MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. --
Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 14 families
experienced first-hand what their Marine does on a daily basis to support the
Marine Corps during a Jayne and John Wayne Day, Oct. 9.
The second annual event kicked-off with spouses and
families touring the workspaces of their Marine in an effort to build
relationships with the command, meet other families and build camaraderie
within the unit.
“This is an opportunity for us to show spouses and
family members what their Marine does and let them see some of the functions of
MALS-14 up close,” said Gunnery Sgt. Juan J. Castro, operations chief with the
squadron. “It also gives the Marines a break, while allowing their spouses and
families to partake in Marine-related activities.”
According to Castro, there are many different
working parts of MALS-14 and every one of those departments has a specific task
to support the other squadrons across the air station.
“Being at work is business all the time, no real
space for play,” said Castro. “It is good to have this event for the Marines to
let loose with their families in a place that they spend the majority of their
day.”
After being at the Marines’ individual workspaces,
the families had the opportunity to participate in a movement under fire, which
is a portion of the Marines’ annual Combat Fitness Test.
“Doing the CFT was great, even my children ran it,”
said Vanessa Arreola, spouse of MALS-14 operations officer, Capt. Agustin
Arreola. “The physical parts of Jayne and John Wayne Day were awesome. I liked
being able to do some of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program techniques with
my husband.”
Families of the Marines received MCMAP
demonstrations and were afforded the opportunity to test their martial arts
prowess on a striking pad.
“The kids have been looking forward to it and they
had so much fun,” said Arreola. “It can be really hard sometimes being far away
the majority of the day and it is great to see what my Marine does every day.”
MALS-14 provides aviation logistics support,
guidance, and direction to Marine Aircraft Group 14 squadrons including
maintenance for aircraft and aeronautical components.
“With the squadron being as big as it is, we enjoy being
able to gather everyone and we look forward to continuing the fun next year,”
said Castro.