Marine Aircraft Group 46 (MAG-46) was a United States Marine Corps reserve aviation group based at

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) , formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Miramar and Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the av ...

, California with subordinate units spread throughout California. It previously composed of one adversary squadron equipped with the F-5, one CH-46 squadron, one

CH-53E The Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavy-lift helicopter operated by the United States military. As the Sikorsky S-80, it was developed from the CH-53 Sea Stallion, mainly by adding a third engine, adding a seventh blade to the main rotor, ...

squadron, one AH-1W and

UH-1N The Bell UH-1N Twin Huey is a medium military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Bell Helicopter. It is a member of the extensive Huey family, the initial version was the CUH-1N Twin Huey (later CH-135 Twin ...

squadron and a maintenance and logistics squadron. MAG-46 fell under the

4th Marine Aircraft Wing The 4th Marine Aircraft Wing is the reserve airwing of the United States Marine Corps. It is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana but its subordinate units are scattered throughout the United States. Mission Conduct air operations in support ...

and

Marine Forces Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. It is the largest command, by assigned pe ...

. Due to a re-organization within Marine aviation, the group was deactivated in 2009.

Mission

Organize, train and equip individual Marines and combat-ready squadrons and to augment and reinforce the active component when required in order to serve as part of our total force.

History

Marine Aircraft Group 46 was activated March 1, 1944 as Marine Base Defense Aircraft Group 46 at

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located next to the community of El Toro, near Irvine, California. Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps Aviation on the West Coast ...

, California. The Group’s primary mission was to administer and supervise training for combat duty, and other activities of the attached squadrons and detachments. It also trained replacement pilots and crew for Marine squadrons operating in combat areas. MAG-46 was redesignated on November 10, 1944 as Marine Aircraft Group 46. Another redesignation occurred on May 15, 1945 when it was assigned the title of Marine Air Support Group 46. The termination of hostilities in the summer of 1945 was followed by the rapid demobilization. One result of this policy was the deactivation of the group on 15 March 1946. Six years later, a major reorganization within Marine Aviation began. This reorganization coincided with the formation of 4th Marine Division in the reserve. Changes included reactivation of MAG 46. Thus on July 1, 1962, Marine Aircraft Group 46 was reactivated at Grosse Ile, Michigan and moved to

Naval Air Station New York A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It inc ...

in Brooklyn on November 1, 1965. In early 1971, MAG 46 moved back to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California and remained there until August 1994 when the Group relocated to its final location at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, California. During the 1990s and 2000s, MAG-46 flying and support units served in the Global War on Terrorism. MAG-46 squadrons participated in

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

in Iraq and

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

in Afghanistan. On June 19, 2009, the squadron was deactivated at MCAS Miramar California

References

External links

MAG-46's Official Website
{{4thMAW MAG-46 Military units and formations in California 4th Marine Aircraft Wing United States Marine Corps aircraft groups

Mission

History

See also

References

External links