Country United States | ||
 | ||
Active September 1, 1967 - present Allegiance United States of America Branch United States Marine Corps Role Aviation command & control Part of 1st Marine Aircraft Wing
III Marine Expeditionary Force | ||
Marine Air Control Group 18 (MACG-18) is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma that is currently composed of 4 squadrons, 1 Low Altitude Air Defense Detachment and 1 HQ support detachment. The Marine Air Control Group as a whole provide the 1st Marine Aircraft Wings tactical headquarters, positive and procedural control, air traffic control, short range air defense and air defense control to aircraft for the III Marine Expeditionary Force.
Contents
Mission
Provide the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing Command, Control, and Communications support for the prosecution of all six functions of Marine Aviation.
Subordinate units
History
MACG-18 was formed September 1, 1967 in Danang, Vietnam, at the height of US participation in the Vietnam War. At that time the Group's component units were already involved in combat. Its Hawk battalion was among the first US Marine units to land in Vietnam. From its formation, MACG-18 and subordinated units, with attachments scattered throughout the I Corps Tactical Zone, participated in every major campaign conducted in the northern area of South Vietnam until its departure from Vietnam. In recognition of their accomplishments during the Vietnam War, MACG-18 and its units were awarded four Presidential Unit Citations, three Navy Unit Commendations and a Meritorious Unit Commendation. The Group moved from Vietnam to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan in 1971, and then to the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, in 1975. Since the end of the war in Vietnam, MACG-18 has assumed a major role in joint, combined and Marine air-ground training and contingency operation in the Western Pacific.