Marine Aviation and Training Support Group 33 (MATSG-33) 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
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...
training
group that was originally established 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 ...
as Marine Aircraft Group 33 (MAG-33). Fighter squadrons from MAG-33 fought most notably during the
Battle of Okinawa
The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...
and also as the first Marine aviation units to support 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 ...
when they arrived as part of the
1st Provisional Marine Brigade
The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade was a Marine (military), Marine infantry brigade of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) that existed periodically from 1912 to 1950. It was an ad hoc unit formed for specific operations and not considered a "p ...
. They helped stabilize the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
positions during the
Battle of Pusan Perimeter and fought in Korea for the remainder of the war. At some point in the 1960s, the group was deactivated and was not reactivated until 2000, when Marine Aviation Training Support Group at
Naval Air Station Oceana
Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Nowadays, the station is located on 23.9 km2. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 mil ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
was renamed MATSG-33.
Mission
Provide administration and training support to all Marines aboard
NAS Oceana
Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Nowadays, the station is located on 23.9 km2. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 mill ...
. While the MATSG's mission is administrative in nature, the command monitors the flow of students through the Naval Air Training Command, provides Marine Corps discipline and Marine Corps peculiar training
History
World War II
Marine Aircraft Group 33 (MAG-33) was commissioned on February 1, 1943 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
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 So ...
. They moved to
Marine Corps Auxiliary Field Bogue
Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue , also known as Bogue Field, is an landing field located on Bogue Sound (North Carolina) that serves as a Marine Corps’ East Coast site for Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP). It is a sub facili ...
on September 27, 1943. On April 6, 1944, the group again transferred, this time to
Marine Corps Air Station Eagle Mountain Lake
Marine Corps Air Station Eagle Mountain Lake (MCAS Eagle Mountain Lake) was a United States Marine Corps air station that was located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas during World War II. Commissioned on December 1, 1942, the air station was ori ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
where they spent the remainder of the summer training. In August, they moved on to
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 ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
to prepare for their deployment to the
South Pacific.
In September 1944, MAG-33 left California for the
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
. They eventually settled in
Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census.
Geography
The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region o ...
on November 29, 1944 after travelling through
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
,
Eniwetok
Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...
,
Peleliu
Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II.
H ...
,
Ulithi
Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap.
Overview
Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...
and
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...
. On April 2, 1945, the group arrived off
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 ...
and eventually based out of, what is today,
Kadena Air Base
(IATA: DNA, ICAO: RODN) is a highly strategic United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is often referred to as the "Keystone of the Pacific" because of its highl ...
. They served throughout the
Battle of Okinawa
The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...
, providing
close air support
In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and moveme ...
for the Marines and Soldiers on the ground. The group remained on Okinawa for the remainder of the war. Under the command of Col. Ward E. Dickey, MAG-33 set the record for most air-to-air kills on Okinawa at 214.
In January 1946, the group returned to the United States and was based out of
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 ...
.
Korean War
On July 2, 1950 the
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...
voted to commit the
1st Provisional Marine Brigade
The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade was a Marine (military), Marine infantry brigade of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) that existed periodically from 1912 to 1950. It was an ad hoc unit formed for specific operations and not considered a "p ...
to combat in
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
. At the outbreak of the war, MAG-33 was part of the
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 ...
(1st MAW) and located 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
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. The group was well below normal strength due to force cuts which came after World War II. Because it was a skeleton of itself, the majority of 1st MAW had to be stripped bare to reconstitute the MAG. Air group personnel and equipment boarded the transport
USS General A. E. Anderson (AP-111)
USS ''General A. E. Anderson'' (AP-111) was a troop transport that served with the United States Navy in World War II and the Korean War.
''General A. E. Anderson'' was launched 2 May 1943 under a Maritime Commission contract by the Federal Ship ...
and the attack cargo ship
USS Achernar (AKA-53)
USS ''Achernar'' (AKA-53) was an attack cargo ship (a cargo ship designed to support amphibious warfare operations) of the United States Navy during World War II and after.
For the invasion of Normandy it was the command post of General Omar ...
at
Terminal Island
Terminal Island, historically known as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles, and the city of Long Be ...
; aircraft and aircrews were embarked on
USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116)
USS ''Badoeng Strait'' (CVE-116) was a of the United States Navy during the Korean War.
She was named after the Badung Strait, located between the Indonesian islands of Bali and Nusa Besar, which was the site of a World War II battle in Feb ...
. On 14 July, exactly twelve days after the receipt of the warning order to deploy, MAG-33 set sail for Korea.
