History of Marine Corps Aviation

1950's - Technological Development

Both in Korea and Japan, the period was one of intensive training, including landing exercises and joint exercises with the Army and the Air Force, concentrating on bombing and gunnery. One program within the wing was an exchange program between Japan-based and Korean-based squadrons. The objective of the program was to familiarize pilots new to the area with flight conditions in Korea, just in case the ceasefire didn't work out.

In June 1956, the 1st MAW moved its headquarters to NAS Iwakuni, Japan, and control of the wing passed from the 5th AF to Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet (CinCPac), in Hawaii, thus ending Marine Aviation participation in the Korean police action. For Marine Aviation, this period between the Korean War and the major involvement of the U.S. in Vietnam in 1965 was characterized mainly by research and development. New aircraft in Marine Aviation reflected the tremendous effects of technological advances during the period leading up to Vietnam.

The types which most advanced Marine Aviation capability during this nine year period were:

jet fighter and attack aircraft
helicopters
turboprop transport

It all began in 1947 with the commissioning of HMX- 1 at Quantico to develop the use of helicopters, and VMF-122 flying the first jet, the FH-1 Phantom at Cherry Point. These were closely followed by VMF-311 at El Toro in 1948, first with TO-1s (F-80Cs), the Lockheed Shooting Star jet indoctrination of experienced pilots, and then late in 1949 operating the F9F Panther for normal fighter/attack training.

But the aircraft that heralded the rapid advance of technology with the loudest bang, was the F4D-1. This was a short- range, all-weather, high-rate-of-climb (for its time) interceptor, equipped with the Marine Corps' first afterburner. A serviceable and successful carrier fighter, the Skyray, came to the Corps in late 1955 and early 1956. It was assigned in rather limited numbers because of its shorter range and because it was rapidly overtaken by additional design advances. The FJ-2 Fury came into the inventory at approximately the same time.

Helicopters

With the earlier establishment of the HRS series as the first significant step in building a Marine Corps helicopter transport capability, two additional developments took place in the mid fifties. The first was a medium helicopter, the HUS series with greatly increased capability. The second was the first design of a heavy helicopter, the HR2S-1. The HUS (later the UH-34D) became the principal vehicle in the rotary-wing lift capability of the Corps, the inventory showing 309 HUSs in the transport squadrons. The HR2S was programmed for a major part of the lift capability but, because of shortfalls in its performance parameters, the overall numbers were cut back. Competitive selection of a new heavy helicopter resulted in a design winner, the CH-46 Sea Knight by Boeing-Vertol. This was followed by a series of attempts by the Department of Defense to unify the requirements of all services. However, they were not able to integrate the tri-service requirements into a single vehicle. At this time, Navy competition resulted in a true heavy-lift machine for the Marine Corps, the CH-53 Sea King series by Sikorsky.

Following similar developmental procurement, the light observation helicopters, which have not been mentioned previously except for the very early HO3S-1 used in Korea, underwent progressive refinements.

Deliveries of the UH-1E, began by 1964. It was a light helicopter by Bell whose basic design had been procured by the Army earlier as the HU-1B, in significant numbers. This made possible the timely replacement of the retiring light helicopters and fixed wing aircraft then in use by the Marine Corps for observation.

Thus, by the end of this period in 1965, an extraordinary advance in rotary-wing lift had been achieved for the Marine Corps through its efforts with the Navy, in just nine years from redeployment out of Korea.

To ensure that the development of rotary-wing aircraft did not outstrip the design of amphibious ships to carry them and move the troops, the Marine Corps moved into action early. In July 1951, General Clifton B. Cates, Commandant of the Marine Corps, stated in a letter to the Chief of Naval Operations: "Studies and past experience indicate that the most desirable type of assault shipping for such a helicopter- borne force will be ships which can accommodate the necessary embarked troops, the helicopters to land them and the crews to operate and maintain the helicopters. It is becoming increasingly urgent to commence a ship conversion or building program that will parallel the availability of the 36-man helicopter."

This resulted in an active program beginning with the conversion of light carriers to amphibious assault ships (LPHs), and then the development of designs for LPHs from the keel up. The first of the latter, USS Iwo Jima, was at sea for trials on September 5, 1961. She was followed by a succession of similar vessels through the sixties, which led to further design developments and improvements.

