Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11 (MALS-11) is an aviation

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

support unit of the

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 ...

, part of

Marine Aircraft Group 11 Marine Aircraft Group 11 is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar that is currently composed of two F-35C squadrons, one F-35B squadron, two F/A-18C squadrons, one fleet replacement squadron, one KC- ...

(MAG-11), currently 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 ...

and also part of the

3rd Marine Aircraft Wing The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (abbreviated as 3rd MAW) is the major west coast aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps. It is headquartered at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, in San Diego, California and provides the aviation combat el ...

History

Early years

The unit was activated in December 1921, as Flight 1, 2nd Air Squadron, Marine Flying Field, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia. On 24 August 1922, Flight 1 was redesignated as Division 3, VO Squadron 3, First Aviation Group. On 1 September 1924, Division 3 became Service Squadron, First Aviation Group. On 1 March 1929, the unit was again redesignated and remained Aviation Service Company 1, Aircraft Squadrons, East Coast Expeditionary Force until 18 January 1934, when it was redesignated Headquarters and Service Battalion 1, 1st Marine Aircraft Group, Fleet Marine Forces.

World War II

On 1 September 1941, the unit was redesignated as Headquarters and Service Battalion 11,

1st Marine Aircraft Wing The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing is an aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps that serves as the Aviation Combat Element of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. The wing is headquartered at Camp Foster on the island of Okinawa, Japan. Activ ...

. The unit's designation was changed on 1 February 1944 to Headquarters Squadron 11, Marine Aircraft Group 11, Marine Air South Pacific. 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 ...

, Headquarters Squadron 11 participated in campaigns in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...

, Peleliu, Central Pacific, and Philippines Islands campaign. On 15 February 1954, the unit was redesignated Headquarters and Maintenance Squadron 11 (H&MS-11).

Vietnam War

On 7 July 1965 H&MS-11 relocated to

Da Nang Air Base Da Nang Air Base ( vi, Căn cứ không quân Đà Nẵng) (1930s–1975) (also known as Da Nang Airfield, Tourane Airfield or Tourane Air Base) was a French Air Force and later Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) facility located in the city ...

, Vietnam where they supported the first attacks by Marine aircraft against Viet Cong forces. During their time in Vietnam the squadron supported 12 different aircraft types including providing support to aircraft from Task Force 77 operating off Yankee Station. H&MS-11 departed the Republic of Vietnam 1 June 1971 and joined the

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.Ginter, p. 63

Persian Gulf War & the 1990s

On 5 October 1988, the squadron was redesignated Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11. During August 1990, MALS-11 deployed to Southwest Asia where the squadron supported Operation Desert Shield and

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. MALS-11 was awarded the

Secretary of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Award for Maintenance Excellence for July 1991 through July 1992, and was again the Marine Corps' nominee in 1995, 1999 and 2000. On 1 July 1996, MALS-11 moved to MCAS Miramar in support of MAG-11.

Global War on Terror

During 2002 and 2003, MALS-11 deployed to

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

in support of Operation Southern Watch,

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 ...

and

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 March 2004, MALS-11 was the recipient of the 2003 Marine Corps Aviation Association Marion Carl Award. In 2009, MALS-11 was recognized as the Naval Aviation Enterprise AIRSpeed site of the year and also received the Marine Corps Aviation Association Col Don Davis award as best Aviation Logistics squadron of the year.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * ;Web *
Unofficial Lancers Homepage (hasn't been updated in a while)
;Web
MALS-11's official website
{{3rdMAW LOG11