from staff reports



Marine Aviation Training Support Squadron One (MATSS-1) held a change of command ceremony on Friday, Nov. 6, on board Naval Air Station Meridian.

During the ceremony, Major Gerald Boos retired after 24 years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps and five years as commanding officer of MATSS-1, arriving in August 2004.

Boos was in charge of enlisted Marines who trained in the following courses: Aviation Maintenance Administration, Aviation Operations Specialist, Aviation Supply Specialist and Individual Asset Manager Systems. On average 800 Marines graduate from MATSS-1 each year.

Boos entered the U.S. Marine Corps in 1985. After graduating with a degree in criminal justice from Louisiana State University, Boos was accepted to Officer Candidate School. He was then assigned to MALS-14 where he deployed with the squadron to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

Boos’ duty stations include Puerto Rico, Yuma, Ariz., New Orleans and Beaufort, S.C.

In 2001, Boos transferred to MALS-36 in Okinawa, Japan, where he served as the Aviation Supply Officer and Operations Officer. In August 2002, he returned to Beaufort, S.C., where he served as the executive officer of the Marine Corps Air Station.

Taking command of MATSS-1 is Capt. Aaron Schnetzler. Schnetzler was commissioned in May 2003 after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics from the U.S. Naval Academy. Schnetzler has served in Iwakuni, Japan, where he was the officer-in-charge for the Supply Response, Supply Accounting, Squadron Support, Consumable Management, and Repairable Management Divisions, and as the Assistant Aviation Supply Officer. During this time Schnetzler also served as Embassy Liaison Officer during Exercise TITP 2004 in Bangkok, Thailand.