Marine Air Control Squadron 4 (MACS-4) is a

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 ...

aviation command and control squadron that provides

aerial surveillance Surveillance aircraft are aircraft used for surveillance. They are primarily operated by military forces and government agencies in roles including intelligence gathering, maritime patrol, battlefield and airspace surveillance, observation (e.g ...

Ground-controlled interception Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic wa ...

, and

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

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 ...

. Originally formed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the squadron's most notable combat operations occurred during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

when it was the first unit to ever use the Marine Tactical Data System. They are currently based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and fall under the command of Marine Air Control Group 18 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 ...

Subordinate units

The squadron is currently structured as follows:

Mission

Provide air surveillance and the control of aircraft and Surface-To-Air weapons for antiair warfare; Continuous All-Weather radar and Non-Radar air traffic control service, and airspace management in support of a

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)

History

Early years

''Air Warning Squadron 13'' was commissioned 5 May 1944 at

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 1st Marine Air Warning Group, 9th Marine Aircraft Wing. On 12 August 1944 the squadron moved to Naval Air Station Vero Beach,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

to assist in the air control program and give squadron personnel experience in night intercept problems. The squadron was responsible for operating an SCR-527 radar at Sebastian, the

SCR-270 The SCR-270 was one of the first operational early-warning radars. It was the U.S. Army's primary long-distance radar throughout World War II and was deployed around the world. It is also known as the Pearl Harbor Radar, since it was an SCR-27 ...

radars at Stuart and Roseland and the

Radio direction finder Direction finding (DF), radio direction finding (RDF), or radiogoniometry is the use of radio waves to determine the direction to a radio source. The source may be a cooperating radio transmitter or may be an inadvertent source, a natural ...

(RDF) stations at

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Vero Beach Vero Beach is a city in and the county seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,354. Nicknamed "The Hibiscus City", Vero is situated about southeast of Orlando along the ...

and Stuart. The squadron departed NAS Vero Beach on 7 June 1945 heading for the west coast. They were redesignated 1 August 1946 to ''Marine Ground Control Intercept Squadron 4'' and assigned to Marine Air Control Group 2. The squadron was decommissioned 30 April 1947. They were reactivated 30 June 1951 at

Marine Corps Air Station Santa Ana Marine Corps Air Station Tustin (IATA: NTK, ICAO: KNTK, FAA Location identifier#FAA identifier, LID: NTK) is a former United States Navy and United States Marine Corps air base, air station, located in Tustin, California. History The Air St ...

, California and assigned to Marine Air Control Group 3, Air Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. Re-designated 15 February 1954 as Marine Air Control Squadron 4. They moved in July 1959 to

Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni is a joint Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces and United States Marine Corps air station located in the Nishiki River, Nishiki river delta, southeast of Iwakuni Station in the Municipality of Japan, city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan ...

, Japan and were assigned to Marine Wing Headquarters Group,

. Their first deployment was to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

during May–July 1962 in connection with communist threat to that country.

Vietnam War

The squadron was relocated again to

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by O ...

, California in October 1965. In late May 1967, MACS-4 departed

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

onboard the USS Hermitage (LSD-34) and landed in

Danang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the list of cities in Vietnam, fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River (Vietnam), Hàn R ...

Republic of 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 international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...

. The squadron was emplaced at the Monkey Mountain Facility on Monkey Mountain east of Danang and was the first to utilize the newly fielded Marine Tactical Data System (MTDS). They began operations on July 6, 1967. This site was chosen because of it was co-located with the HAWK Missile Batteries of the 1st Light Antiaircraft Missile Battalion and the United States Air Force's Panama Air Control Facility. The site also provided excellent line of sight to

United States Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the ...

ships operating in Yankee Station in the

Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin ( northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern co ...

. On September 1, 1967 the squadron was reassigned to the newly commissioned Marine Air Control Group 18 (MACG-18), 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. MACS-4 provided positive radar control for the Marine Corps' area of operations in I Corps Tactical Zone. On 13 January 1971 at 0001, MACS-4 made its last tactical transmission in support of operations during the Vietnam War. During its time in Vietnam utilizing MTDS, MACS-4 controlled or assisted 472,146 aircraft. The squadron departed Vietnam embarking on the USS Alamo (LSD-33) on January 31, 1971 to head back to MCAS Santa Ana, California. The squadron was decommissioned the same day it left Vietnam and was reactivated on June 15, 1971 at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in

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 ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

remaining part of MACG-18. Even though MACS-4 departed Vietnam on January 31, 1971 it maintained a small detachment of twenty Marines on top of Monkey Mountain to man the AN/TYQ-3 - Tactical Data Communications Central (TDCC). The AN/TYQ-3 facilitated critical data exchange between the USAF and USN during the later stages of the Vietnam War. This detachment remained in support of operations until 14 February 1973.

Global War on Terror

Elements of the squadron participated in support of

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 ...

, April 2002 through March 2004.

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. MACS-4 has been presented with the following awards:

Citations

References

;Bibliography * * ;Web
MACS-4’s official website
{{1stMAW

Radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...