Marine Air Control Squadron 4

Marine Air Control Squadron 4
Marine Air Control Squadron 4
	MACS-4 Insignia
Active	5 May 1944 – 30 Apr 1947; 30 Jun 1951 – 31 Jan 1971; 15 Jun 1971 – present
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Marine Corps
Type	Aviation Command & Control
Role	Aerial surveillance & Air traffic control
Part of	Marine Air Control Group 18; 1st Marine Aircraft Wing
Garrison/HQ	Marine Corps Air Station Futenma
Nickname(s)	Vice Squad
Engagements	Vietnam War; Operation Enduring Freedom
Commanders
Current; commander	LtCol L. Terrell Watts

Marine Air Control Squadron 4 (MACS-4) is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control squadron that provides aerial surveillance, Ground-controlled interception, and air traffic control for the III Marine Expeditionary Force. Originally formed in World War II, the squadron's most notable combat operations occurred during the Vietnam War when it was the first unit to ever use the Marine Tactical Data System. They are currently based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and fall under the command of Marine Air Control Group 18 and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.

Subordinate units

The squadron is currently structured as follows:^[1]

Name	Location
Headquarters and Service Company	MCAS Futenma
Air Traffic Control Company Kilo	MCAS Futenma
Air Traffic Control Company Lima	MCAS Iwakuni
Air Traffic Control Company Mike	MCAS Kaneohe Bay
Air Defense Company Alpha	MCAS Futenma
Air Defense Company Bravo	MCAS Futenma

Mission

Provide air surveillance and the control of aircraft and Surface-To-Air weapons for antiair warfare; Continuous All-Weather radar and Non-Radar air traffic control service, and airspace management in support of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF)

History

Early years

Air Warning Squadron 13 was commissioned 5 May 1944 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina and assigned to 1st Marine Air Warning Group, 9th Marine Aircraft Wing.^[2] On 12 August 1944 the squadron moved to Naval Air Station Vero Beach, Florida to assist in the air control program and give squadron personnel experience in night intercept problems. The squadron was responsible for operating an SCR-527 radar at Sebastian, the SCR-270 radars at Stuart and Roseland and the Radio direction finder (RDF) stations at Melbourne, Vero Beach and Stuart. The squadron departed NAS Vero Beach on 7 June 1945 heading for the west coast. They were redesignated 1 August 1946 to Marine Ground Control Intercept Squadron 4 and assigned to Marine Air Control Group 2. The squadron was decommissioned 30 April 1947.

They were reactivated 30 June 1951 at Marine Corps Air Station Santa Ana, California and assigned to Marine Air Control Group 3, Air Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. Re-designated 15 February 1954 as Marine Air Control Squadron 4. They moved in July 1959 to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan and were assigned to Marine Wing Headquarters Group, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. Their first deployment was to Thailand during May–July 1962 in connection with communist threat to that country.

Vietnam War

The squadron was relocated again to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California in October 1965. In late May 1967, MACS-4 departed San Diego onboard the USS Hermitage (LSD-34) and landed in Danang, Republic of Vietnam.^[3] The squadron was emplaced at the Monkey Mountain Facility on Monkey Mountain east of Danang and was the first to utilize the newly fielded Marine Tactical Data System (MTDS). They began operations on July 6, 1967.^[4] This site was chosen because of it was co-located with the HAWK Missile Batteries of the 1st Light Antiaircraft Missile Battalion and the United States Air Force's Panama Air Control Facility. The site also provided excellent line of sight to United States Seventh Fleet ships operating in Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin.^[5] On September 1, 1967 the squadron was reassigned to the newly commissioned Marine Air Control Group 18 (MACG-18), 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. MACS-4 provided positive radar control for the Marine Corps' area of operations in I Corps Tactical Zone. On 13 January 1971 at 0001, MACS-4 made its last tactical transmission in support of operations during the Vietnam War. During its time in Vietnam utilizing MTDS, MACS-4 controlled or assisted 472,146 aircraft.^[6] The squadron departed Vietnam embarking on the USS Alamo (LSD-33) on January 31, 1971 to head back to MCAS Santa Ana, California. The squadron was decommissioned the same day it left Vietnam and was reactivated on June 15, 1971 at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, Japan remaining part of MACG-18. Even though MACS-4 departed Vietnam on January 31, 1971 it maintained a small detachment of twenty Marines on top of Monkey Mountain to man the AN/TYQ-3 - Tactical Data Communications Central (TDCC). The AN/TYQ-3 facilitated critical data exchange between the USAF and USN during the later stages of the Vietnam War. This detachment remained in support of operations until 14 February 1973.^[7]

Global War on Terror

Elements of the squadron participated in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, April 2002 through March 2004.

Citations

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.

^ Cano, Gerardo (18 December 2020). "MACS-4 Re-Designation and Activation Ceremony". United States Marine Corps. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
^ Rottman 2002, pp. 449.
^ Gardner, Kenneth M. "MACCS & Some Of Its Contributors: As I Remember It". Milspeak.org. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
^ "Command Chronology for period 1 January 1967 to 31 July 1967" (PDF). Texas Tech University - The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive. MACS-4. 11 August 1967. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
^ Boslaugh, David L. (1999). "When Computers Went to Sea: The Digitization of the United States Navy". IEEE Computer Society Press. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
^ "Command Chronology for the period 1-31 January 1971" (PDF). Texas Tech University - The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive. MACS-4. 1 February 1971. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
^ "Command Chronology for the period 1 January -30 June 1973" (PDF). Texas Tech University - The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive. MACS-4. 5 July 1973. Retrieved 30 October 2019.

References

Bibliography

Rottman, Gordon (2002). U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle: Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939–1945. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-31906-5.