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Nichols Field was a U.S. military airfield located south of Manila in Pasay and Parañaque, Metro Manila, Luzon, the Philippines. The complex is located at Andrews Avenue by the north, Domestic Road by the west, NAIA Road and Ninoy Aquino Avenue by the southwest, Multinational Avenue by the south, South Luzon Expressway and the Metro Manila Skyway by the east, and Sales Street by the northeast.
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 212 (VMFA-212) was a United States Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet squadron. Most recently known as the "Lancers", the squadron was last based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan and fell under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 12 (MAG-12) and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. VMFA-212 has an extensive combat history having participated in combat operations during World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and Operation Enduring Freedom. Due to a re-organization within Marine aviation, the squadron was deactivated in 2008.
USS Walter S. Brown (DE-258) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy during World War II. She was engaged in protecting convoys in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean.
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 531 (VMFA-531) was a United States Marine Corps fighter squadron consisting of F/A-18 Hornets. Known as the "Grey Ghosts”, the squadron participated in action during World War II and the Vietnam War. They were decommissioned on March 27, 1992.
Training Squadron EIGHT SIX (VT-86), also known as the "Sabrehawks," is a United States Navy advanced jet training squadron based at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Training Squadron 86 is a tenant command of Training Air Wing 6. They are a training squadron flying the T-45C Goshawk. Their tailcode is F and their radio callsign is ROKT.
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USS Goss (DE-444) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 and from 1951 to 1958. She was scrapped in 1972.
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The North-Western Area Campaign was an air campaign fought between the Allied and Japanese air forces over northern Australia and the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) between 1942 and 1945. The campaign began with the Japanese bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 and continued until the end of the war.
Patrol Squadron 24 (VP-24) was a Patrol Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Bombing Squadron One Hundred Four (VB-104) on 10 April 1943, redesignated as Patrol Bombing Squadron One Hundred Four (VPB-104) on 1 October 1944, redesignated as Patrol Squadron One Hundred Four (VP-104) on 15 May 1946, redesignated Heavy Patrol Squadron (Landplane) Four (VP-HL-4) on 15 November 1946, redesignated Patrol Squadron Twenty Four (VP-24) on 1 September 1948, the third squadron to be assigned the VP-24 designation, redesignated Attack Mining Squadron Thirteen (VA-HM-13) on 1 July 1956, redesignated Patrol Squadron Twenty Four (VP-24) on 1 July 1959 and disestablished 30 April 1995.
Marion Milton Magruder was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, and a pioneer in Radar Intercept Night Fighting. He was the first commanding officer of Marine aircraft squadron VMF(N)-533, then known as "Black Mac's Killers", and led that squadron during the Battle of the Marshall Islands and Battle of Okinawa in World War II.
Marine Air Control Squadron 7 (MACS-7) was a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control squadron. The squadron provided aerial surveillance and ground-controlled interception and saw action most notably during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II and the Vietnam War. They were last based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma and fell under the command of Marine Air Control Group 38 (MACG-38) and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
North-Western Area Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. Its wartime sphere of operations included the Northern Territory, adjacent portions of Queensland and Western Australia, and the Dutch East Indies. The command was formed in January 1942, following the outbreak of the Pacific War, from the western part of Northern Area Command, which had covered all of northern Australia and Papua. Headquartered at Darwin, North-Western Area Command was initially responsible for air defence, aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its boundaries.
Walter Lewis John Bayler was a brigadier general in the United States Marine Corps who was famed during World War II as the "Last Man Off Wake Island" and the only American to see combat at Wake Island, Midway and Guadalcanal. A naval aviator and communications engineer, he was at the forefront of the Marine Corps' use of radar for early warning and fighter direction. He was one of the driving forces behind the Marine Corps' establishment of an air warning program and served as the first commanding officer of the 1st Marine Air Warning Group.
Robert O. Bisson was a brigadier general in the United States Marine Corps who served in both World War II and the Korean War. A naval aviator and communications engineer, he was at the forefront of the Marine Corps' use of radar for early warning and fighter direction. In 1943, as a member of VMF(N)-531, he supervised the installation and operation of the Marine Corps' first ground-controlled interception (GCI) equipment utilized in a combat zone. During the Battle of Okinawa he commanded the headquarters responsible for coordinating the Marine Corps' ground-based air defense units.
Assault Air Warning Squadrons were United States Marine Corps aviation command and control units formed during World War II to provide early warning, aerial surveillance, and ground controlled interception during the early phases of amphibious landing. These squadrons were supposed to be fielded lightweight radars and control center gear in order to operate for a limited duration at the beginning of any operation until larger air warning squadrons came ashore. Four of these squadrons were commissioned during the war with one, AWS(AT)-5, taking part in the Battle of Saipan. All four squadrons were decommissioned on November 10, 1944 because the Marine Corps was unable to field the required mobile radars. The "first in" capability that the Assault Air Warning Squadrons were supposed to provide was transferred to the Early Warning Teams that were added to the tables of organization for the regular air warning squadrons.
The Marine Corps Early Warning Detachment, Guadalcanal (1942–43) was a ground based early-warning radar detachment that provided long range detection and rudimentary fighter direction against Japanese air raids during the Battle of Guadalcanal. Initially deployed as part of the headquarters of Marine Aircraft Group 23, this detachment established an SCR-270 long range radar that allowed the Cactus Air Force to husband its critically short fighter assets during the early stages of the battle when control of the island was still very much in doubt. The detachment arrived on Guadalcanal on August 28, 1942, began operating in mid-September, and did not depart until early March 1943. Combat lessons learned from this detachment had a great deal of influence on the Marine Corps' development of its own organic, large scale air warning program which began in early 1943.
USS Van Valkenburgh (DD-656) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named for Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh (1888–1941), captain of the battleship Arizona when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
References
- Record of Argus Assembly and Training Detachment, Port Hueneme, California - April 1944 - United States Navy
- Science and the Pacific War: Science and Survival in the Pacific, 1939-1945 - Kluwer Academic Publishers - Edited by Roy. M. MacLeod - ISBN 0792358511
- Popular Mechanics - Hearst Magazines - March 1946
- USN Argus Unit Historical Group