The Corps’ jump jet version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter flew faster than the speed of sound June 10. For the first time in military aviation history, supersonic, radar-evading stealth comes with short take-off vertical landing capability,” said Bob Price, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Marine Corps program manager, in a press release. “The supersonic F-35B can deploy with small ships and austere bases near front line combat zones, greatly enhancing combat air support with higher sortie-generation rates.” Marine Lt. Col. Matt Kelly, the pilot of the test aircraft known as BF-2, climbed to 30,000 feet above Naval Air Station Patuxent…

Outspoken Marine Corps scientist and retired Maj. Franz Gayl, the one who dogged the Corps about letting Marines have the MRAP in combat after a lumbering procurement process killed it, has another idea. In a Power Point presentation he circulated through the Wall Streeet Journal’s Washington Wire, Gayl proposes dropping a GBU-43/B massive ordnance air blast bomb on the wellhead of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the report, Gayl says the massive shock wave from the explosion will cauterize the tube and the effects of the blast would be contained by underwater pressure. Experts say…

The Corps will start testing possible replacements for its standard ruck this summer, a top acquisition officer said at a recent conference outside Washington. The Individual Load Bearing Equipment pack, which was approved in 2004, not only clashes with the existing body armor, but Marines also complain that it causes chaffing and pain in their knees, back and shoulders, causing them to rate it “completely unacceptable” in a survey conducted last year, said Lt. Col. A.J. Pasagian, program manager of the Corps’ infantry combat equipment at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. The new pack will be designed with an adjustable…

Those in favor of renaming the Department of the Navy the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps were dealt a major setback today. Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, has released a letter from the Defense Department opposing the change. Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson writes that the change would “not enhance the standing or reputation of the Marine Corps.” Deputy news editor James K. Sanborn sums up the news here. So, what do you think? Does the name change still have a chance? Is it worth fighting for?

Forty-four years after being shot down over Vietnam, Marine Corps pilot Maj. Everett McPherson was recently given a memorial service by his family at Arlington National Cemetery. Military Times photographer and videographer Sheila Vemmer produced the following video from the emotional service. [brightcove video=”90108525001″ /]

So when’s the last time you scored a ticket to see three high-profile Marine generals discuss how the Corps is getting it done? Somehow, this little gem managed to fall through the cracks during Marine Week Boston. The video, shot at Tufts University, shows Lt. Gen. Richard Zilmer, deputy commandant for Manpower and Reserve affairs; Lt. Gen. John Kelly, head of the Reserve and Marine Forces North; and Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, whose stint leading Marines forces in Afghanistan only recently came to and end. Each offers some good gouge about his respective AO. At an hour-plus, it’s a lengthy…

Marines made a strong showing at the first ever Warrior Games last week, winning at least five gold medals. Among those participating in the games in Colorado Springs, Colo., was former Marine Travis Greene, who was recently featured on NBC’s Nightly News with Brian Williams. Check out the story here: [HTML1] Greene enlisted in the Marine Corps in December 2002 and became an 0311 rifleman. In 2008, on his third deployment to Iraq, an IED hit his convoy near Ramadi. After he rushed to the aid of fellow Marines, a second IED detonated and gravely injured him. As a result,…