Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12 (MALS-12) 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 "Marauders", they fall under the command of

Marine Aircraft Group 12 Marine Aircraft Group 12 (MAG-12) is an active air group of the United States Marine Corps, tasked with providing fighter and assault support aircraft. It is currently part of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW), itself an integral part of th ...

(MAG-12) 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 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 ...

Mission

Provide aviation logistics expertise, planning and material to MAG-12 and its subordinate tactical aircraft squadrons in order to support operational contingencies, theater security cooperation plans, and training exercises in the Pacific Command area of responsibility.

History

World War II

Activated as Headquarters and Services Squadron 12 (HQSQ-12) on 1 March 1942, the squadron was assigned in May of that year to the

and was re-designated on 1 July as Headquarters Squadron 12 (HS-12). Throughout

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 ...

, HS-12 was attached to both the 1st and

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 ...

s and participated in numerous campaigns throughout the Northern Solomons,

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

, and the Southern Philippines. Re-deployed 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 in October 1945, to participate in the post-war occupation of Northern China.

Korean War

The squadron was called to action on the Korean peninsula at the outbreak of hostilities. Deployed to Wonson, Korea in October 1950, HS-12 distinguished itself in combat during the

Battle of Chosin Reservoir The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign or the Battle of Lake Changjin (), was an important battle in the Korean War. The name "Chosin" is derived from the Japanese pronunciation "''Chōshin'', instead of th ...

, East Central Front, and the Western Front Campaigns until June 1956. In July 1956, the newly re-designated Headquarters and Maintenance Squadron 12 (H&MS-12) re-deployed from

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

to its current home base at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan.

Vietnam War

In May 1965, H&MS-12 deployed in support of combat operations at

Chu Lai Chu Lai is a seaport, urban and industrial area in Núi Thành District, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai International Airport. It is also the site of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (Vietnamese: ''Khu Kinh Tế M� ...

and

Bien Hoa Bien may refer to: * Bien (newspaper) * Basic Income Earth Network * Bień, Poland * "Bien", a song by Tini from ''Un Mechón de Pelo'' * Gertrud Bien Gertrud Bien (1881–1940) was an Austrian pediatrician and one of the first female medical stu ...

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 ...

. Returning to Iwakuni in February 1970, elements of H&MS-12 returned to Vietnam, participating in combat operations at Bien Hoa from May 1972 to January 1973.

1970s & 1980s

From January 1973 until September 1988, H&MS-12 continued to provide support for aviation units assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 12 (MAG-12) and various units throughout the Western Pacific. On 1 October 1988, the squadron was combined with H&MS-15 and re-designated as Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12 (MALS-12). During December 1989, MALS-12 deployed a substantial detachment to the Philippines in support of MAG-12 operations during the attempted coup.

1990s

In 1990, MALS-12 supported the pre-deployment aircrew training and aircraft grooming of two squadrons in preparation for their deployment to Southwest Asia for participation in

Operation Desert Shield , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

and

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 ...

. During June 1993, in concert with the six aircraft AV-8B detachment to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (31st MEU), MALS-12 began the ongoing support to the 31st MEU.

Mission

History

World War II

Korean War

Vietnam War

1970s & 1980s

1990s

See also

Notes

References

External links