Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 26 (MALS-26) is an

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

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 ...

. They are currently based at

Marine Corps Air Station New River Marine Corps Air Station New River is a United States Marine Corps helicopter and tilt-rotor base in Jacksonville, North Carolina, in the eastern part of the state. In 1972, the airfield was named McCutcheon Field for General Keith B. McCut ...

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 fall under the command of

Marine Aircraft Group 26 Marine Aircraft Group 26 (MAG-26) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Station New River composed of seven MV-22 Osprey squadrons, one of which is the Fleet Replacement Squadron, an aviation logistics squadro ...

and the

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 ...

Mission

Provide aviation logistics support, guidance, planning and direction to Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) squadrons on behalf of the commanding officer, as well as logistics support for

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

-funded equipment in the supporting Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS), Marine Air Control Group (MACG), and Marine Aircraft Wing/Mobile Calibration Complex (MAW/MCC).

History

Early years

On 16 June 1952, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron 26 (H&HS-26),

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, was commissioned. H&HS-26 was redesignated as Headquarters and Maintenance Squadron 26 (H&MS-26) in February 1954. The squadron relocated to Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina and was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 26, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing in July 1954.

1960s to 1980s

H&MS-26 continued supporting efforts throughout the world. The squadron supported 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 1962, Operations Nimbus Star, Moon, and Steam I near

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in 1974, the NEO of American citizens from

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon in 1982,

Operation Urgent Fury The United States and a coalition of Caribbean countries invaded the small island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela, at dawn on 25 October 1983. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, it resulted in military occupation with ...

in Grenada in 1983 and

Operation Praying Mantis Operation Praying Mantis was the 18 April 1988 attack by the United States on Iranian naval targets in the Persian Gulf in retaliation for the mining of a U.S. warship four days earlier. On 14 April, the American guided missile frigate stru ...

in 1988. In October 1988, H&MS-26 was redesignated as Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 26 (MALS-26) and consolidated all responsibilities for aviation logistical support (maintenance and supply) in one squadron. In November of the same year, MALS-26 was awarded the

Joint Meritorious Unit Award The Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA) is a US military award that was established on June 4, 1981, by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and was implemented by Department of Defense Directive 1348.27 dated July 22, 1982. The Joint Meritor ...

, along with

HMM-261 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 (VMM-261) is a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "Raging Bulls", is based at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, Nor ...

, for meritorious achievement in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

while assisting in the destruction of the Sirri and Sassan oil platforms.

1990s

January 1990, a MALS-26 detachment deployed with HMM-264 aboard USS ''Nassau'' to support

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

's February visit to

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, South America. In March 1990, a MALS-26 detachment deployed with HMM-261 aboard the USS ''Saipan'' and in August, participated in

Operation Sharp Edge Operation Sharp Edge was a non-combatant evacuation operation carried out by the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU) and 26th MEU of the United States Marine Corps in Liberia in 1990 and 1991. The MEUs were supported by Amphibious Squadron F ...

, the evacuation of 1,648 American and foreign nationals from

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

, Liberia. Other operations MALS-26 supported include:

Operation Provide Comfort Operation Provide Comfort and Provide Comfort II were military operations initiated by the United States and other Coalition nations of the Persian Gulf War, starting in April 1991, to defend Kurdish refugees fleeing their homes in northern ...

(1991) in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, Operation Provide Promise (1992–1993) in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, Operations Deny Flight, Continue Hope,

Quickdraw QuickDraw was the 2D graphics library and associated application programming interface (API) which is a core part of classic Mac OS. It was initially written by Bill Atkinson and Andy Hertzfeld. QuickDraw still existed as part of the libraries ...

in 1993 and

Operation Uphold Democracy Operation Uphold Democracy was a multinational military intervention designed to remove the military regime led and installed by Raoul Cédras after the 1991 Haitian coup d'état overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The op ...

in 1994.

Global War on Terror

In 2003 and 2004, MALS-26 deployed task-organized support for

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

, and

Operation Secure Tomorrow Operation Secure Tomorrow is an operation that took place from February 2004 to July 2004 in Haiti. After a government collapse in Haiti and the resignation of President Jean Bertrand Aristide, the United States invaded Haiti to police the count ...

. In January 2005, MALS-26 deployed, in its entirety, in support of

Marine Air-Ground Task Force Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine current power * Marine debris * Marine energy * Marine habitats * ...

(MAGTF) operations supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. In January 2009, MALS-26 deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, MALS-26 responsible for the draw down and closing of AL-ASAD Air Base for the Marines in regards of the draw down of Marine troops in Iraq. In the recently Awards MARADMIN MALS-26 were awarded a NUC (Navy Unit Commendation) for the draw down and removal of the MALS and Marine Corps footprint in Iraq.

Awards

In 1988, H&MS-26 was awarded the

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 ...

for aviation logistics support provided from 1 January to 31 December 1986, during which time H&MS-26 completed more than 105,000 total maintenance actions and processed over 115,000 aviation supply demands in support of garrison and deployed units. MALS-26 was recognized as MALS of the Year for the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing in 1992, 1993, 1997, and 1998. In 1992 and 1993, MALS-26 received the Commanding General's Aviation Support Efficiency Trophy. In 1995, MALS-26 was awarded the

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

Award for Achievement in Safety Excellence Ashore and in 1996 received the

Commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

's Quality Assurance Award.

Notes

References

;Notes : ;Bibliography ;Web

External links

MALS-26's official website
{{2ndMAW LOG26