MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224, the “Fighting Bengals,” arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Oct. 7, 2015.

The squadron came to the station from MCAS Beaufort, N.C., in support of the unit deployment program, which is a six-month deployment away from a unit’s United States homebase.

The mission of a VMFA(AW) is to attack and destroy surface targets, day or night, conduct multi-sensor imagery reconnaissance providing supporting arms coordination, and intercept and destroy enemy aircraft under all weather conditions.

“In order to uphold our end of the treaty we have with this part of the world, we came replacing the forces that VMFA(AW)-225 was providing,” said Maj. Eric Geyer, executive officer of VMFA(AW)-224. “We plan to accomplish our mission here by executing to the best of our ability all orders provided to us by Marine Aircraft Group 12, III Marine Expeditionary Force, and 1st Marine Air Wing.”

The squadron brought with them more than 180 Marines and approximately 10 F/A-18 Hornet aircraft.

Sgt. Maj. Christopher T. Balcazar, sergeant major of VMFA(AW)-224, said one of the squadron’s goals during the deployment is to reach a training rating 2 status. In order to attain a T2 rating, the Fighting Bengals have to accomplish their mission essential tasks such as ensuring Marines, pilots especially, achieve all qualifications.

“As the commandants and the sergeants majors of the Marine Corps of the past have said, we have to get back to our naval traditions,” said Balcazar. “We’re not on ship, but deploying and interacting with other services gets us experience and different perspectives with the Marine Air-Ground Task Force.”

Geyer said he believes these UDPs are important because it increases the readiness level of his Marines and aircraft, which is essential to being able to rapidly deploy.