7.28- Marines Attacking Piney Island, NC

Marine Corps aircraft frequently fly over and around Oriental... they fly out of Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station near Havelock, NC, about ten miles Southwest of Oriental, and "attack" a multitude of targets in the "BT-11" multi-purpose target complex (read more about BT-11 here) on and around Piney Island, just off the Neuse River about ten miles East of Oriental (see "Prohibited Area" on navigational chart, second slide).

One can often see attack helicopters, AV-8B Harriers ("Jump Jets") and V-22 Osprey flying around. I have seen helicopters hovering over the target and actually firing live ammo at it (I'll try for a photo next time I see it), but the planes only use simulated/electronic targeting or dummy ammo for their runs.

I think today's picture is of a Harrier, but then again it might have been an F-16. If you can tell, please drop me an "Ahoy" below.

In the Google Map below the red line runs between Cherry Pt. and the target area... If you click on "Satellite" and use the map controls to zoom into the Eastern (right hand) end of the red line, you can see a scuttled yard freighter class ship they use as a target... pan around Piney Island and you can see a bunch of the targets listed in the link to BT-11 info above:






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