The Marines are really stingy when it comes to flying commercial. They use military aircraft as much as possible, and since the squadron is a mix of attack and transport helicopters, that is what they use, or so I have been told. I was Navy, and in an H-60 squadron we flew in our own aircraft as much as possible. Going to AUTEC in the Bahamas we would use a C-9 or C-130 for the extra maintenance personnel.
They were definitely grey - I meant grey / blue as in a grey with blueish tinge, not two distinct colors.
Since Millington NAS closed we don’t see much from the USMC around here, true. However, the ANG base here uses the C-17 Globemaster III (yay, more Google learning) which can transport those helicopters. As well as being a place they could have stopped and refueled of course (as mentioned above).
Learned some interesting things from the answers here and from the rabbit holes I let it lead me down. Still happy I got to see them.
Thanks again everyone!
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to fly commercial? Not when moving equipment of course, but moving personnel has to be cheaper via commercial or charter.
It really depends and the military does indeed fly a lot of personnel around on via commercial aircraft. Flying military aircraft has the advantage of providing training and flight hours for the crew.
The Navy/Marine Corps team utilizes both the Navy Air Logistics Office and the Air Force Air Mobility Command to move large and small units across the country and around the globe. In my experience, the Marine Corps tries to either use a unit’s own capability first, followed by Military aircraft, then only as a last resort do they use commercial aviation. One time, a group of people from my command were coming home from Afghanistan. We scheduled an AMC flight which consisted of a C-130 from Kandahar to Bahrain, followed by a C-40 NALO flight from Bahrain to our home base, which was Brunswick, ME. Three Marines who were coming home hopped the flight with our personnel. Problem was there were no AMC or NALO flights following on, as the Marines were trying to get back to San Diego, and Brunswick was not an AMC or NALO hub. When they called their home command, their command would not buy tickets all the way from Maine to San Diego. They bought tickets for them from Maine to Norfolk, VA, and told them to hop a NALO flight from Norfolk to S.D. NALO and AMC are constantly flying all over the globe to keep their crews trained and qualified in case of the need for a mass mobilization. If you have ever heard of military Space “A” flights, they are on NALO and AMC aircraft. If there are seats available, there is a category system for ranking passenger priority. If they get down to your category, and there are still seats available, you can ride the flight for free, wherever it is going. As a Navy retiree, I am Category 6, which is the lowest category. When i actually retire from working in about 13-16 years, I plan on utilizing this benefit as much as I can.