Marine Air Control Squadron 2

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Marine Air Control Squadron 2
MACS-2 Insignia
Active	April 1, 1944 - present
Country	United States
Branch	USMC
Type	Aviation Command & Control
Role	Aerial surveillance & Air traffic control
Part of	Marine Air Control Group 28 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Garrison/HQ	Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
Nickname	"Eyes of the MAGTF"
Battles/wars	World War II Operation Desert Storm Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Iraqi Freedom
Commanders
Current commander	Lt.Col Von H. Pigg

Marine Air Control Squadron 2 (MACS-2) is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control squadron . The squadron provides aerial surveillance and air traffic control for the II Marine Expeditionary Force. They are based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and fall under Marine Air Control Group 28 and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.

1 Mission
2 History
- 2.1 World War II
- 2.2 Modern Day
3 Unit awards
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Mission

Air Traffic Control
Aerial Reconnaissance and Early Warning
Mutil-TADIL interface and management
Electronic Warfare
RADAR and systems maintenance
Air Intercept Control

[edit] History

[edit] World War II

Marine Air Control Squadron 2's history dates back to April 1, 1944 when the Squadron was formed as Marine Air Warning Squadron 11 at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, and was attached to Marine Air Warning Group 1, 9th Marine Aircraft Wing. During June 1944, the squadron relocated to MCAS Miramar, California and was assigned to Marine Air Warning Group 2. In March 1945, the squadron relocated once again, being assigned to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. Four months later, Marine Air Warning Squadron 11 joined Marine Aircraft Group 43 of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing in Kume Shima, Ryukyu Islands. Shortly thereafter, in October 1945, the squadron moved to Tsingtao, China to join Marine Aircraft Group 24, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, and participated in the occupation of North China until May 1946.

[edit] Modern Day

In 1993, MACS-2 relocated to Beaufort, South Carolina, subordinate to Marine Aircraft Group 31. While supporting MAG-31 in 1994, MACS-2 acquired Air Traffic Control (ATC) Detachments A and B. Also in 1994, MACS-2 deployed in support of exercise Display Determination in Turkey, a NATO exercise involving the integration of foreign military units with American units to include an ATC and Early Warning and Control detachment. Between 1995 and 1998, MACS-2 participated in Joint Task Force Six, also known as Operation Lone Star, a drug interdiction operation patrolling the Mexican-American border. Further drug interdiction operations included EC-7 in 1996 in Ecuador and Operation Laser Strike in 1997 conducted in Peru. ATC detachments C and D joined MACS-2 in 1998.

MACS-2 relocated once more to Cherry Point, North Carolina in 1998 under Marine Air Control Group 28 where it resides today. Deployed in support of overseas operations, MACS-2 sent an ATC detachment known as a Marine Air Traffic Control Mobile Team (MMT) to Kosovo with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit in 1999. In support of operations in Serbia, MACS-2 deployed an MMT to Hungary, also in 1999. In 2001, MACS-2 sent Tactical Air Operations Center Marines to South-West Asia to support the United States Air Force in Operation Southern Watch. Current operations include providing an ATC detachment to the Winter Olympics in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.