![MAG-33 insignia in Korea](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/MAG-33_insignia_in_Korea.jpg)
MAG-33 had offloaded in
Kobe, Japan
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, which ...
and were composed of the
F4U Corsair squadrons of
VMF-323
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 (VMFA-323) is an aircraft carrier-based aviation squadron of the United States Marine Corps. The squadron is equipped with the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet and is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, ...
and
VMF-214
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214 (VMFA-214) is a United States Marine Corps attack squadron consisting of Lockheed Martin F-35B STOVL jets. It is currently in the process of transitioning from its fleet of AV-8B Harrier (V/STOL) jets. The squ ...
, the ''Flying Nightmares'' of
VMF(N)-513 flying the night-fighting versions of the Corsair and the
F7F Tigercat and
VMO-6
Marine Observation Squadron 6 (VMO-6) was an observation squadron of the United States Marine Corps which saw extensive action during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The squadron was the first Marine Corps h ...
with its eight
OY-2 observation aircraft and four
HO3S1 helicopters.
VMF-323 stationed itself on board the
USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116)
USS ''Badoeng Strait'' (CVE-116) was a of the United States Navy during the Korean War.
She was named after the Badung Strait, located between the Indonesian islands of Bali and Nusa Besar, which was the site of a World War II battle in Feb ...
, VMF-214 would fly off the
USS Sicily (CVE-118)
USS ''Sicily'' (CVE-118) was a in the United States Navy. She was named in honor of the island of Sicily, which was the site of a major invasion during World War II. ''Sicily'' was laid down on 23 October 1944 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corpo ...
, VMF(N)-513 would operate from
Itazuke under
Fifth Air Force control and VMO-6 would be based in
Pusan
Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...
. The first offensive action of the group came on August 3 when VMF-214 launched an eight plane strike package against the
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
n 6th Division in the vicinity of
Jinju
Jinju () is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It was the location of the first (1592) and second (1593) Sieges of Jinju by Japanese forces during the Imjin War. The Republic of Korea Air Force Education and Training Command is ...
.
[Chapin ''Fire Brigade'', p.14] MAG-33 would also deploy with the first helicopter ever to be employed by the United States in combat.
[Chapin ''Fire Brigade'', p.9]
2000 to present
Commencing in January 1982, Marine Corps officer and enlisted personnel were assigned to Light Attack Wing One (CLAW ONE). These Marines performed duties as members of the
F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, supersonic aircraft, supersonic, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, ...
Fleet Introduction Team and were administratively joined on the rolls of Marine Barracks, Cecil Field. In 1984, approximately 195 Marines of all grades were assigned permanently to units at
NAS Cecil Field
Naval Air Station Cecil Field or NAS Cecil Field was a United States Navy air base, located in Duval County, Florida. Prior to October 1999, NAS Cecil Field was the largest military base in terms of acreage in the Jacksonville, Florida area.
NA ...
. In subsequent years, this number increased due to the number of Marines temporarily undergoing instruction with
VFA-106
Strike Fighter Squadron 106 (VFA-106), also known as the "Gladiators", is a United States Navy F/A-18 Hornet and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Fleet Replacement Squadron stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.
Mission
As the East Coast Fleet ...
. During the
Base Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the end o ...
(BRAC) board of 1993, it was determined that VFA-106, Naval Aviation Maintenance Group Detachment, and MATSG would be reassigned to
Naval Air Station Oceana
Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Nowadays, the station is located on 23.9 km2. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 mil ...
upon the closure of NAS Cecil Field.
On May 4, 2000, the Commanding General of
Marine Corps Combat Development Command
Marine Corps Combat Development Command (MCCDC), located at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Prince William County, Virginia, has the mission of supporting the development of future operational concepts and the determination of how to best organize, ...
released a message redesignating all MATSGs to incorporate appropriate honors and history of Marine Aircraft Groups. Hence, MATSG, NAS Cecil Field, was redesignated as MATSG-33 upon the reassignment to NAS Oceana, taking on the history of MAG-33.
On July 1, 2006, the
Commandant of the Marine Corps
The commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) is normally the highest-ranking officer in the United States Marine Corps and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joint Chiefs of Staff: composition; functions. The CMC reports directly to the secr ...
released a message realigning all MATSGs to fall under the Commanding General, Training Command, part of
Training and Education Command.
On June 22 2016, MATSG-33 conducted its deactivation ceremony aboard NAS Oceana.
See also
*
List of United States Marine Corps aircraft groups
This is a list of United States Marine Corps Aviation Groups (MAG, MACG, MATSG). Inactive groups are listed by their designation at the time they were decommissioned.
Active Marine Aircraft Groups (MAG)
MAGs consist of a MAG headquarters, a Mar ...
*
United States Marine Corps Aviation
United States Marine Corps Aviation (USMCA) is the aircraft arm of the United States Marine Corps. Aviation units within the Marine Corps are assigned to support the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, as the aviation combat element, by providing six ...
Notes
:
References
Bibliography
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Web
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External links
MATSG-33's official website
{{US Marine Corps navbox
Tr
Military units and formations in Virginia
AG0033