Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24 (MALS-24) is an aviation

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

support unit 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 ...

. Known as the "Warriors", they fall under the command of

Marine Aircraft Group 24 Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay. MAG-24 is subordinate to the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and the III Marine Expeditionary Force, III Marine Expeditionar ...

(MAG-24) and 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 Island, Okina ...

(1st MAW) and are currently based at

Marine Corps Base Hawaii Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), formerly Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay and originally Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, is a United States Marine Corps, U.S. Marine Corps facility and air station located on the Mokapu Peninsula of windward ...

Mission

Provide aviation logistics support, guidance, planning and direction to Marine Aircraft Group squadrons on behalf of the commanding officer, as well as logistics support for Navy funded equipment in the supporting Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS), Marine Air Control Group (MACG), and Marine Aircraft Wing/Mobile Calibration Complex (MAW/MCC). * Provide intermediate level maintenance for aircraft and aeronautical equipment of all supported units and, when authorized, perform first-degree repair on specific engines. * Provide aviation supply support for aircraft and Navy-funded equipment to all supported units. * Provide Class V(a) ammunition logistics support to the MAG's squadrons. This support encompasses the requisitioning, storage, handling, assembly, transportation, and inventory reporting of Class V(a) ammunition. Be capable of planning for, and operating, an airfield ammunition issue point at expeditionary airfields. * Interpret, implement, audit, inspect, and provide oversight for the MAG, CO, of all policies and procedures relating to the administration and management of operations and maintenance, Navy funds, aviation supply, and aircraft.

History

World War II

The squadron was commissioned on March 1, 1942 at

Marine Corps Air Station Ewa Marine Corps Air Station Ewa (MCAS Ewa) was a United States Marine Corps air station that was located west of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The base was hit during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and later served as the hub for all ...

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

, Hawaii, as Headquarters and Service Squadron 24 and assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 24,

2nd Marine Aircraft Wing The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (2nd MAW) is the major East Coast of the United States, east coast aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered in Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The Wing provides the ...

. The squadron deployed during March 1942 to

Efate Efate (), also known as Île Vate (), is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in Vanuatu. Geography It is the most populous (approx. 66,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third larg ...

New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium () and named after the Hebrides in Scotland, was the colonial name for the island group in the South Pacific Ocean that is now Vanuatu. Native people had inhabited the islands for three th ...

where it helped establish an

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

near the capital city of

Port Vila Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province. The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the ...

. The squadron departed Efate in June 1942, arriving at

Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara (MCAS Santa Barbara) was a United States Marine Corps air station that was located in Goleta, California north of Los Angeles during World War II. It was also known as the Goleta Air Station in the 194 ...

, California on June 15, 1942. On July 1, 1942 the squadron was redesignated as Headquarters Squadron 24. The squadron redeployed during September 1943 to

, and were reassigned to the

. They participated in the Battle of Bougainville and the

Philippines campaign (1944–1945) Philippines campaign may refer to various military campaigns that have been fought in the Philippine Islands, including: Spanish colonial period (1565–1898) *Numerous revolts against Spain during the Spanish colonial period; see Philippine revo ...

. In September–October 1945 they were moved to

Beiping "Beijing" is from pinyin ''Běijīng,'' which is romanized from , the Chinese name for this city. The pinyin system of transliteration was approved by the Chinese government in 1958, but little used until 1979. It was gradually adopted by various ...

, China and participated in the occupation of North China from October 1946 to April 1947. MALS-24 was relocated during May–July 1949 to

Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point or MCAS Cherry Point (*) is a United States Marine Corps airfield located in Havelock, North Carolina, United States, in the eastern part of the state. It was built in 1941, and was commissioned in 1942 an ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.

1949–1967

The squadron was again redesignated on February 15, 1954 as Headquarters and Maintenance Squadron 24 (H&MS-24). During the Korean War, the squadron served as a training unit for Marines being rotated into South Korea. The unit also participated in the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

in November 1962.

1968 – present

MALS-24 (designated H&MS-24 at this time) was relocated to

Kaneohe Bay Kāneohe () is a census-designated place (CDP) included in the City and County of Honolulu and in Hawaii state District of Koolaupoko on the island of Oahu. In the Hawaiian language, ''kāne ohe'' means "bamboo man". According to an ancient ...

, Hawaii in April, 1968 and reassigned to the 1st Marine Brigade. During the late 70's, then Cpl Carlton W. Kent, who would later become the 16th Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps served in MAG-24 Group Supply (designation at the time). Group Supply was under the leadership of Lt. Col. Fred Anthes. Under LT Col Anthes' command, the Not Operational Ready Supply (NORS) section received the first ever a Certificate of Commendation from Brigadier General H.T. Hagaman. The award was presented for significant improvement in ensuring all aviation elements were operationally prepared for rotation. They were redesignated 5 October 1988 as Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24. They were again redesignated 1 October 1994 as Marine Aviation Logistics Support Element, Kaneohe, and assigned to Aviation Support Element, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing,

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 ...

. In February 2002, the squadron reverted to Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24.

Notes

References

;Bibliography ;Web
MALS-24’s official website
{{1stMAW LOG24