HMH-361
Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 (HMH-361) is a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron consisting of CH-53E Super Stallion transport helicopters. The squadron, known as the "Flying Tigers", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California, and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 16 (MAG-16) and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (3rd MAW). History Early years HMH-361 was initially commissioned as Marine Transport Squadron 361 on 25 February 1952 at what was then Marine Corps Air Station Santa Ana. The squadron was attached to the only helicopter group in the Marine Corps, Marine Air Group (HR) 16. At that time, the squadron consisted of only three OY-2 and one HRS-2 helicopters located at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. The original mission of the squadron was to train for and improve upon amphibious ship-to-shore tactics. An additional mission was training replacement pilots for duty in the Korean War. Shortly thereafter the squadron undertook its ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located in Miramar, a community of San Diego, California, about north of downtown San Diego. The airfield has been named Mitscher Field since 1955, after Admiral M. A. Mitscher, who was the commander of Task Force 58 during World War II. The air station is the former location of Pacific Fleet fighter and Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft ( F-4 Phantom II, F-14 Tomcat, E-2 Hawkeye) and is best known as the former location of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School (NFWS), its TOPGUN training program and the movie of the same name. In 1996, NFWS was relocated to Naval Air Station Fallon in western Nevada, 60 miles east of Reno, and merged into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC). During the heyday of TOPGUN at NAS Miramar, the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Marine Aircraft Group 16
Marine Aircraft Group 16 is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar that is currently composed of four V-22 Osprey squadrons, four CH-53 Super Stallion squadrons, one Personnel Support Detachment, and an aviation logistics squadron. The group falls under the command of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and the I Marine Expeditionary Force. Mission Provide air support to Marine Air-Ground Task Force commanders. Organization 2024 As of March 2024 the Marine Aircraft Group 16 consists of: CH-53E Super Stallion squadrons: * HMH-361 "Flying Tigers" * HMH-462 "Heavy Haulers" * HMH-465 "Warhorse" * HMH-466 "Wolfpack" MV-22 Osprey squadrons: * VMM-161 "Greyhawks" * VMM-163 "Evil Eyes" (Formerly "Ridge Runners") * VMM-165 "White Knights" * VMM-362 "Ugly Angels" Support squadron: * Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16 (MALS-16) Immortals (Formerly "Forerunners") History Marine Helicopter Transport Group 16 (MAG(HR)-16) was commissio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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CH-53E Super Stallion
The Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavy lift helicopter operated by the United States military. As the Sikorsky S-80, it was developed from the CH-53 Sea Stallion, mainly by adding a third engine, adding a seventh blade to the main rotor, and canting the tail rotor 20°. It was built by Sikorsky Aircraft for the United States Marine Corps. Developed in the 1970s, it entered service in 1981, and is planned to be in service into the 2030s. It is one of the largest military helicopters in service, and is operated from U.S. Navy ships or from land. The Navy also operates the MH-53E Sea Dragon which fills the United States Navy's need for long-range minesweeping or airborne mine countermeasures missions, and performs heavy-lift duties for the Navy. The Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion, which has new engines, new composite rotor blades, and a wider aircraft cabin, is set to replace the CH-53E and enter service in the 2020s. Most of the Super Stallions in service are configured a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Operation Shufly
Operation Shufly was a United States Marine Corps operation to improve the mobility of Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces in the early phases of the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1965. Beginning on 15 April 1962, Marine helicopter squadrons, associated maintenance units and air traffic control detachments deployed to Sóc Trăng Airfield in the Mekong Delta and later to Da Nang Air Base rotating every four months in order to provide assault support and CASEVAC assistance during combat operations. By early 1965 half of the Marine Corps' medium helicopter squadrons had rotated through a "Shufly" deployment. The operation ended on 8 March 1965, when the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade came ashore in Vietnam as the vanguard of the United States' commitment of large numbers of regular combat units into South Vietnam. Background After General Maxwell D. Taylor's report to President John F. Kennedy at the end of 1961, the Joint Chiefs of Staff sent word to then Commander i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Operation Union II
Operation Union II was a search and destroy mission in the Quế Sơn Valley carried out by the 5th Marine Regiment. Launched on 26 May 1967 the operation ended on 5 June. U.S. reported the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) lost 701 killed and 23 captured, while U.S. casualties were 110 killed and 241 wounded. Background The Quế Sơn Valley is located along the border of Quảng Nam and Quảng Tín Provinces. During the Vietnam War it lay in the southern part of South Vietnam's I Corps. Populous and rice-rich, the valley was viewed as one of the keys to controlling South Vietnam's five northern provinces by the North Vietnamese and by early 1967 at least two regiments of the PAVN 2nd Division had been infiltrated into the area. The Quế Sơn Valley was also recognized as strategically important by the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam ( MACV). The 1st Battalion, 5th Marines and 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, experienced units, that had fought in South Vietnam since ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Marine Aircraft Group 36
