Marine Air Control Group 38 (MACG-38) is 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 unit 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 ...

that is currently composed of four squadrons and one battalion that provide 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 ...

's tactical headquarters, positive and procedural control to aircraft, and air defense support for the

I Marine Expeditionary Force The I Marine Expeditionary Force ("I" pronounced "One") is a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) of the United States Marine Corps primarily composed of the 1st Marine Division, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and 1st Marine Logistics Group. It is ...

Mission

Provide a task-organized Marine Air Command and Control System (MACCS) in order to enable the six functions of Marine Aviation in support of the MAGTF's Aviation Combat Element.

Subordinate units

3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion The 3d Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion (3d LAAD) is an air defense unit of the United States Marine Corps currently responsible for providing short range air defense. The battalion falls under the command of Marine Air Control Group 38 (MAC ...

Marine Air Control Squadron 1 Marine Air Control Squadron 1 (MACS-1) is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control squadron . The squadron provides aerial surveillance, air traffic control, ground-controlled intercept, and aviation data-link connectivity fo ...

Marine Air Support Squadron 3 Marine Air Support Squadron 3 (MASS-3), is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control unit that provides the Direct Air Support Center (DASC) for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. They are based out of the 32 Area on Marine Corp ...

Marine Wing Communications Squadron 38 Marine Wing Communications Squadron 38 (MWCS-38) is a United States Marine Corps communications squadron. The squadron provides expeditionary communications for the aviation combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. They are based at ...

History

1950s

Marine Air Control Group 3 was commissioned on March 28, 1951 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 was formed during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

to replace Marine Air Control Group 2 that deployed to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in March and April 1951. Following the end of the Korean War and a restructure within Marine Corps aviation, MACG-3 was decommissioned on December 31, 1955.

Reactivation through the 1980s

The Group was reactivated on September 1, 1967, at MCAS El Toro.

Desert Storm & the 1990s

MACG-38 deployed to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

in August 1990 and later supported

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 ...

. Elements of the group have supported

Operation Restore Hope The Unified Task Force (UNITAF) was a United States-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force which operated in Somalia from 5 December 1992 until 4 May 1993. A United States initiative (code-named Operation Restore Hope), U ...

Operation Safe Departure 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 ...

Operation Southern Watch Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from Summer 1992 to Spring 2003. United States Central Command's Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) had the mission of mon ...

and

Operation Stabilise Stabilizer, stabiliser, stabilisation or stabilization may refer to: Chemistry and food processing * Stabilizer (chemistry), a substance added to prevent unwanted change in state of another substance ** Polymer stabilizers are stabilizers use ...

. The group relocated to MCAS Miramar in October 1998.

War on Terror to present

MACG-38 began planning for a possible invasion of Iraq during the summer of 2002. The groups first units began deploying 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 October 2002 as part of

Exercise Internal Look Internal Look is a major planning wargame exercise of US Central Command. Up to 1990 often held annually, it is now biennial. From 1983 to 1990, it was often focused on a rapid deployment of U.S. forces to the Zagros Mountains in Iran, where the ...

. The

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

eventually required not only all of MACG-38 but also almost all of

Marine Air Control Group 28 Marine Air Control Group 28 (MACG-28) is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point that is currently composed of four command and control squadrons and a low altitude air defense ...

and a significant number of augments including reservists from

Marine Air Control Group 48 Marine Air Control Group 48 (MACG-48) is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control unit based at Naval Station Great Lakes that is currently composed of 4 squadrons that provide the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing and Marine Forces Rese ...

and

Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 The Marine Corps Training and Education Command (TECOM) is the primary training command of the United States Marine Corps. Commands within TECOM There are two major commands that fall under TECOM – Training Command and Education Command. Tra ...

(MAWTS-1). MACG-38 personnel continued to deploy today in support of

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 ...

from January 2004 through early 2009. During security and stabilization operations the group was headquartered at

Al Asad Airbase Ayn al Asad is an Iraqi Armed Forces base located in Al Anbar Governorate (also called Anbar province) of western Iraq. It was originally known as Qadisiyah Airbase. It was the second largest US military airbase in Iraq during Operation Iraqi ...

in the

Al Anbar Province Al Anbar Governorate ( ar, محافظة الأنبار; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, ...

. Most recently the Group deployed to

Camp Leatherneck Camp Leatherneck was a 1,600 acre United States Marine Corps base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The site was mostly in Washir District and was conjoined with Camp Bastion, which was the main British military base in Afghanistan and Camp Shor ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in March 2010. It was again responsible for providing aviation command and control for the

(I MEF) in support of

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 ...

. The group returned to the United States in the Spring of 2011. In the summer of 2002, planning for the possible invasion of Iraq began in earnest for west coast MACCS units attached to the

(IMEF). I MEF had the lead for planning the

however the scope and scale of

References

External links

* United States Marine Corps air control groups Military units and formations in California {{USMC-stub