Marine Light Helicopter Squadron 776 (HMM-776) was a reserve helicopter squadron of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

. The squadron was based at

Naval Air Station Glenview Naval Air Station Glenview or NAS Glenview was an operational U.S. Naval Air Station from 1937 to 1995. Located in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, the air base primarily operated training aircraft as well as seaplanes on nearby Lake M ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and fell under

Marine Air Control Group 48 Marine Air Control Group 48 (MACG-48) is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control unit based at Naval Station Great Lakes that is currently composed of 4 squadrons that provide the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing and Marine Forces Res ...

and the

4th Marine Aircraft Wing The 4th Marine Aircraft Wing is the reserve airwing of the United States Marine Corps. It is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana but its subordinate units are scattered throughout the United States. Mission Conduct air operations in sup ...

. HML-776 was deactivated on 1 July 1994.

Mission

History

Marine Helicopter Transport Squadron 776 (HMR-776) was commissioned at

, on 1 April 1959. They were the second helicopter squadron to form at NAS Glenview after HMR-763 was activated in April 1958. In April 1962, the squadron was redesignated Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 776 (HMM-776). The redesignated HMM-763 was deactivated 30 September 1962 and its personnel reassigned to HMM-776. Another change in designation took place in 1972 when the squadron traded in its UH-34Ds for UH-1Es, and was again redesignated to its final name, HML-776. In January 1979 the squadron was reassigned to

. In 1990, HML-776 was called to active duty in support of

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

and was deployed to

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

to fill a gap in forces left by the deployment of active duty forces to

Southwest Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenia ...

. In 1991, while assigned to

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 ...

, HML-776 was sent to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

to assist in relief operations following the eruption of

Mount Pinatubo Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Zambales Mountains in Luzon in the Philippines. Located on the tripoint of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga provinces, most people were unaware of its eruptive history before the pre-eruption volc ...

. The squadron returned to NAS Glenview in 1991 and returned to reserve status. In 1994, as part of the reorganization of the

Marine Forces Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Reserve is an expedit ...

, HML-776 was deactivated. The squadron’s personnel and aircraft were transferred to

Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove or NASJRB Willow Grove was a Naval Air Station owned by the U.S. Navy and located in Horsham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States four miles (6 km) northwest of the cent ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, and formed

HMLA-773 Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 773 (HMLA-773) is a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron consisting of Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and Bell UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters. The squadron is based at Joint Base McGuire– ...

, Detachment A.

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. HML-776has been presented with the following awards:

References

;Notes ;Bibliography ;Web *
HML-776's unofficial Facebook page
{{US Marine Corps navbox L776 Inactive units of the United States Marine Corps

Mission

History

Unit awards

See also

References