Marine Aircraft Group 14 (MAG-14) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at

Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point or MCAS Cherry Point (*) is a United States Marine Corps airfield located in Havelock, North Carolina, United States, in the eastern part of the state. It was built in 1941, and was commissioned in 1942 and ...

, North Carolina that is currently composed of four AV-8B Harrier squadrons, one F-35C squadron, one UAV squadron, one KC-130 squadron, and an aviation logistics squadron.

Mission

Conduct offensive air support, anti-air warfare, electronic warfare, assault support, and air reconnaissance operations in support 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 ...

or joint and coalition forces, and conduct fleet replacement program training in order to provide combat capable aircrews to operational squadrons.

Subordinate units

AV-8B Harrier Squadrons * VMA-223 "Bulldogs" * VMA-231 "Ace of Spades" * VMA-542 "Tigers" UAV Squadron *

VMU-2 Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2 (VMU-2) is an unmanned aerial vehicle squadron in the United States Marine Corps that operates the RQ-21A Blackjack. The squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock, North Caro ...

"Night Owls" KC-130J Squadron * VMGR-252 "Otis" Aviation Logistics Squadron * MALS-14 "Dragons"

History

World War II

Marine Aircraft Group 14 was formed under the command of Lieutenant colonel

Albert D. Cooley Albert Dustin Cooley (October 11, 1900 – December 10, 1976) was a highly decorated Naval aviator of the United States Marine Corps, who reached the rank of lieutenant general. For his actions during the Battle of Guadalcanal, he received the N ...

at then Camp Kearny, California on 1 March 1942. The nucleus for the new aircraft group came from

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- ...

which had just arrived from Marine Corps Air Station Quantico following the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. They remained there training until they deployed for the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

in October 1942. The Group soon arrived at

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

relieving

Marine Aircraft Group 23 Marine Aviation Training Support Group 23 (MATSG-23) is a United States Marine Corps aviation training group originally established during World War II as Marine Aircraft Group 23 (MAG-23). Squadrons from MAG-23, augmented by Navy and Army flying ...

on 16 October 1942 to become part of the

Cactus Air Force Cactus Air Force refers to the ensemble of Allied air power assigned to the island of Guadalcanal August 1942 until December 1942 during the early stages of the Guadalcanal Campaign, particularly those operating from Henderson Field. The term " ...

. The group would take part in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands just 10 days later. In November 1942 they took part in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and continued to fight in the skies over the island until 4 April 1943 when they were sent to Auckland, New Zealand to rest and refit. MAG-14 returned to the Solomon Islands in August 1943 and set up the Fighter Command at Munda. The next month part of the group was moved to Ondonga and later on more units were sent to Vella Lavella. From these locations they supported the Marines and American and Allied soldiers during the Battle of New Georgia and the Battle of Bougainville. On 15 February 1944 New Zealand troops captured the

Green Islands The Green Islands is a small archipelago of islands in the Solomon Sea, within the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, in northeastern Papua New Guinea. They are located at , about northwest of Bougainville Island, and about east of Rabaul ...

in Papua New Guinea. Less than two weeks later aircraft from MAG-14 were operating from the airstrip here known as ''Lagoon Field''. From here, MAG-14 units would continue to keep pressure on the isolated Japanese garrisons of

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

and Kavieng. By 24 January 1945, four fighter squadrons from MAG-14 were operating from Guiuan in the northern Philippines province of

Eastern Samar Eastern Samar (Waray-Waray: ''Sinirangan Samar''; tl, Silangang Samar), officially the Province of Eastern Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Borongan. Eastern Samar occupies ...

. During fighting in the Philippines the Group was responsible for covering convoys and supporting Army and Filipino guerillas on the islands of Negros, Mindanao, Cebu and Leyte. Following the war the Group returned to Marine Corps Auxiliary Airfield Oak Grove in February 1946 and was deactivated.

The Gulf War & the 1990s

During Operation Desert Storm, MAG-14 flew night combat missions deep into Iraq and Kuwait and provided artillery destruction of the Iraqi Republican Guard. VMA-231 and VMA-542 provided more than 2,000 offensives in conjunction with delivering close to 4.5 million pounds of ordnance during January and February 1991. In November 1999, Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron-2 (VMU-2), which operates the RQ-2A Pioneer Unmanned Aerial Vehicle was reassigned from MAG-14 to Marine Air Control Group 28 (MACG-28) at the decision of the USMC Force Structure Planning Group. On 13 May 2013 VMU-2 was officially reassigned from Marine Air Control Group 28 back to Marine Aircraft Group 14.

Global War on Terror

On 14 May 2012, MWSS-271 was transferred to MAG-14 after

Marine Wing Support Group 27 Marine Wing Support Group 27 (MWSG-27) is a United States Marine Corps aviation combat service support unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. It is composed of four squadrons, which provide the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing and II Mari ...

(MWSG-27) was deactivated, but was transferred back on 22 May 2018, when MWSG-27 was reactivated at MCAS Cherry Point.

Unit awards

None

Other awards