3rd Marine Aircraft Wing organization March 2024 (click to enlarge)
History
World War II
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing was commissioned on 10 November 1942, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, with a personnel roster of 13 officers, 25 enlisted men and one aircraft, a trainer.
The Wing's combat history began with the World War II deployment of a bomber squadron on 3 December 1943. A little more than a year later, the Wing deployed a night fighter squadron in support of the war effort.
In early April 1944, the wing turned over its training duties and assigned units to the 9th Marine Aircraft Wing and on 21 April 1944, boarded three carriers USS Gambier Bay CVE-73, USS Hoggat Bay CVE-75, and USS Kitkun Bay CVE-71 for a voyage to Hawaii and arrived 8 May, where it assumed the functions of Marine Air, Hawaii Area (MAHA).[3]
When the Japanese surrendered, 3rd MAW was decommissioned on 31 December 1945, at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa and its personnel were assigned to other units.[4] The Wing also played an important, but behind-the-scenes, role during the war by training Marine pilots and support personnel for combat duty overseas.
1950s
In 1952, as the Marine Corps again fought in the Far East, the Wing was reactivated at MCAS Cherry Point for the Korean War. The main portion of the wing began moving to the new Marine Corps Air Station Miami, the Marine Corps' first "flying field."
Wing squadrons were detached and deployed to Vietnam as combat action in Southeast Asia flared. At the end of the Vietnam War several units were brought back to the United States and deactivated or redesignated, creating 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing as it is constituted today.
In the fall of 2002, the wing began deploying to Kuwait to prepare for combat operations in Iraq. Ultimately the wing moved 435 aircraft and 15,451 personnel to Southwest Asia prior to the attack marking the first time the entire wing had deployed since the Gulf War and the largest since the Vietnam War.[8] Their two primary bases in Kuwait were Ali Al Salem Air Base and Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base while Wing ground units also established 15 Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) or Forward Arming and Refueling Points (FARPs) during march north.[9] During the invasion, 3rd MAW expended over 6 million pounds of ordnance, including over 2,300 general-purpose bombs and 2,200 precision guided munitions.[10]
