Marine Aircraft Group MAG 24 Patch- With Hook & Loop
A 4″ inch with Hook and Loop Squadron Patch of the Marine Aircraft Group MAG 24.
Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Facility Kaneohe Bay. MAG-24 is subordinate to the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing[2] and the III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF).
Mission
Provide combat-ready, expeditionary aviation forces capable of short-notice, worldwide employment to a Marine Air Ground Task Force.
Current Subordinate units
The following units are subordinate to MAG-24:
Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 (HMLA-367) – Scarface
Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 (HMH-463) – Pegasus
Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24 (MALS-24) – Warriors
Marine Wing Support Detachment 24 (MWSD-24) – Gryphons
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268 (VMM-268) – Red Dragons
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 363 (VMM-363) – Lucky Red Lions
Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 (VMU-3) – Phantoms
History
World War II
Activation (1 March 1942)
MAG-24 was activated along with Marine Aircraft Group 23 (MAG-23) at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa on 1 March 1942 and attached to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (2d MAW) (which had only been activated in Jan 1941). MCAS Ewa was located on southwest Oahu and adjacent Naval Air Station Barbers Point. The intended use of MAG-24 was to “fill the need of dive-bombers in combat areas.”[5] MAG-24 was first commanded by Maj I.L. Kimes and consisted of only two squadrons (VMF-211 and VMF-212[6]) mostly on paper. Both MAG-24 and MAG-23 struggled along without aircraft for several months as almost all available assets were diverted to Midway or elsewhere.[7] The only aircraft available to both MAGs were a few overhauled SBD-1s and SBD-2s which were, according to LtCol Claude Larkin: “no good but gave us something to fly.”[7] The activation of MAG-24 and MAG-23 were the result of a major organizational overhaul of Marine Aviation which included the activation of MAG-11, 12, and 14 at Camp Kearny, California, MAG-13 in San Diego, and MAG-22 at Midway.
