Airport runway celebrated with Distinguished Visitor Day

Pictured is an overview of the runway replacement at the Catalina Airport, looking Northeast. The new, concrete runway, 60 feet wide, can be seen in the left background. The taxiway, on the right, is currently being used as a temporary runway. The project is now roughly 2/3 completed, despite various weather delays. The work has been undertaken by the US Marine Corps and the US Navy Seabees as a training project. Drone photo by Glen Gustafson

The Catalina Island Conservancy, elected officials, military leaders from the Department of Defense, U.S. Marine Corps and Navy, as well as community representatives gathered March 1 for Distinguished Visitor Day to observe progress in repairing the ACE Clearwater Airfield at the Conservancy’s Airport in the Sky on Catalina Island.

The Runway Repair Project, conducted as an Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) Project through the Department of Defense, is at its midpoint, with approximately 100 Marines and Navy Sailors (Seabees) working to replace asphalt with concrete and simultaneously training for similar future missions.

The partnership with the Marines and Navy to repair the runway began after nearly 18 months of collaboration with the Conservancy and with the help of U.S. Rep Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Congressman Lowenthal and California State Assembly member Patrick O’Donnell attended Distinguished Visitor Day, as well as District Deputy Jeanette Christian representing United States Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chief of Staff Samuel Liu representing California State Senator Ben Allen, Field Deputy Herlinda Chico from the office of LA County 4th District Supervisor Janice Hahn, Los Angeles County Aviation Commissioner Ryan Antoon and Avalon Mayor Pro Tem Cinde MacGugan-Cassidy, among others.

“I’ve heard about the need and have seen the need to fix the airport runway for many years,” said Congressman Lowenthal, who credited his staff with championing the project. “This is a wonderful model.”

“It’s really what we do best: (to) share and build on resources together,” he added. “I’m pleased to see this life cycle of so many years come to fruition.”

The Airport in the Sky operates as a public airport, serving the Island’s 4,000 residents, businesses and approximately 1 million annual visitors. It is an historic and critical asset, providing essential access to Catalina Island for first responders, travelers, residents and businesses as well as US Mail and other shipping carriers.

“The repair of the newly named ACE Clearwater Airfield will ensure that the Island’s only airport remains open for many years to come to serve the local community. We needed to find a way to improve its duraility and give it a long future. We’re very proud to collaborate with I MEF, I Marine Expeditionary Force to make it all come together,” said Tony Budrovich, Catalina Island Conservancy president and CEO. “The participation of the distinguished visitors combine with our stakeholders to validate the great work of the Conservancy on Catalina Island.”

Several military personnel, including Navy Commodore Daryll Long (1NCR), attended Distinguished Visitor Day. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense at Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness Judd Lyons, who oversees the IRT Program, and U.S. Air Force Captain Kelly Machado traveled from the Pentagon to observe progress.

“It is so important that we maintain ties with our communities, and projects such as these allow us to do that. They benefit those in uniform by honing and exercising their skills and preparing them for deployments and contingency operations, but the tie in to the local community is a benefit as well,” said DASD Lyons.

IRT, which pairs community needs with military training opportunities, proved to be an ideal way to partner to repair the 3,000-foot runway and offer a unique training exercise for local troops.

“With us, what we focus on, is probably the most difficult engineering task that you see in the military; and that is the ability to create an airfield anywhere that it can be created and where it’s needed,” said Colonel Matthew Seay of Marine Wing Support Squadron 37, who spoke to how training in unfamiliar environments helps prepare the troops should they need to do a similar project in the future. “Whenever we get a chance to pick up our capabilities and move them somewhere – that’s good for us.”

The project is a group effort, with I MEF at Camp Pendleton assigning 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (3rd MAW) from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar to support the training opportunity. Marine Wing Support Squadron 373 (MWSS-373) serves as the lead element for the successful repair of the runway. Personnel from Naval Construction Group One (NCG1), First Naval Construction Regiment (1NCR) and Navy Mobility Construction Battalion (NCMB-25) also participate with quality control and medical support.

Brigadier General Rick Uribe (I MEF) called the project “a great benefit not only for you in the community, but for us. The one thing that is challenging for the MEF Commander is training your Marines and Sailors, and this project is providing a great training venue in a place that we’re not getting shot at, so that is kind of a benefit. The challenge is there to make our Marines better at what they do. Building a runway of this magnitude, to my knowledge, is something we’ve never done before.”

More than 100 Marines and Seabees have been hard at work since December, keeping the project on schedule despite heavy rains. To date, runway repair is more than 50-percent complete.

“It’s a unique project for a unique place performed in a unique way,” said Patrick O’Donnell, Dist. 70 California State Assembly. “I think today proves that we have very qualified fighting men and women but they do more than fight: They make communities a better place.”