Marine Aircraft Group 33

  1 February 1943 to 1960's

  United States of America

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TYPE: US Navy unit

IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil

HEADQUARTERS: MCAS Cherry Point, NC (1943), MCAF Bogue, NC (1943-1944), MCAS Eagle Mountain Lake, TX (1944), MCAS Miramar, CA (1944-1945), Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides (1945), Kadena, Japan (1945-1946), MCAS El Toro, CA (1946-1950), Kobe, Japan (from 1950)

FORMER NAME: Nil

SUBSEQUENT NAME: Marine Aviation and Training Support Group 33 (MATSG-33)

MAG-33 was commissioned on 1 February  1943 at MCAS Cherry Point, NC. It moved to MCAF Bogue, NC on 27 September 1943. On 6 April 1944, the group again transferred, this time to MCAS Eagle Mountain Lake, TX where they spent the remainder of the summer training. In August, they moved on to MCAS Miramar, CA to prepare for their deployment to the South Pacific.

In September 1944, MAG-33 left California for the Marshall Islands. They eventually settled in Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides on 29 November 1944 after travelling through Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, Peleliu, Ulithi and Manus Island. On 2 April 1945, the group arrived off Okinawa and eventually based out of Kadena. They served throughout the Battle of Okinawa, providing close air support for the Marines and soldiers on the ground. The group remained on Okinawa for the remainder of the war. In January 1946, the group returned to the USA and was based out of MCAS El Toro, CA under the 1^st Marine Aircraft Wing.

In 2 July 1950, it was decided to deploy MAG-33 to Japan as the Korea War was starting. The group was well below normal strength due to force cuts which came after World War II. The majority of MAW-1 had to be stripped bare to reconstitute the MAG. Air group personnel and equipment boarded the transport USS General A. E. Anderson (AP-111) and the attack cargo ship USS Achernar (AKA-53) at Terminal Island; aircraft and aircrews were embarked on USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116). On 14 July, exactly twelve days after the receipt of the warning order to deploy, MAG-33 set sail for Korea.

MAG-33 had offloaded in Kobe, Japan and were composed of the F4U Corsair squadrons of VMF-323 and VMF-214, the Flying Nightmares of VMF(N)-513 flying the night-fighting versions of the Corsair and the F7F Tigercat and VMO-6 with its eight OY-2 observation aircraft and four HO3S1 helicopters. VMF-323 stationed itself on board the USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116), VMF-214 would fly off the USS Sicily (CVE-118), VMF(N)-513 would operate from Itazuke under Fifth Air Force control and VMO-6 would be based in Pusan. The first offensive action of the group came on 3 August when VMF-214 launched an eight plane strike package against the North Korean 6^th Division in the vicinity of Jinju. MAG-33 would also deploy with the first helicopter ever to be employed by the USA in combat.

1943 to July 1946*

• Curtiss R5C-1 Commando: 39493, 39504 (NTU), 39517, 39522, 39520, 39523, 39528, 39531, 39532, 39533, 39535, 39534, 39539, 39540, 39542, 39545, 39547, 39553, 39555, 39556, 39558, 39559, 39560, 39562, 39564, 39572, 39581, 39587