Marine Attack Squadron 311 (VMA-311), "Tomcats" has been named as "Attack Squadron of the Year" winning the Marine Corps Aviation Association's Lawson H.M. Sanderson Award. The award is given annually to the top rated Harrier squadron in the USMC, and this is the fourth year that VMA-311 has earned this accolade, being recognised for their mission readiness and overall performance between May 1, 2008 and April 30, 2009. “They are, no doubt, the best squadron this year,” said Lt. Col. Tim Hogan, MCAA awards coordinator.
Perhaps the toughest task facing the MCAS Yuma, Arizona based squadron over the last 12 months was maintaining two separate deployments simultaneously, with elements of the Squadron being deployed to Al Asad Airbase in Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, whilst a further detachment was deployed on board the USS Peleliu, as part of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit. “I think it was the challenges of breaking up the Squadron into two parts and still accomplishing the mission that made the Squadron stand out,” said VMA-311 operations officer Maj James Vallario. "Splitting in two demands the Squadron’s resources and leadership be seamlessly divided up between the main body and the detachment, allowing each to maintain functionality"
The unique challenge of these deployments impressed the judging committee, and the Squadron certainly rose to the challenge, with the award citation stating "Despite significant challenges, the Tomcats achieved mission success, and while doing so, executed nearly 4,500 flight hours without experiencing a single flight-related mishap,” and also noting that they never missed an assigned target, or experienced a weapons system malfunction in combat sorties over Iraq.
According to Maj Vallerio, this high standard was due to excellent teamwork throughout the Squadron. “In the end, both the maintenance Marines and the pilots came together and executed the mission flawlessly. If we don’t have working jets, we can’t train, and if we can’t train, we can’t be ready for deployment. I think this award is, in big part, thanks to those Marines.”
The "Tomcats" began life as a fighter squadron (VMF-311) equipped with the F4U Corsair, with the unit being originally known as "Hell's Belles", with the "Tomcats" moniker coming later. The Korean War period saw the Squadron fly the Grumman F9F Panther in the close air support (CAS) role. During this era, one of the Squadron's pilots was John Glenn, who later achieved fame as an astronaut and went on to become a senator. The adoption of the CAS role meant a change in designation to VMA-311 in 1957, and the Squadron has had this designation since then. The following year, they received their first A4D-2 Skyhawk, an aircraft that would see service with the Tomcats for 30 years, including combat missions over Vietnam. The Squadron's current type, the AV-8B Harrier II replaced the A-4 in 1988, with VMA-311 being the first USMC Harrier unit to deploy and use its aircraft in combat during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Recent years have seen further operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
The Lawson H.M Sanderson Award has been presented every year since 1979 to the best Harrier squadron in the USMC. The award is named after Maj Gen Lawson Sanderson, a pioneer in the development of dive bombing and close air support techniques. It has been awarded to MCAS Yuma based units 14 times previously.
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