Major Michael D

Major Michael D. Martino Courageous Warrior – Selfless Leader – Unwavering Sacrifice Figure 1 – Major Michael D. Martino PART 1 – Growing Up – 1973 - 1991 Michael David Martino was born on January 31st, 1973, on the island of Kwajalein, part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (a U.S. Trust Territory). His parents Robert and Sybil were employed by U.S. Government contractors and both worked on the Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense System at the Kwajalein Missile Range. Mike was the youngest of three children with a brother Robert and sister Lauri. As a young child Michael already knew he wanted to be a pilot. Michael loved going to the Kwajalein Air Terminal to see the military planes. Even growing up Michael was very patriotic, and it was not a surprise when he decided he wanted to join the military and become a pilot. Even at the age of three, Michael enjoyed looking at books with airplanes. 1 Figure 2 - Michael Reading Airplane Book Mike and his family lived on Kwajalein until he was 8, when in December 1980 they moved to Irvine, California. During his youth, Michael, along with his brother Robert and sister Lauri, was active in swim team…all of them earning medals at various swim meets. In addition to swimming, Michael participated and excelled in football and wrestling. He eventually earned the nickname “Flea” because, although he was smaller than many of his classmates, he was ferocious. Although never an instigator, he was never one to back down when confronted by others no matter how much larger the opponent might be. As a teenager in Irvine, Michael had not lost his interest in airplanes. At first light he would ride his bike to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station to attend the annual military air shows. He would be one of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave. He spent hours talking to the pilots and exploring the planes. Years later, one of his military friend’s fathers (the Marine senior sergeant in charge of the maintenance shop) said Michael knew more about the planes than his staff did. Michael graduated from Woodbridge High School in 1991, and immediately started working on his dream of a career in aviation. While in school, he kept out of trouble, earned good grades and stayed active in sports. He knew the military were looking for pilots who were well rounded individuals, and that you needed to be smart, a good leader and physically fit. He realized it took a great deal of ambition and hard work, and that not everyone who started the program would become pilots, but he was focused and determined to succeed. PART 2 - UCSD and USMC Training – Fall 1991–February 2004 After high school, Michael attended the University of California in San Diego (UCSD). His goal was to get a degree as quickly as possible and to join the Marines and apply for flight school. In order to be guaranteed a slot as a candidate for flight school, he knew he needed to be in the top 10 percent academically so he concentrated on getting good grades. Unlike many of his fellow students, he focused on his school work rather than partying. 2 In his spare time, Mike would run miles in the back undeveloped hill areas near San Diego wearing his combat boots. He did this in order to develop strength and stamina. He knew the Marines were tough and required running long distances with full combat gear so he wanted to be ready. He also went to a commercial flight school to earn his private pilots license to increase his chances later when attending flight school. In his junior year at UCSD, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps Officers Candidate Program. He spent his junior and senior year summer months in basic training at the Officer’s Candidate School (OCS) in Quantico, Virginia. This was boot camp for officer candidates wherein for 12 weeks the Marines were drilled on physical fitness, military academics, and leadership skills. After graduating UCSD in September 1996 with a BA in Economics, Mike was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. Soon thereafter he was sent to Quantico, Virginia, for 6 months training at The Basic School (TBS) where he was to be trained to be a leader of Marines. Since he planned to be a Marine pilot, he again realized that it was highly competitive to be selected for flight school. The training consisted of ground tactics, weapons training, self defense, land navigation and some academic classes. Figure 3 - UCSD Graduation 1996 Figure 4 - 2nd Lt Michael Martino (1996) By 1999, Mike was on his way to Naval Flight School in Pensacola, Florida. The first phase of the training was the Aviation Preflight Indoctrination (API) which was seven weeks of intense schooling on physics, aerodynamics, engine systems, and water survival. Failure to pass any three exams during this training meant disenrollment from the flight program. Many Marines did not make it. The next stage of flight school was referred to as Primary where for the next 6 months the Marines actually learned to fly planes. Michael learned how to land the aircraft, how to land in 3 case of an engine failure, how to deal with in flight emergencies, how to fly formation with another aircraft, how to fly off your instruments if you can't see out of the cockpit, and how to fly aerobatics. The training was intense and all the student pilots were scheduled everyday for a flight which took about 3 hours. After each flight, Mike would go home and study about 6 to 7 hours for his flight the following day. This training was so stringent that a few non-perfect landings would wash you out of the program. Again Michael’s determination kicked in. He even built a rudder and stick simulator in his apartment to practice precise flight maneuver controls. After the marine’s last flight in Primary, they were able to request what type of aircraft they wanted to fly…helicopters, jets, or multi-engine transport planes. The military had slots for each type of aircraft for everyone who finished Primary that week, but the number of slots always varied. There maybe three jet slots, three helicopter slots, and one multi-engine slot, or there may be zero jet slots, and seven helicopter slots. You just never knew. Michael of course excelled in the flight syllabus. With his grades he could have flown anything he wanted, but he was determined to fly helicopters. His precise goal was to fly Cobra Attack Helicopters which at the time were the most prized slots of all. He often said he did not want to fly anything that did not have guns or drop bombs. He was thrilled when he got one of the helicopter slots. He then reported to Whiting Field to start his training to fly helicopters. After Primary comes the Intermediates stage which takes about three months. The final stage of Mike’s Flight School training was the Advanced which lasted for six months. He learned to apply what he had learned in Primary to flying helicopters. Among many other things, he learned to land on the backs of Navy Ships, to fly low level high airspeed missions, to make confined area landings, and external load carrying. On June 1, 2000, 1st Lt Martino was presented a letter of commendation by the Dept. of the Navy in recognition of his outstanding achievement in advanced academic training while assigned to Training Air Wing FIVE, Naval Air Station at Whiting Field. His superior performance placed him among the top ten percent of all student naval aviators which guaranteed him a Cobra slot. Two weeks prior to his graduation Michael got to pick the specific aircraft he wanted to fly. For him it was the AH-1W Super Cobra Helicopter!!! In August 21, 2000, Michael was promoted to Captain. On February 22, 2001, with his training completed, Michael attended his winging ceremony in Pensacola, Florida, in which he received his Naval Aviation Wings. This was ultimately the goal for which all the student aviators had been working. Once they received their wings, they were considered a professional Naval Aviator. The military spends about one million dollars to train each pilot, so each of them entered the military on a contract that after they got winged as a military pilot they were obligated to serve that branch of service for at least eight years. Michael’s plans were to be a career Marine so that was not a problem for him. 4 Figure 5 – Winging Ceremony Figure 6 – Dad Wings Michael Figure 7 - Mike with Sister Lauri Figure 8 - Mike with Brother Bobby 5 In July 2001, Michael finally headed home to Southern California where he was stationed at Camp Pendleton. He was assigned to the Roster Air Group (RAG) HMT-303 which trained him on AH-1W Super Cobras. This school was another six months and trained him to use his aircraft to support military operations and tactics. Each aircraft has a specific roll in the military. The Marine Corps uses its aircraft in a supporting role for its ground forces. Marine Corps air provides the Marines on the ground with bombs on target and the transport of troops into hostile environments. Every Marine Aviator is a ground officer by nature and thinks like one. This is the reason for the harsh training the Marine pilots went through at The Basic School in Quantico, Virginia.

Load more