Marine Air Control Group 18 (MACG-18) 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 c ...

aviation command and control unit based at

Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is a United States Marine Corps base located in Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan, northeast of Naha, on the island of Okinawa. It is home to approximately 3,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and other units, and has been a U.S. military ...

that is currently composed of 4 squadrons and 1 HQ support detachment. The Marine Air Control Group as a whole provides 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. A ...

s tactical headquarters, positive and procedural control, air traffic control, short range air defense and air defense control to aircraft for the

III Marine Expeditionary Force III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) is a formation of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force of the United States Marine Corps. It is forward-deployed and able to rapidly conduct operations across the spectrum from humanitarian assistance and ...

Mission

Provide the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing Command, Control, and Communications support for the prosecution of all six functions of Marine Aviation.

Subordinate units

1st LAAD Battalion The 1st Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion is an air defense unit of the United States Marine Corps. It is part of Marine Air Control Group 18 (MACG-18) and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW) and is based at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe ...

(reactivates in FY22) * Marine Air Control Squadron 4 *

Marine Air Support Squadron 2 Marine Air Support Squadron 2 (MASS-2), is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control unit that provides the Direct Air Support Center (DASC) for the III Marine Expeditionary Force. It is the oldest and most decorated aviation comm ...

Marine Wing Communications Squadron 18 Marine Wing Communications Squadron 18 (MWCS-18) is a United States Marine Corps communications squadron. The squadron provides expeditionary communications for the aviation combat element of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. They are based at ...

* Personnel Support Detachment 18

History

World War II

Marine Air Warning Group 2 was commissioned on January 8, 1944 at Marine Corps Air Depot Miramar,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The Group's mission was to make available Air Warning Squadrons for combat and to store and maintain air warning equipment until assigned to air warning squadrons going overseas. Most of the leadership in the air warning squadrons was new to the Marine Corps with most time spent learning the details of their highly technical equipment. Thus the majority of the responsibility for embarking squadrons on their way to combat fell on the Group Headquarters. Squadrons received their gear and final training while attached to MACG-2. This usually took place during a six week field evolution during which they also practiced landing operations. Eleven air warning squadrons trained and deployed from MAWG-2. The group was decommissioned on August 1, 1945.

1967-present

The group was reformed on September 1, 1967 in

Danang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is o ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

as ''Marine Air Control Group 18'' at the height of US participation in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. At that time the Group's component units were already involved in combat. Its

Hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfa ...

battalion was among the first US Marine units to land in Vietnam.1st LAAM Bn in Vietnam – 12 February 1965 – Marine Corps Base 29 Palms Observation Post
/ref> From its formation, MACG-18 and subordinated units, with attachments scattered throughout the I Corps Tactical Zone, participated in every major campaign conducted in the northern area of

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

until its departure from Vietnam. In recognition of their accomplishments during the Vietnam War, MACG-18 and its units were awarded four Presidential Unit Citations, three

Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend any Navy or Marine Co ...

s and a

Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or ...

. The Group moved from Vietnam to

Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni is a United States Marine Corps air station located in the Nishiki river delta, southeast of Iwakuni Station in the city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. History The Japanese government bought a large portion of what is today MCAS Iw ...

, Japan in 1971, and then to the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, in 1975. Since the end of the war in Vietnam, MACG-18 has assumed a major role in joint, combined and Marine air-ground training and contingency operation in the Western Pacific.

Unit awards

A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the awarded unit citation. MACG-18 has been presented with the following awards:

Citations

References

;Bibliography * * *

External links

MACG-18's official website
{{1stMAW United States Marine Corps air control groups Military units and formations established in 1967