A UH-1Y Huey with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 469 takes off with a Bambi Bucket to fight wildfires aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, August 16. The squadron used three helicopters to conduct 44 air drops and complete the mission within three hours of the initial drop. - A UH-1Y Huey with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 469 takes off with a Bambi Bucket to fight wildfires aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, August 16. The squadron used three helicopters to conduct 44 air drops and complete the mission within three hours of the initial drop.

Maj. Robert Weingart, center, a pilot with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 and a Franklin, Conn., native stands with Lt. Gen. John Toolan, left, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force commanding general and Maj. Gen. Steven Busby, right, commanding general of 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, at the Marine Corps Aviation Association dinner to honor 3rd MAW award nominees and winners aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., April 18. Weingart won the Alfred A. Cunningham Marine Aviator of the Year award. - Maj. Robert Weingart, center, a pilot with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 and a Franklin, Conn., native stands with Lt. Gen. John Toolan, left, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force commanding general and Maj. Gen. Steven Busby, right, commanding general of 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, at the Marine Corps Aviation Association dinner to honor 3rd MAW award nominees and winners aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., April 18. Weingart won the Alfred A. Cunningham Marine Aviator of the Year award.

Marines greet the last Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369 flight section on the flight line aboard Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, May 15. HMLA-469 assumed control of combat operations in a midnight transfer of authority ceremony, marking the end of HMLA-369 "Gunfighter" combat in Afghanistan. - Marines greet the last Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369 flight section on the flight line aboard Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, May 15. HMLA-469 assumed control of combat operations in a midnight transfer of authority ceremony, marking the end of HMLA-369 "Gunfighter" combat in Afghanistan.