our mission and our dedication to regional stability and security.”

The “Sledge” title is in honor of its namesake, Pfc. Eugene Sledge, who fought in the Battle of Peleliu with the 1st Marine Division and later authored one of the key Marine memoirs of the war, “With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa.”

September marks the 80th anniversary of the battle.

The Marines are experimenting with new ways of integrating airpower and covering the vast distances of the Pacific for combat and combat support operations, a far cry from what was needed in the previous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ongoing upgrades and expansion on Guam mirror improvements to facilities on the islands of Tinian and Saipan.

Commandant Gen. Eric Smith testified in a congressional hearing earlier in 2024 that the Corps also was experimenting with durable, quick installation matting to install air strips in small areas when needed.

The Corps isn’t the only service ramping up its air-focused installations in the region.

In March, the Air Force announced a $400 million upgrade to its airfield on the tiny Pacific island of Yap, about 1,000 miles southeast of China and part of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.

海军陆战队最近首次将固定翼飞机降落在太平洋岛屿贝里琉岛重新认证的机场上。该岛是海军陆战队员在 1944 年残酷战斗后占领的。

据海军陆战队新闻稿称，隶属于第一海军陆战队航空联队的 KC-130J 超级大力神加油机于周六降落，这是自海军陆战队于 6 月初重新认证该机场以来，该部队首次在该基地降落此类飞机。

海军陆战队帕劳工程分遣队（MCED-P 24.1）由来自海军陆战队第一后勤大队第七工程支援营的工程师组成。该分遣队在过去几个月里一直在对机场进行改造，以便容纳KC-130J等大型固定翼飞机。

“我感到非常荣幸，因为我曾在2021年驻扎在贝里琉岛，亲眼见证了机场从最初的模样转变为如今的模样，”布兰登·冈萨雷斯中士说道。他是一名战斗工兵班长，负责领导植被清除工作并协助清理未爆弹药。“能够参与这项任务，并亲眼见证KC-130加油机的降落，最终完成任务，我深感荣幸。”

该机场使海军陆战队飞机距离菲律宾马尼拉不到1000英里，菲律宾是美国在太平洋地区的主要伙伴国。该岛距离日本冲绳约1400英里，冲绳是美国海军陆战队第三师和美国在太平洋地区主力海军陆战队的驻地。

关岛吸引了大量军事投资和建设，并计划在未来几年成为一支新的海军陆战队近岸团的驻地，关岛距离菲律宾约 1500 英里。

距离最近的主要海军陆战队分遣队位于夏威夷，距离​​贝里琉岛和日本冲绳均超过 4600 英里。

“今天是一个历史性的时刻，我们一架海军陆战队飞机降落在‘雪橇’跑道上，”海军陆战队工程兵分遣队帕劳指挥官克里斯托弗·罗梅罗少校说道。“这一非凡的成就展现了我们任务的战略重要性，以及我们对地区稳定与安全的坚定承诺。”

“Sledge”这个标题是为了纪念它的同名人物——列兵尤金·斯莱奇，他曾随美国海军陆战队第一师参加贝里琉岛战役，后来撰写了战争中最重要的海军陆战队回忆录之一《与老兵并肩作战：在贝里琉岛和冲绳》。

九月是这场战役80周年纪念日。

海军陆战队正在尝试以新的方式整合空中力量，覆盖太平洋的广阔区域，进行作战和作战支援行动，这与之前在伊拉克和阿富汗战争中所需的情况截然不同。

关岛正在进行的升级和扩建工程与天宁岛和塞班岛的设施改进工程相呼应。

2024 年初，海军陆战队司令埃里克·史密斯将军在国会听证会上作证说，海军陆战队还在试验耐用、快速安装的垫子，以便在需要时在小区域安装简易跑道。

海军陆战队并不是唯一一个在该地区加大航空设施建设力度的军种。

今年 3 月，美国空军宣布斥资 4 亿美元升级位于太平洋小岛雅浦岛的机场。雅浦岛位于中国东南约 1000 英里处，是密克罗尼西亚联邦的一部分。

自2004年以来，托德·索斯为多家出版物撰写有关犯罪、法院、政府和军事方面的文章，并因与人合著的关于恐吓证人的文章入围2014年普利策奖决赛。托德是参加过伊拉克战争的海军陆战队老兵。