Marine Corps Air Station 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 aviation element of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located in Miramar, San Diego, California, about 14 miles (23 km) north of Downtown San Diego.
Lompoc Airport is a public airport located just north of the city of Lompoc in Santa Barbara County, California, United States.
Naval Air Facility El Centro or NAF El Centro is a United States Navy Naval Air Facility located approximately six miles (10 km) northwest of El Centro, in Imperial County, California. NAF El Centro is under the jurisdiction of Navy Region Southwest and serves both as temporary homeport to military units conducting air-to-air and bombing training, and as the winter training home of the Blue Angels aerobatics display team.
The 9th Marine Aircraft Wing was an aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The wing was commissioned during World War II as a training unit for Marine Aviation personnel headed to the Pacific Theater.
Marine Aviation and Training Support Group 21 (MATSG-21) is a United States Marine Corps aviation training group that was originally established in 1922 as the 2nd Aviation Group. During World War II the unit was known as Marine Aircraft Group 21 (MAG-21). Squadrons from MAG-21 fought in many of the opening battles of the war to include the Battle of Wake Island, Battle of Midway and as part of the Cactus Air Force during the Battle of Guadalcanal The group was deactivated following the end of the war and was not reactivated until 2000 when the Marine Aviation Detachment at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida was renamed MATSG-21. The core of the MATSG personnel is derived from 175 officer instructors and 550 student naval aviators/naval flight officers.
Marine Aircraft Group 93 (MAG-93) was a United States Marine Corps aviation group established during World War II. MAG-93, a dive bombing training group, was commissioned on 1 April 1944 and was initially headquartered at Marine Corps Auxiliary Airfield Bogue, North Carolina. Their mission was to train pilots to fly the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. The group was decommissioned in October 1945 as part of the post-war drawdown of forces and has been inactive since.
Marine Attack Squadron 144 (VMA-144) was a reserve Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack squadron in the United States Marine Corps. Originally known as VMSB-144, the squadron saw its first combat in World War II as part of the Cactus Air Force during the Battle of Guadalcanal and also provided close air support during the Bougainville campaign (1943-1945). Following the war the squadron was deactivated but later became part of the Marine Air Reserve and was based out of Naval Air Station Jacksonville and then Naval Air Station Cecil Field, Florida.
Marine Fighting Squadron 413 (VMF-413) was a fighter squadron of the Marine Forces Reserve during the Cold War. It descended from bombing squadron VMB-413, which was the Marine Corps' first medium bomber squadron and had fought during World War II. Best known as “Night Hecklers” and the “Shamrocks”, the squadron fought in many areas of the Pacific War.
Marine Fighting Squadron 511 (VMF-511) was a fighter squadron of the Marine Corps and Marine Forces Reserve during World War II and the Cold War which flew aircraft types such as the F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair, and the F-8 Crusader. They were originally activated during World War II and fought during the Battle of Okinawa and the Battle of Balikpapan (1945). They specialized in close air support and during the course of the war were credited with only one plane shot down.
Marine Corps Air Facility Walnut Ridge is a former United States Army and United States Marine Corps airfield in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. After it was closed, it was turned into Walnut Ridge Regional Airport.
Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 244 (VMSB-244) was a dive bomber squadron in the United States Marine Corps. The squadron, also known as the “Bombing Banshees”, fought in World War II in the Pacific Theater as part of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. They were deactivated shortly after the end of the war.
Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 342 (VMSB-342) was a dive bomber squadron in the United States Marine Corps. The squadron, also known as the “Bats from Hell”, was active during World War II but never saw combat in the Pacific Theater. The squadron were decommissioned on October 10, 1944.
Chevalier Field was the original non-seaplane aircraft landing area at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Established originally in 1922 as Station Field, it was an expansion of the balloon operating field that opened in 1916. It was located on the northeast side of the Navy shipyard, on the western edge of Pensacola Bay and south of Bayou Grande. The small town of Woolsey, just north of the Navy Yard, had been razed for the creation of the airdrome. "Locals assumed the Army's involvement in the project and had to be informed that the field, initially called Station Field, was intended for the exclusive use of Navy landplanes."
Walnut Ridge Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 4.7 miles (7.6 km) north-northeast of Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. It was closed in 1963.
Marine Attack Squadron 143 (VMA-143), nicknamed the Rocket Raiders, was a reserve attack squadron in the United States Marine Corps. Originally commissioned during World War II, the squadron fought at the Guadalcanal, New Georgia, the Battle of Bougainville, Battle of Okinawa, and the Battle of Balikpapan.
Marine Corps Outlying Field Oak Grove is an auxiliary airport of the United States Marine Corps located near Pollocksville, North Carolina. It was opened on 4 May 1943 during World War II as an outlying field of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. During the war numerous fighter squadrons to include VMF-321 and VMF-323 trained at Oak Grove prior to deploying. After the war, Oak Grove and Marine Corps Auxiliary Airfield Kinston were the MCAS Cherry Point outlying fields to remain open. On 15 June 1947 Oak Grove became a permanent OLF of Cherry Point and today is used for helicopter, tilt-rotor and AV-8B Harrier training.
Woolsey, Florida, was a small community located on the north side of the Pensacola Navy Yard, the construction of which began in Northwest Florida in April 1826. The town was razed in 1922 to make way for expanded Navy facilities.
Marine Fighting Squadron 472 (VMF-472) was a fighter squadron of the United States Marine Corps during World War II. Known as “The Flying Seahorses”, the squadron flew the Grumman F6F Hellcat during its short time in existence. The squadron was slated to support the invasion of Japan in late 1945 however the Japanese surrender meant it did not get further than Hawaii and did not participate in combat action during the war. VMF-472 was decommissioned on December 24, 1945 and no other Marine Corps squadron has carried its lineage and honors since.
