Marine Aircraft Group 24

Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Facility Kaneohe Bay that is currently composed of three CH-53D Sea Stallion squadrons, a personnel support detachment and a maintenance and logistics squadron. They fall under the command of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and the III Marine Expeditionary Force.

Mission

Provide combat-ready, expeditionary aviation forces capable of short-notice, worldwide employment to a Marine Air Ground Task Force.

Subordinate units

• HMH-362 – Ugly Angels
• HMH-363 – Red Lions
• HMH-463 – Pegasus
• MALS-24 – Warriors

History

World War II

Activated on 1 March 1942 at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, Oahu, Hawaii. During World War II, MAG-24 saw extensive action throughout the Pacific theater, and in particular in the campaigns to liberate the Philippines. Following the war, MAG-24 was deployed as part of the III Amphibious Corps to Peiping in Northern China to take part in the occupation that lasted from October 1945 until April 1947. In April 1947 they were relocated to Guam. In 1949, MAG-24 moved to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina and remained there for the next twenty years.

1960s through today

In April 1968, MAG-24 moved back to the Pacific and Kaneohe, Hawaii where it became the Marine Corps’ largest and only permanent composite Marine Aircraft Group. Starting in 1978, the MAG provided both fixed and rotary wing squadrons for six-month unit...
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