CAMP BUTLER OFFICER'S CLUB, Okinawa, Japan --
The 5th Annual Marine Corps Aviation Association Awards Dinner for the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force, was held here, Jan. 7.
The dinner was sponsored by the Joe Foss Squadron, the local chapter of the MCAA, and featured representatives from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and Marine Corps Base Hawaii who accepted awards on behalf of their units and individuals in addition to the Okinawa-based awardees.
Lt. Gen. Terry G. Robling, commanding general of III MEF was the guest speaker at the event and spoke from his own experiences as an award recipient and as a commanding officer writing awards for his Marines.
“They’ve got to pick the best of the best,” Robling said of the job of commanding officers.
He went on to explain that these nominations are ultimately good because it increases the pride and morale of the unit during nominations and ultimately in winning.
Maj. Gen. Raymond C. Fox, commanding general of 1st MAW, Brig. Gen. William M. Faulkner, commanding general of 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III MEF, and Brig. Gen. James B. Laster, commanding general of 3rd Marine Division, III MEF were also in attendance.
There are a total of 28 awards given out each year by the MCAA.
“Each award is named in honor of a former Marine who made noteworthy contributions in his field, with the exception of The Commandant's Aviation Trophy which goes to an outstanding squadron, and The Silver Hawk Award which is presented to the active duty Marine Aviator holding the earliest designation date,” according to the MCAA Web site, www.flymcaa.org.
The awards dinner was held, according to Col. John Jansen, the squadron commander of the Joe Foss squadron, “to showcase our outstanding Marines and our outstanding units in Marine Corps aviation.”
One of the Marines being honored at the dinner was unable to accept his award because of a current deployment to Iraq.
Staff Sgt. John Gibbs is serving the end of a six-month tour in Iraq, so his unit contacted his wife Takako to receive the Kenneth A. Innis Aviation Command and Control Marine of the Year award for his selection as the nominee for 1st MAW in his absence.
“I was so nervous. He told me about it, but he didn’t tell me it was a big award,” Takako said standing beside the commanding generals of 1st MAW and III MEF.
Gibbs is slated to return to Okinawa in February when his submission for the Marine Corps-wide Kenneth A. Innis Aviation Command and Control Marine of the Year will be appraised at Headquarters Marine Corps.