Camp Pendleton, CA -- The Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity (MCTSSA) dedicated its new Ground Combat Element Test Laboratory July 1 to the memory of Major Gerald M. Bloomfield II, who was killed on Nov. 2, 2005, when his Super Cobra attack helicopter crashed while flying in support of combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq.
Bloomfield served at MCTSSA as the System Architecture and Engineering Branch Head from 2000-2003 prior to returning to the cockpit and deploying to Iraq. Noted for tackling every task with determination and raw ability, Bloomfield’s innovative accomplishments created an enduring influence on MCTSSA’s mission capabilities in the area of testing command and control systems used by ground combat forces.
“The whole idea behind dedicating this building to Major Bloomfield originated entirely with his colleagues,” said Steve Lerner, a MCTSSA program lead. “While here, he played a significant role in formulating the lab’s concept, and those concepts have come to have a lasting impact.”
The building dedication to the Major was the kickoff event to MCTSSA’s 40th Anniversary celebration, commemorating the Command’s sustained support and technological expertise it has provided to the warfighters operating around the world for the last four decades.
“Virtually everywhere you go in the Marine Corps today, you will find the impact and result of the conscientious work that thousands of Marines and Civilian Marines accomplished here during the past four decades,” said Colonel Alan Pratt, MCTSSA’s Commanding Officer. “Major Bloomfield was lost supporting ground forces in combat. Here at MCTSSA he was dedicated to testing and fielding the new technology that those combat forces depend upon daily.”
Bloomfield is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Julie, who resides in Oceanside, Calif., and his son, Ryan, of Vista, Calif.