Marine Corps Air Station Yuma flew in support of Texas during the Drug Wars. Their F-35Bs could loiter over the battlefields slower than nearly any other aircraft, allowing them to support Texan and American troops in unique and valuable ways. They escorted A-10s, C-130s, and numerous other craft during that conflict and the ones that followed. Throughout it all, Yuma flew the American flag. And when the Convention of States reformed the Federal government, they remained part of the United States Marine Corps. When Arizona joined the Republic of Texas, Yuma remained an American base. Yuma is still an American federal Marine Corps base centuries later, and the bars surrounding the base host “gentlemanly competitions of physical prowess” between American and Texan Marines when they disagree over the matter of who is better. Which is most of the time.