SAN DIEGO -- Beginning at 5:15 A.M. on Nov. 7, 2024, a group of Marines from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 352, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, conducted a 55-mile relay run starting at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and continuing up the coast of Southern California. The event culminated with a 5-mile hike ending at the graduation ceremony for Fox Company, Marine Combat Training, School of Infantry West.
The event was spearheaded with a purpose by Capt. Tyler Chittick, a KC-130J pilot and Marine of 16 years. Chittick has run three other ultra marathon events, all in support of a fellow Marine veteran Sgt. Milan Franklin, who lost his legs after an Improvised Explosive Device attack in Afghanistan in 2011. Each year, Chittick brings Marines together to complete a challenging physical activity in honor of fallen and disabled veterans.
Upon completion of the hike, Chittick presented the VMGR-352 and U.S. Marine Corps flag to the Fox Company honor graduate. The presentation of the flag is a tribute to the Marines receiving it as well as the nation’s values, history, and sacrifices that the flag symbolizes.
“I want to bring the young, enlisted Marines back to where they came up in the Marine Corps,” Chittick said. “That’s where they started their journey, and we get to embrace this experience together where it all began.”
Every enlisted Marine goes through MCT; the Raider’s run culminating at the graduation of some of the newest Marines in the Corps allows Marines from different backgrounds and at different stages of service to unite where they all began.
Chittick’s first run was in 2012 as a sergeant; he and his team ran from Camp Pendleton to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twenty-nine Palms where he handed a flag to Franklin in honor of his service and sacrifice.
“I’m not creating anything; this isn’t a new idea. People go on long runs to honor other people all the time, so I thought let’s run a flag from Camp Pendleton to Twenty-nine Palms to honor Milan,” Chittick said. “When we arrived, all I could say was ‘Thank you for being here. Thank you for coming home. Thank you for bringing Marines home.’ ”
On the ten-year anniversary, Chittick initiated the run again and has since made the tradition an annual event. Each year the event takes place on or around the Marine Corps Birthday and Veteran’s Day presenting an opportunity to honor the fallen and disabled veterans while celebrating the Marine Corps’ traditions and camaraderie.
The ten-year anniversary also marked Chittick’s first Marine Corps Birthday and Veteran’s Day as a VMGR-352 Raider, where he motivated a new group of young Marines to participate in the event.
One of those Marines is Cpl. Armando Olivares, an aircraft communications and navigation systems technicians for the KC-130J, who participated in the 160-mile run in 2022, and this years’ 60-mile run and hike.
“I had just checked into the fleet and heard about the event,” Olivares said. “It caught my attention; I saw it as a challenge, and as Marines we take pride in challenges, so I did it.”
The event was an opportunity for Marines to come together challenging themselves mentally and physically for a greater purpose and to remember why they became Marines.
“We are Marines and should be ready to do anything at a moment's notice,” Olivares said. This year’s iteration began at MCAS Miramar where Marines departed VMGR-352's hangar and headed north along the coast of Southern California. With check points in La Jolla, Cardiff, Carlsbad and Oceanside, the Marines made their way to Camp Pendleton. Upon reaching Camp Pendleton, they all met at the Onofre Hill trailhead where they changed into their Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform and hiked the remainder of the 60 miles to the graduation ceremony.
“At no point in time was I worried about finishing, but it was humbling; especially running all the way to meet up with the ground Marines,” Olivares said. “Our battle rhythm is a lot different, we are keeping planes in the sky, and they are sending rounds down range. To be able to run the flag all the way there, show them we appreciate them, and tell them happy birthday meant a lot to me.”
Marines celebrate the Marine Corps birthday in different ways all around the world: Marine Corps birthday ball pageants, cake cutting ceremonies, getting together with fellow Marines, and holding memorials to honor the service’s legacy.
“As we celebrate our Corps' birthday this year, I encourage all Marines to reflect on our legacy forged in blood on battlefields since 1775, and to rededicate ourselves to carrying that legacy untarnished into the future,” stated the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Eric M. Smith, in the 249th Marine Corps Birthday message.
VMGR-352 celebrated the 249th Marine Corps birthday and the 105th Veteran’s Day with their Marine Corps brothers and sisters through a physically demanding event honoring all Marines to the left and right, the wounded and the fallen.
The experience showcased the unbreakable bond between Marines and their shared sense of purpose.
“Milan is back in the Pacific Northwest where we first met on the way to bootcamp; we talk on the phone all the time,” Chittick said. “I’ll call him again on the [Marine Corps] birthday and tell him about today.”