Air Warning Squadron 2 (AWS-2) was a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

aviation command and control squadron during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The squadron was tasked to provide

aerial surveillance A surveillance aircraft is an aircraft used for surveillance. They are operated by military forces and other government agencies in roles such as intelligence gathering, battlefield surveillance, airspace surveillance, reconnaissance, observat ...

and

early warning An early warning system is a warning system that can be implemented as a Poset, chain of information communication systems and comprises sensors, Detection theory, event detection and decision support system, decision subsystems for early identi ...

during amphibious assaults. They took part in the Battle of Guam in 1944 and would eventually move to

Peleliu Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II. H ...

in 1945 assuming responsibility for air defense in that sector until the end of the war. The squadron departed Peleliu for the United States in January 1946 and was quickly decommissioned upon its arrival in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. To date, no other Marine Corps squadron has carried the lineage and honors of AWS-2 to include

Marine Air Control Squadron 2 Marine Air Control Squadron 2 (MACS-2) is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control squadron. The squadron provides aerial surveillance, Ground-controlled interception, and air traffic control for the II Marine Expeditionary Force ...

(MACS-2).

Mission

(Primary) – Operation in the Pacific Ocean Area. To furnish early warning information on approaching air and sea attack and to furnish fighter direction against this attack. (Secondary) – Participation in the local defense when released to the operational control of the

Hawaiian Sea Frontier Sea Frontiers were several, now disestablished, commands of the United States Navy as areas of defense against enemy vessels, especially submarines, along the U.S. coasts. They existed from 1 July 1941 until in some cases the 1970s. Sea Frontiers ...

and/or the Seventh Army Air Force Fighter Command

History

Organization and training

Air Warning Squadron 2 was commissioned on 25 September 1943 at

Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point or MCAS Cherry Point (*) is a United States Marine Corps airfield located in Havelock, North Carolina, United States, in the eastern part of the state. It was built in 1941, and was commissioned in 1942 and ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. 3d MAW General Order 20-1943 - Commissioning AWS-2
/ref> At commissioning the squadron consisted of 8 officers and 146 enlisted men. Because it was one of the first two air warning squadrons formed in the Marine Corps during the war, its early training was severely hampered by personnel and equipment shortages. Prior to deploying overseas the only gear available to the squadron was shared amongst other units of the 1st Marine Air Warning Group. AWS-2 departed North Carolina on November 15, 1943 with orders to proceed to the West Coast of the United States. The squadron finally received a portion of its own gear just prior to departing

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. The partially equipped squadron arrived at

Marine Corps Air Station Ewa Marine Corps Air Station Ewa (MCAS Ewa) was a United States Marine Corps air station that was located west of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The base was hit during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and later served as the hub for all Mar ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

on January 9, 1944 with 14 officers and 219 enlisted men. Additional equipment was received at MCAS Ewa and the squadron was able to complete calibration flights by the end of the month. Operational training for men and equipment started with simulated field conditions for area aircraft-warning coverage and fighter direction to protect the area from day and night bomber attack. This lasted until April. During this time AWS-2 also assisted various air-warning and tower control units in the Hawaiian area with communications checks, relaying of messages and homing lost planes.

Guam, Ulithi and Peleliu

On May 16, 1944, 4 officers and 64 enlisted men were transferred to the

III Amphibious Corps III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) is a formation of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force of the United States Marine Corps. It is forward-deployed and able to rapidly conduct operations across the spectrum from humanitarian assistance and d ...

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

, and formed an air-warning assault echelon. The rest of the squadron departed Hawaii on June 1, 1944. Both echelons were bound for

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. The assault echelon landed on Guam July 21, 1944 and three days later the first Marine radar set reported on the air. The larger portion of the squadron arrived July 27, 1944 with the final Marines arriving from MCAS Ewa on August 10, 1944. A week later the squadron's

SCR-270 radar The SCR-270 (Set Complete Radio model 270) was one of the first operational early-warning radars. It was the U.S. Army's primary long-distance radar throughout World War II and was deployed around the world. It is also known as the Pearl Harbor ...

was operational on the south end of

Orote Field Orote Field is a former air base in the United States territory of Guam built by the Empire of Japan with Chamorro forced labor during the Japanese occupation of Guam (1941-1944). It is separate from the Marine Corps amphibious airplane base at loc ...

. The squadron operated two long range search radars (SCR-270s), one ground controlled intercept (GCI) radar (

SCR-527 The SCR-527 (''Signal Corps Radio'' model 527) was a medium-range radar used by the United States for early warning and ground-controlled interception (GCI) during World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviat ...

) and an air defense control center which received information from additional reporting radars on Guam and in the

Marianas The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

area. During this time the squadron was responsible for supplying air warning and fighter direction against air and sea attacks for the Air Defense Command of Guam and the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

. In December 1944 the squadron started experiments with

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materia ...

and by February 1945 they were practicing with pilots in simulated day fighter interception tactics. On February 2, 1945, controllers from AWS-2, working aboard a US Navy destroyer, controlled fighters from VMF(N)-534 for their first successful interception of the war when two

F6F Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier Grumman F4F Wildcat, F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United St ...

s engaged a

Nakajima C6N The Nakajima C6N ''Saiun'' (彩雲, "Iridescent Cloud") was a carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. Advanced for its time, it was the fastest carrier-based aircraft put into service ...

110 miles northeast of

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

. Early in March 1945, AWS-2 Marines were sent to

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...

and

to prepare facilities on those islands as portions of AWS-2 would be relieving

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

ARGUS units of their air defense responsibilities. By early May 1945 the squadron headquarters was formed at Peleliu with detachments on Ulithi and

Falalop Falalop ( uli, Fl'aalop) is an island adjacent to the Ulithi Atoll in the western Pacific Ocean, approximately east of Yap. It is part of the Yap State within the Federated States of Micronesia. Overview Falalop is one of four islets, th ...

. AWS-2 was responsible for air defense of this region until the end of the war. The squadron returned to the United States in February 1946 and was quickly decommissioned on 15 February 1946.

Commanding Officers

*Capt George T. C. Fry - September 1, 1943 - December 15, 1944 *Capt Lumir F. Slezak - December 16, 1944 - June 17, 1945 *Capt Charles K. Dyer - June 18, 1945 - July 5, 1945 *Maj Frank B. Freese - July 5th - unknown

Unit awards

A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the awarded unit citation. What follows is an incomplete list of the awards AWS-2 has been presented with:

Citations

References

: ;Bibliography * * * {{US Marine Corps navbox

Radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

Inactive units of the United States Marine Corps Military units and formations established in 1943