Marine Aircraft Group 36 (MAG-36) is an active air group of the United States Marine Corps, tasked with providing assault support aircraft. It is currently part of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW), itself an integral part of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, and based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, Japan. Mission The mission of MAG-36 is to support the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) with combat ready expeditionary assault support aircraft and when directed, plan and conduct aviation operations as a Marine Expeditionary Brigade-level Aviation Combat Element. Subordinate units * VMM-262 * VMM-265 * MALS-36 * Marine Wing Support Squadron 172 Also attached are Unit Deployment Program (UDP) squadrons, usually Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadrons flying the UH-1Y and AH-1Z, and Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadrons flying the CH-53E. History Originally formed at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, in Santa Ana, California, on 2 June 1952 as Mari ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Operation Harvest Moon
Operation Harvest Moon/Lien Ket 18 was a US Marine Corps and Army of the Republic of Vietnam search and destroy operation in the Quế Sơn Valley in western Quảng Tín Province, lasting from 8 to 20 December 1965. Background On the evening of 17 November 1965 the Viet Cong (VC) 1st Regiment overran the Regional Force garrison defending the district capital of Hiệp Đức at the mouth of the Quế Sơn Valley. On the morning of 18 November as helicopters from Marine Aircraft Group 16 and Marine Aircraft Group 36 began landing 2 ARVN battalions on a landing zone 700m southwest of Hiệp Đức, they were hit by antiaircraft fire from VC 12.7mm machine guns in the adjacent hills which hit 17 out of 30 UH-34s and killed 1 Marine crewman. The helicopter landings were suspended while F-4Bs from Marine Aircraft Group 11 and A-4s from Marine Aircraft Group 12 attacked the antiaircraft positions. The helicopter landings were resumed and the ARVN repulsed an attack on th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Okinawa Island
, officially , is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five Japanese archipelago, main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an area of . It is roughly south of the main island of Kyushu and the rest of Japan. It is northeast of Taiwan. The total population of Okinawa Island was 1,384,762 in 2009. The greater Naha area has roughly 800,000 residents, while the city itself has about 320,000 people. Naha is the seat of Okinawa Prefecture on the southwestern part of Okinawa Island. Okinawa has a humid subtropical climate. Okinawa has been a strategic location for the United States Armed Forces since the Battle of Okinawa and the end of World War II. The island was formally controlled by the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands until 1972, with around 26,000 U.S. military personnel stationed on Oki ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Da Nang Air Base
Da Nang Air Base () (1930s–1975) (also known as Da Nang Airfield, Tourane Airfield or Tourane Air Base) was a French Air Force and later Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) facility located in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam. During the Vietnam War (1959–1975), it was a major base with United States Army, United States Air Force (USAF), and United States Marine Corps (USMC) units stationed there. Air Vietnam also used the facility from 1951 to 1975 for civilian domestic and international flights within Southeast Asia. Early history On 22 September 1940, the Vichy France, Vichy Government signed an agreement with Japan allowing the Japanese to station troops in Tonkin and use three airfields there. On 14 July 1941, the Japanese sent the French an ultimatum demanding the use of bases in Annam (French protectorate), Annam and Cochinchina, the French acquiesced and by late July, the Japanese occupied Cam Ranh Bay, Bien Hoa Air Base and Tourane Airfield. In late 1944, the Fourteen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with its capital at Saigon, before becoming a republic in 1955, when the southern half of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of the Cold War after the 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954 division of Vietnam. South Vietnam was bordered by North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) to the north, Kingdom of Laos, Laos to the northwest, Khmer Republic, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. Its sovereignty was recognized by the United States and 87 other nations, though it failed to gain admission into the United Nations as a result of a Soviet Union, Soviet veto in 1957. It was succeeded by the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, Rep ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Operation Starlite
Operation Starlite (also known in Vietnam as Battle of Van Tuong) was the first major offensive action conducted by a purely U.S. military unit during the Vietnam War from 18 to 24 August 1965. The operation was launched based on intelligence provided by Major general Nguyen Chanh Thi, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) I Corps commander. III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) commander Lieutenant General Lewis W. Walt devised a plan to launch a pre-emptive strike against the Viet Cong (VC) 1st Regiment to nullify their threat to the vital Chu Lai Air Base and Base Area and ensure that its powerful communication tower remained intact. The operation was conducted as a combined arms assault involving ground, air and naval units. U.S. Marines were deployed by helicopter insertion while an amphibious landing was used to deploy other Marines. The VC used a variety of tactics to counter the Marine assault, fighting from prepared positions and then withdrawing as the Mar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Viet Cong
The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and conducted military operations under the name of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam (LASV). The movement fought under the direction of North Vietnam against the South Vietnamese and United States governments during the Vietnam War. The organization had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized and mobilized peasants in the territory the VC controlled. During the war, communist fighters and some anti-war activists claimed that the VC was an insurgency indigenous to the South that represented the legitimate rights of people in South Vietnam, while the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a tool of North Vietnam. It was later conceded by the modern Vietnamese communist lead ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |