Marine Air Control Squadron 7 (MACS-7) 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. The squadron provided aerial surveillance and

ground-controlled interception Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic was ...

and saw action most notably during the Battle of Okinawa in

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 opposing ...

and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. They were last based at

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma Marine Corps Air Station Yuma or MCAS Yuma is a United States Marine Corps air station. It is the home of multiple squadrons of F-35B Lightning IIs of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 (MAWTS-1), Ma ...

and fell under the command of

Marine Air Control Group 38 Marine Air Control Group 38 (MACG-38) is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar that is currently composed of four squadrons and one battalion that provide the 3rd Marine Aircraf ...

(MACG-38) and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (3rd MAW).

History

World War II

''Air Warning Squadron 7'' was commissioned 1 February 1944. as part of a larger program to provide radar early warning and fighter control for Marine units during amphibious operations. It was one of several such squadrons attached to Marine Air Warning Group 1 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point,

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 ...

. For its first two months the squadron remained in the vicinity of MCAS Cherry Point learning to control both day and night aircraft. On 27 March 1944 they embarked for the west coast arriving on 1 April 1944. The squadron was subsequently stationed at

Naval Auxiliary Air Station Brown Field In urban planning, brownfield land is land previously used for industrial purposes or some commercial uses. Brownfield or Brown Field may also refer to: Places * Brownfield, Maine * Brownfield, Missouri * Brownfield, Texas ** Brownfield Indepen ...

Chula Vista Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popu ...

, California where they underwent a long period of intensive training in which they controlled fighters, torpedo bombers and bombers during simulated combat missions. Combat conditioning and the firing of various infantry weapons was also a part of the regular training program. On 1 January 1945 the squadron began to load their gear on ships and set sail 3 January 1945. They arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa,

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 state ...

on 10 January 1945 and proceeded to the nearby island of Kauai for further training. At this tim,e Early Warning Teams of sixteen men and two officers were each detached from the squadron for temporary duty with the 1st and 6th Marine Division, the III Amphibious Corps and the

Tenth United States Army The Tenth United States Army was the last army level command established during the Pacific War during World War II, and included divisions from both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps. History The headquarters of the Tenth Army was formed ...

On 19 February 1945 the squadron boarded amphibious ships and spent the remainder of the month and all of March transiting to

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. AWS-7 debarked at Okinawa on 6 April 1945 and immediately set-up operating units in the vicinity of

Yontan Airfield Yontan Airfield (also known as Yomitan Auxiliary Airfield) is a former military airfield located near Yomitan Village on the west coast of Okinawa. It was closed in July 1996 and turned over to the Japanese government in December 2006. Today it i ...

. Eight days later the squadron moved to Hedo Point at the very northern tip of Okinawa where there remained a fair bit of enemy activity. During May 1945 the squadron controlled over 1800 aircraft without the loss of any pilots, assisted in the rescue of eight pilots who bailed out over water, controlled interceptions resulting in the destruction of 45 enemy planes, and with its

direction finding Direction finding (DF), or radio direction finding (RDF), isin accordance with International Telecommunication Union (ITU)defined as radio location that uses the reception of radio waves to determine the direction in which a radio stati ...

station brought eighteen lost planes home. In June, the squadron controlled 503 division of

combat air patrol Combat air patrol (CAP) is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft. A combat air patrol is an aircraft patrol provided over an objective area, over the force protected, over the critical area of a combat zone, or over an air defense area, ...

(CAP) aircraft as well as 40 divisions of close air support and strike missions, 94 barrier CAP divisions and 24 air-sea rescue escort divisions. On 19 June, the squadron was joined by a platoon from a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Air Warning Battalion. In July, AWS-7 handled 312 CAP division, 105 special strike mission divisions and 14 air-sea rescue escort divisions. Two successful night interceptions were directed during the month to bring the squadron's total at the end of July to 63-day and 9 night kills. The squadron's final numbers during the Battle of Okinawa were 76 enemy planes splashed, 33 air-sea rescues and 315 lost planes honed homed. After the surrender of Japan in August 1945, AWS-7 remained on Okinawa for a few months until it departed for China in October 1945. They squadron established itself at Nanyuan Airfield near

Beiping "Beijing" is from pinyin ''Běijīng,'' which is romanized from , the Chinese name for this city. The pinyin system of transliteration was approved by the Chinese government in 1958, but little used until 1979. It was gradually adopted by various ...

(now Beijing). On 1 August 1946, the squadron was re-designated as ''Marine Ground Control Intercept Squadron 7'' (MGCIS-7). They remained in China controlling aircraft during the American occupation until 7 January 1949. After leaving China, the squadron transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Edenton, North Carolina and was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 15 (MAG-15).

Vietnam War

On 17 April 1965 MACS-7 was moved from MCAS Cherry Point, NC to

Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni is a United States Marine Corps air station located in the Nishiki river delta, southeast of Iwakuni Station in the city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. History The Japanese government bought a large portion of what is today MCAS Iw ...

, Japan. In September 1965 the squadron redeployed to

Chu Lai Chu Lai is a seaport, urban and industrial area in Núi Thành District, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai International Airport. It is also the site of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (Vietnamese: ''Với Khu Kinh T� ...

in the

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of t ...

. MACS-7 assumed responsibility for radar control over I Corps on 15 September 1967. The squadron remained in Vietnam providing early warning and air surveillance until July 1967 when they were replaced by MACS-4 operating the new

Marine Tactical Data System Marine Tactical Data System, commonly known as MTDS, was a mobile, ground based, aviation command and control system developed by the United States Marine Corps for the execution of anti-air warfare in support of the Fleet Marine Force (FMF). It wa ...

. MACS-7 transferred to

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by O ...

, California and was reassigned to

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. MACS-7 has been presented with the following awards:

Citations

References

* * * {{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, we ...