Marine Wing Support Squadron 272 (MWSS 272) is an aviation ground support unit of the

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 ...

. They are based out of

Marine Corps Air Station New River Marine Corps Air Station New River is a United States Marine Corps helicopter and tilt-rotor base in Jacksonville, North Carolina, in the eastern part of the state. In 1972, the airfield was named McCutcheon Field for General Keith B. McCutcheon ...

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 ...

. The squadron, nicknamed "The Untouchables," falls under the command of

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 ...

and the

2nd Marine Aircraft Wing The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (2nd MAW) is the major east coast aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered in Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The Wing provides the aviation combat element for the ...

Mission

Provide all essential Aviation Ground Support (AGS) requirements to a designated rotary-wing component of an Aviation Combat Element (ACE) including all supporting or attached elements of the Marine Air Control Group. When tasked with operating an airfield the squadron must conduct all aviation and ground refueling, aircraft recovery and firefighting, expeditionary airfield services, explosive ordnance disposal and weather services. When tasked with supporting airfield functions the squadron provides essential engineer services; field messing facilities; internal airfield communications; individual and unit training; motor transport support; nuclear, chemical and biological defense; routine and emergency sick call and aviation medicine; security and law enforcement; and an Airbase Commandant. The Squadron is the enabling organization for the employment of Marine Aviation ashore

Subordinate units

*Headquarters & Services Company *Airfield Operations Company *Engineer Company *Motor Transportation Company

History

Marine Wing Support Squadron 272 was activated on 6 June 1986 at

, North Carolina. MWSS-272 was organized from the assets of Marine Air Base Squadron 26, Marine Air Base Squadron 29 and Detachment "A", Marine Wing Support Group 27, which were deactivated on 5 June 1986.

Global War on Terror

In late 2001, MWSS-272 augmented several

Marine Expeditionary Unit A Marine expeditionary unit (MEU, pronounced as one syllable "" IPA: ) is the smallest air-ground task force (MAGTF) in the United States Fleet Marine Force.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 ...

(OEF). MWSS-272 deployed to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

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 ...

(OIF) in February 2003 and remained there until June 2003. MWSS-272 was responsible for providing aviation ground support to three Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) at Al Jabr, Ali Al Salem, and Joe Foss. FOB Joe Foss was the largest expeditionary airfield built since

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 ...

, and it was vitally important to air assault and

medevac Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

operations during the war. In 2004, MWSS-272 augmented both MWSS-271 and

MWSS-273 Marine Wing Support Squadron 273 (MWSS-273) is an aviation ground support unit of the United States Marine Corps. They are based out of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina. The squadron falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Gr ...

with personnel for their AGS mission in Iraq again as well as providing personnel to support operations for OEF in the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

. In August 2005 the Squadron deployed to

Al Asad 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 ...

Iraq in support of

, and provided aviation ground support for the entire airbase at

as well as FOB Al Qaim. In 2009 Marines from MWSS-272 augmented MWSS-271 in support of

(OIF), and provided aviation ground support at various airbases throughout the forward operating area. The Squadron deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 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 ...

, again providing aviation ground support at various locations across Helmand Province. On 29 February 2012, operational control of MWSS-272 transferred from Marine Wing Support Group 27 to

Marine Aircraft Group 26 Marine Aircraft Group 26 (MAG-26) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Station New River composed of seven MV-22 Osprey squadrons, one of which is the Fleet Replacement Squadron, an aviation logistics squadron ...

, in advance of the deactivation of MWSG-27 during May 2012. As a result of this permanent change, and to reflect the all-MV22 type/model/series make-up of MAG-26, the Squadron patch was redesigned to incorporate elements that reflect its mission of expeditionary airfield construction and aviation ground support. The elements are a M970 refueling truck and a Medium Crawler Tractor bulldozer, at the end of an AM-2 airfield matting runway. An Osprey tiltrotor aircraft now dominates the top half of the patch, included to reflect the airframe flown by MWSS-272's sister squadrons of MAG-26.

External links

MWSS-272's official website
{{2ndMAW MWSS272

Mission

Subordinate units

History

Global War on Terror

See also

External links