Other Marine units · from 1912

United States Marine Corps Aviation

Air branch of the U.S. Marine Corps.

History

The United States Marine Corps Aviation (USMCA) is the aircraft arm of the United States Marine Corps. Aviation units within the Marine Corps are assigned to support the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, as the aviation combat element, by providing six functions: assault support, antiair warfare, close air support, electronic warfare, control of aircraft and missiles, and aerial reconnaissance. The Corps operates rotary-wing, tiltrotor, and fixed-wing aircraft mainly to provide transport and close air support to its ground forces. Other aircraft types are also used in a variety of support and special-purpose roles. All Marine Corps aviation falls under the influence of the Deputy Commandant for Aviation, whose job is to advise the commandant of the Marine Corps in all matters relating to aviation, especially acquisition of new assets, conversions of current aircraft, maintenance, operation, and command.

Text from Wikipedia: United States Marine Corps Aviation, CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Key dates

1914
As the number of Marine Corps pilots grew, so did the desire to separate from Naval Aviation, an objective realized on 6 January 1914, when First Lieutenant Bernard L. Smith was directed to Culebra, Puerto Rico, to establish the Marine Section of the Navy Flying School.
1917
The first major expansion of the Marine Corps' air component came with America's entrance into World War I in 1917.
1925
It was not until 3 May 1925 that the Marine Corps officially appeared in the Navy's Aeronautical Organization when Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics, issued a directive officially authorizing three fighting squadrons.
1933
The turning point for the long-term survival of Marine Air came with the structural change of the establishment of the Fleet Marine Force in 1933.
1941
This changed on 1 July 1941 when all existing squadrons were redesignated to a three-digit system.
1945
Their active strength fell from 116,628 personnel and 103 squadrons on 31 August 1945 to 14,163 personnel and 21 squadrons on 30 June 1948.
1950
In December 1950, VMF-311 became the first Marine jet squadron used in combat, providing close air support for the Marines and soldiers on the ground, flying the F9F Panther.
2007
Since the Corps as a whole began to grow in 2007, Marine Aviation expanded with it and continues to grow.
2019
Serving in Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare (VMAQ) Squadrons until its retirement in 2019, the EA-6B Prowler was the main tactical electronic warfare aircraft left in the U.S. inventory, until Navy squadrons replaced it with the EA-18G Growler.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Records that place someone with this unit

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More history

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