Out of 62 career planners in the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, only one earned the distinction Career Planner of the Year.

Some people think of scuba diving as a career, many as just a leisure activity. Regardless of the reason to scuba dive though, it requires certification.

Flying at an airspeed of 230 knots and an altitude of 18,000 feet, a KC-130J pumps 10,000 pounds of fuel for two F/A-18 Hornets off the coast of San Diego, Jan. 25.

Sounds of cloths sliding over smooth metal and the clinking of small parts being assembled into larger, more deadly weapons could be heard from a hallway in the armory of Marine Aviation Logistic Squadron 16.

Two members of the Japanese House of Representatives visited Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., Jan. 19 to better understand the MV-22B Osprey aircraft that will soon be stationed aboard the Marine Corps' air stations in Japan.

With their hands covered in grease and their uniform reeking of jet fuel, the hard workers on the flight line aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar spend all day ensuring the FA-18 is ready for flight.

Lifting 20,000 pounds is no easy task, especially when Marines need equipment fast. Ensuring the process to deliver that equipment goes smoothly requires hours of training.

"It was just so surreal, I couldn't believe I had won," said Mike Relucio, the fitness coordinator for the High Intensity Tactical Training Center aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. "I had really just won "The Price is Right" and was going to be on [television]."

Team Osprey visited Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., to fly the MV-22B Osprey simulators, Dec. 14.

The scent of pine needles wafted over Mills Park aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., where volunteers brought nearly 350 Monterey pine trees from Peltzer Pines Christmas Tree Farm in preparation of the upcoming holiday season.

The Miramar Flacons defeated the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms Headquarters Battalion Bulldawgs, 34-15, in the Best of the West championship, Dec. 10.

Stacks of unwrapped new toys including race cars, dolls and board games fill the Toys for Tots collection boxes set out by the Marines of 4th Tank Battalion throughout the San Diego area in the days leading up to the holiday season.

The San Diego Military Advisory Council awarded a 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing unit and a spouse the 2011 SDMAC Achievement Awards, Dec. 5.

Thoughts of a United States Marine in support of a mission are typically associated with hardened individuals that will take the fight to the enemy's front door or storm off naval ships and aircraft platforms in support of humanitarian efforts.

Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 163 flew its last flight of the CH-46E Sea Knight before re-designating as a Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron with MV-22B Ospreys, Nov. 30.

The station food locker, sponsored by the Navy Wives Club of America Miramar #122, rallied volunteers to help in the creation of approximately 650 Thanksgiving meal boxes aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Nov. 18.

"You see people waving the flag, but you never see anyone waving the Constitution," said Muhammed Abdullah, an Occupy San Diego protester and Marine Corps Persian Gulf War veteran.

"Ooh-rahs" and the chants of cadences during motivational runs rang out through the streets of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., in the days leading up to the Marine Corps' 236th birthday.

Despite punishment for speaking their own language in government boarding schools and not having voting rights in their own states, approximately 400 Americans became their nation's secret weapon during World War II – the Navajo Code Talkers.

Fighters train for hours in the gym to prepare for their fights, but only minutes count when they step in the cage and fight until one reigns victorious.

The worker bee Marines of the recycling center can be seen buzzing around the hive of MCAS Miramar gathering, condensing and distributing recyclable items used by fellow service members.

Swirls of dust flew up around a Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161 MV-22B Osprey as it landed upon newly constructed landing pads during a confined area landing exercise Oct. 29 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Triathletes can be characterized as having the strength to do a certain task, having the endurance to go the distance, and having the wisdom to know it's a very long race and to set a pace.

Suit up, get down range, assess the situation, decide what tools to use on site, control contamination while fully encapsulated in a "Level A" hazardous material suit with a limited amount of air and an alarm that goes off after every 12 seconds of non-movement, come back and go through multiple level decontamination. You have 45 minutes; go!

An F/A 18 Hornet roars through the air on a rainy day as four aircraft recovery Marines prepare arresting gear to help it land. The Hornet comes in and grabs a steel cable with its tail hook bringing the jet to a screeching halt. A point man safely guides the Hornet pilot off the airstrip without a major incident.

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar hosted the 56th annual Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Air Show, themed "A Salute to San Diego: Birthplace of Naval Aviation 1911-2011," on the flight line Sept. 30 through Oct. 2.

Although the aerial performances enticed guests to the 2011 Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Air Show, the increased number of vintage aircraft brought to celebrate the centennial of naval aviation also lured in visitors ages 8 to 80.