Attack Aircraft

The transition of attack aircraft to jet propulsion had begun in 1952 Douglas aircraft designed a concept for a new attack machine to perform the types of missions being carried out in the Korean War.The result was the A4D series, an aircraft that developed into the attack stalwart of the Navy and the Marine Corps for all of this period and much of the Vietnam conflict. Various versions of the series were the attack standard aircraft from the midfifties on. One of the last versions, the A-4M, was all-weather with the latest systems. It had over twice the gross weight of the original design and carried almost twice the ordnance load.

In late August of 1958, MAG-11 of the 1st MAW, received orders to deploy immediately from Atsugi, Japan, to Taiwan to augment the air defense of that portion of the 7th Fleet operating in the Formosa Strait. There, a crisis between the Nationalist and Communist Chinese had begun to threaten what peace there was in the region. MAG-11 consisted of three combat squadrons, two with F4Ds and one flying FJ-4s. Their principal duties were to fly cover over the night air drop and surface resupply runs to the offshore islands, and augment the air defenses of Taiwan and the 7th Fleet. Although the responsibility for Taiwan air operations was an Air Force function, MAG-11 supplied over 50 percent of both the force on hand and the sorties flown. A ceasefire was declared in October, and MAG-11 returned to Atsugi in early December.

The year 1958 turned out to be a time of deployment when trouble broke out in Lebanon as well. The 2nd Provisional Marine Force landed at Beirut on July 15, 1958, augmented by the reinforced 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, but it had no Marine Aviation component other than Sub Unit 1 of HMR(L)-262 providing helicopter support. Tactical air support came from the carriers of the 6th Fleet; logistic air support was provided by the Air Force and by four transport squadrons of MAG-35 from Cherry Point, operating through NAS Port Lyautey, Morocco.

F-4 Phantom II

On May 27, 1958, one of the finest air weapons ever used by the Navy and Marine Corps had its first flight, the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. It became operational in late 1960 and early 1961 and, by the end of 1965, 29 Navy and Marine squadrons were flying the Phantom II. The primary role of the F-4 was as an interceptor, but it was given the secondary job of providing close support and it carried a wide range of external ordnance by the start of Vietnam. This two-man, interceptor-attack aircraft, with its pilot and airborne radar intercept operator and its multiple systems and subsystems, ushered Marine Aviation into a new and advanced realm of military aviation.

In October 1962, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic was ordered to assume a posture of increased readiness because of the introduction of nuclear weapons into Cuba by the Soviets. In the ensuing weeks, nearly all 2nd MarDiv and 2nd MAW units were either deployed to Florida or the Caribbean area, or were aboard ships o the Amphibious Force or carriers of the Atlantic Fleet. While no actual combat took place, the confrontation involved a limited blockade of Cuban waters and continuous high- altitude photoreconnaissance of suspected Cuban missile sites. Much of this photography was accomplished by F8U-2Ps of the 2nd MAW, operating from bases in Florida.

In April 1965, an attempted coup by leftist forces in Santo Domingo threatened the safety of U.S. nationals and the U.S. Embassy requested their evacuation. This was followed by a request for intervention by the existing government. Marine forces were organized into the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade and included a Provisional MAG. By the end of May and early in June, Marines were being withdrawn.

C-130 Transport

In late 1960 and early 1961, one of the most significant acquisitions for Marine Aviation began to come into the inventory, the Lockheed GV-1 Hercules transport, which was later given the unified designation of C-130. This was a four-engined turboprop transport with many improvements in speed, range and small field capabilities over anything the Marine Corps had previously operated. The C-130 was extremely flexible and could be quickly reconfigured to carry troops, maximum cargo, casualties, airborne command posts, or to perform one of its prime missions, aerial refueling of the wing jets on long flights.

Rolling Thunder: Jet Combat from World War II to the Gulf War by Ivan Rendall

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Rendall's overview of air-to-air combat with jet fighters covers the period from the last days of World War II to the 1990's. In between those times came the Korean War, in which the F-86s fought throughout for their air superiority; lethal combat in four wars over the Middle East; the limitations of U.S. technology and tactics on jet fighting in the Vietnam War; the hard-fought air battles over the Falklands; and the one-sided air war in the Persian Gulf conflict.

Interspersed with the battle narratives are discussions of new developments in tactics and technology, with the latter sometimes outstripping the former, and of the strategic background of the development of air-to-air combat methods. Rendall is British, and he shows greater literacy and a less triumphalist view of U.S. achievements than are found in some comparable accounts. His is a more useful book on the subject than most and will attract and reward aviation-minded readers.

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