Marine Aviation Training Support Group 23 (MATSG-23) 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 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 ...

training

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

originally established during

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 ...

as Marine Aircraft Group 23 (MAG-23). Squadrons from MAG-23, augmented by

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 ...

and

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

flying units formed the

Cactus Air Force The Cactus Air Force was the ensemble of Allies of World War II, Allied air power assigned to the island of Guadalcanal from August 1942 until December 1942 during the most heavily contested phases of the Battle of Guadalcanal, Guadalcanal Campa ...

during the

Battle of Guadalcanal The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon Islands during the Pacific Theater of W ...

. Since then it has evolved into the first Aviation Logistics focused Colonel level command, and serves as a functional training advocate for all USMC Aviation Logistics entry-level training. The instructors and support staff of MATSG-23 are responsible for training thousands of Marines per year in the disciplines required to enable the expeditionary aviation required to support the

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 * Mar ...

Mission

MATSG-23's mission is to serve as the functional training advocate for all USMC Aviation Logistics entry-level training, to include initial accession, primary MOS, Aircraft Maintenance Officer, Aviation Ordnance Officer Career Progression Schools and Air Traffic Control Officer Course. Additionally, as directed by Training Command, MATSG-23 provides administrative and logistical support to regionally located units in order to prepare Marines for service in the Fleet Marine Force.

History

World War II

Marine Aircraft Group 23 was commissioned 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 ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, as part of 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 ...

on 1 March 1942. The group became the first Marine aviation group to meet the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. They formed the forward echelon of 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) during the

and landed its first units at Henderson Field,

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

on 20 August 1942 when VMF-223 and

VMSB-231 Marine Attack Squadron 231 (VMA-231) was a United States Marine Corps fixed wing attack squadron that consisted of AV-8B Harrier (V/STOL) jets. The squadron, known as the "Ace of Spades", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Nor ...

were flown off the USS Long Island (CVE-1). Ten days later the group's rear echelon, composed of

VMF-224 Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224 (VMFA(AW)-224) was a United States Marine Corps (USMC) F/A-18 Hornet squadron. Also known as the "Fighting Bengals", the squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina and fa ...

and VMSB-232, joined the forward echelon at Henderson Field. MAG-23, augmented by Army and Navy land based air under the operational control of 1st MAW, furnished

air support Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as Strafing, strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS r ...

to the

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine (military), Marine Division (military), division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine E ...

and Army ground forces in the struggle for Guadalcanal. The Group composed of only four Marine squadrons, detachments from six Navy carrier squadrons ( VS-5, VB-6, VF-5, VS-71, VT-8 and VS-3), and the 67th Army Pursuit Squadron. This heterogeneous group shot down 244 enemy planes in four weeks. Navy pilots accounted 44, Army flyers, using P-400s shot down eight. The remaining 192 were credited to Marines. Though MAG-23 suffered casualties as well (22 Marine pilots killed in action, three by enemy naval gunfire), their actions were vital in the legendary Marine victory at Guadalcanal. From Guadalcanal, MAG-23 was transferred to the

Naval Air Station San Diego Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado ( ...

where it served as a part of

Marine Air, West Coast Marine Air, West Coast (MarAirWest) was a United States Marine Corps aviation training and administrative command established on 22 January 1943, which was responsible for the administration, training and equipment of the United States Marine C ...

from 18 November 1942 until 9 January 1943. The group was then transferred to

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located next to the community of El Toro and was then adjacent to the city of Irvine. Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps Av ...

until September 1943. On 19 September 1943, the group again landed at MCAS Ewa and remained there as part of Marine Air Hawaiian Area until May 1944. On 8 May 1944, the group transferred to

Midway Atoll Midway Atoll (colloquialism, colloquial: Midway Islands; ; ) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an Insular area#Unorganized unincorporated territories, unorganized and unincorpo ...

where it remained until the war ended. After the war, MAG-23 returned to the West Coast and was decommissioned on 1 November 1945.

1980s to Present

Marine Aviation and Training Support Group 23 (MATSG-23) was formally activated on 15 January 1982 with a mission of providing administrative and limited logistics support to Marines permanently and temporarily assigned to NAS Lemoore in support of F/A-18 maintenance, operations and training. On 2 July 1982 VMFA-314 arrived at NAS Lemoore as the first squadron to transition to the F/A-18 Hornet. By the end of June 1983 the first three Marine F/A-18 squadrons had completed their transition at VFA-125. A new and exciting chapter in Fighter Aviation had begun. Over the years, F/A-18 training switched from whole units to individual Marines destined to replace Marines in FMF. In May 2000 the Commandant of the Marine Corps directed the re-designation of all Marine Aviation Training Support Groups to promote a sense of Marine Corps identity and tradition. This re-designation utilized the numbers of previously decommissioned groups allowing them and their rich history to live on in the annuals of Naval Aviation. On 7 June 2013, the Commandant of the Marine Corps approved the reorganization of the existing five MATSGs headquarters into three MATSG headquarters. MATSG-23 was directed to reorganize and relocate from NAS Lemoore, Ca to NAS Pensacola, FL and assume administrative support for initial accession schools. MATSG-23 consists of a headquarters element supporting three squadrons and two detachments to include: Aviation Maintenance Squadron 1, Aviation Maintenance Squadron 2, Marine Aviation Training Support Squadron 1, Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Detachment Eglin Air Force Base, and Marine Detachment Keesler Air Force Base. The command of MATSG-23 has not limited itself to student throughput. It has taken an active role to improve aviation logistics for the fleet Marine Corps by initiating and supporting important commodity advocacy issues. MATSG-23 is constantly innovating the way Marine aviation support personnel are trained and support/maintain the Aviation Combat Element of the MAGTF.

Notable former members

David Douglas Duncan David Douglas Duncan (January 23, 1916 – June 7, 2018) was an American photojournalist, known for his dramatic combat photographs, as well as for his extensive domestic photography of Pablo Picasso and his wife Jacqueline. Childhood and educa ...

, as a 2d Lieutenant in

* William J. Wallace as Colonel commanded MAG-23 at

Citations

References

External links

MATSG-23's official website
{{US Marine Corps navbox Military units and formations in California Tr