Marine Air Control Group 48 (MACG-48) 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

Naval Station Great Lakes Naval Station Great Lakes (NAVSTA Great Lakes) is the home of the United States Navy's only recruit training, boot camp, located near North Chicago, Illinois, North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois. Important tenant commands include the Recruit ...

that is currently composed of 4 squadrons that provide 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 ...

with a tactical headquarters, positive and procedural control of aircraft, air defense and aviation command and control.

Mission

Coordinate all aspects of air command and control and air defense within the Marine aircraft wing. Provide the command and staff functions for the MACG commander when deployed as part of the aviation combat element (ACE) of the

Marine Air Ground Task Force Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF, pronounced MAG-TAF) is a term used by the United States Marine Corps to describe the principal organization for all missions across the range of military operations. MAGTFs are a balanced air-ground, combined ar ...

Subordinate units

* Marine Air Control Squadron 24 *

Marine Air Support Squadron 6 Marine Air Support Squadron 6 (MASS-6), is a reserve United States Marine Corps aviation command and control unit that provides the Direct Air Support Center (DASC) for the Marine Forces Reserve. Their headquarters is in Westover Air Reserve Base ...

* Marine Tactical Air Command Squadron 48 * Marine Wing Communications Squadron 48 * Site Support Great Lakes * Site Support Chicopee * Site Support Oceana

History

Marine Air Control Group 48 was activated on September 1, 1967, at Glenview, Illinois, and assigned to 4th Marine Aircraft Wing. From the late 1960s through the 1970s and 1980s, MACG-48 participated in many training exercises, honing its combat skills and refining its tactics, techniques and procedures in order to keep abreast of the ever-changing C3 community. In April 1980, members of MWCS-48 were on call for 'Operation EagleClaw' in Iran. The mission was aborted. From August 1990 to April 1991, MACG-48 marines deployed in support of 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 ...

augmenting the active duty component. Upon the unit's return to Illinois, the control group continued its support of numerous exercises across the globe. The group focused its training on the tactics, techniques and procedures critical for success in the Southwest Asia region, using lessons learned during combat. In August 1995, MACG-48 relocated to Fort Sheridan in Highwood, Illinois. After five years in Highwood, the group headquarters moved again to its current location aboard Naval Station Great Lakes near

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. While at Great Lakes, MACG-48 mobilized marines twice 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 ...

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 ...

. From August 2002 to November 2003 and again from August 2004 to February 2005, over 1400 marines from MACG-48 were activated in support of the

Global War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant I ...

. During December 2004, marines activated to augment units in support of

Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) is a joint task force of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). It originated under Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA) as part of the United States response to the Se ...

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

. In August 2005,

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

ravaged the

Gulf Coast of the United States The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...

. Once again, marines from MACG-48 were called upon to provide command and control expertise and long-haul communication support in support of disaster relief efforts. From September to October 2005, one hundred marines augmented

Joint Task Force Katrina {{no footnotes, date=December 2016 Joint Task Force Katrina was a joint operation between the United States Department of Defense and the Federal Emergency Management Agency created on September 1, 2005, at Camp Shelby, Mississippi to organize re ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

References

External links

MACG-48's official website
{{4thMAW Military units and formations in Illinois 4th Marine Aircraft Wing United States Marine Corps air control groups

Mission

Subordinate units

History

See also

References

External links