U.S. Marines with 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) concluded preparatory training for Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course (WTI) 1-26 at the Marine Aviation Training System Site (MATSS) on Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, North Carolina, Friday.  

WTI is a seven-week period of instruction, hosted by Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron (MAWTS) 1 at MCAS Yuma, Arizona, that incorporates Marine Corps planning and implementation of advanced air and ground tactics through a series of escalating evolutions to produce certified Weapons and Tactics Instructors. WTIs serve as squadron training officers who use their skills to act as aircraft and weapons subject matter experts and provide their units with proper training and evaluation to ensure combat readiness.

The WTI 1-26 preparatory training, known as the Assault Support Planning Problem, included prospective WTI student aviators from Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 26 and MAG-29 and included Marines from infantry units, tactical air control party units, and Marine Air Support Squadron (MASS) 1. It is a MATSS New River exercise leveraging Aviation Distributed Virtual Training Environment (ADVTE) to provide pre-WTI students with the opportunity to plan, brief and lead a company air assault mission.   

“With the Assault Support Planning Problem, we look to provide our prospective WTI students with a R2P2 and MAGTF level experience similar to what they will experience in Yuma, helping them be as prepared as possible before beginning the period of instruction,” said Maj. Paul Neubauer, officer-in-charge, MATSS New River. “WTI is a rigorous course by necessity. Providing the students about to attend the course the opportunity to experience integrated planning, briefing, and execution, along with guidance and expectations, is the MATSS New River goal in an effort to prepare the next generation of squadron Weapon and Tactics Instructors and MAGTF planners.” 

The Assault Support Planning Problem exercise began with students receiving a fragmentary order covering basic instructions. From there, students developed a plan of action for the assault support mission in large group planning cells that involved input from Marines from several occupational fields, including MV-22B Osprey pilots, UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper pilots, CH-53E Super Stallion and CH-53K King Stallion pilots, infantry Marines, and ground support Marines. After developing a plan, students then delivered a confirmation brief before executing the assault support mission in a simulator at the MATSS.

Assault support is one of the six functions of Marine aviation and uses aircraft to provide tactical mobility and logistical support to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF). Assault support operations are often used to enhance the rapid buildup of MAGTF combat power and to facilitate rapid ground force maneuver. These operations provide the MAGTF the capability to move assets over long distances quickly, thus rapidly bringing together assault support assets from multiple locations to mass forces in a single focus of effort.

WTI 1-26 students will begin their period of instruction on Sept. 7 and are set to graduate on Oct. 26, 2025. MAWTS-1 sources prospective WTIs, equipment, aircraft, and supplies from all three Marine Expeditionary Forces and all four Marine Aircraft Wings, including 2nd MAW, the aviation combat element of II Marine Expeditionary Force.