With the Last U.S. Marine Wing Support Squadron in Iraq

By Bryan J. Dickerson*

After nearly seven years of providing essential aviation ground support (AGS) functions for Marine and U.S. aviation in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the Marine Corps AGS mission ended on 23 January 2010 when the II Marine Expeditionary Force turned over responsibility for the Al Anbar Province to the U.S. Army.  Within a few weeks, nearly all Marine Corps units and personnel had departed Iraq, including Marine Wing Support Squadron 472, the last MWSS to serve in Iraq during OIF.

The Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS) was created in the early 1980s to consolidate Marine AGS into one flexible, deployable combat organization.  The concept proved itself in Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm.   By late 2002, the Marine Corps had ten Active Duty and three Reserve MWSSs in operation organized under four Marine Wing Support Groups (MWSG).[1]

MWSS responsibilities are diverse: aircraft and vehicle fueling, fire fighting, military police, runway lighting, motor transportation, vehicle maintenance, runway and road construction, building construction, utilities, weather forecasting, food services, communications, and explosive ordnance disposal, among others.  Attached Navy personnel provide medical, dental and religious services.[2]

Following the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the United States embarked on a Global War on Terrorism to protect the nation from further such attacks.  Within several weeks, American forces were in Afghanistan conducting operations against terrorist groups harboring there.  Later, the Bush Administration turned its attention to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein whose support of international terrorism and ambitions for acquiring nuclear weapons posed a serious threat beyond the Middle East.

With Saddam Hussein unwilling to comply with repeated United Nations orders, the Bush Administration planned to forcibly remove Saddam Hussein from power and dismantle his brutally repressive regime.

In late 2002, MWSSs began deploying to Kuwait in preparation for Operation Iraqi Freedom as part of MWSG-37, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.  The following spring, four MWSSs participated in the invasion of Iraq while a fifth one remained to support air operations in Kuwait.  Ultimately, the four MWSSs set up and operated 21 Forward Arming and Refueling Points, six Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) and eight Tactical Landing Zones for Marine KC-130 aircraft.  They and other Marine Corps units left Iraq in the fall of 2003 but returned in early 2004 to support nation re-building and counter-insurgency efforts.[3]

From 2004 until 2009, a total of nine MWSSs served in Iraq on seven-month deployments.  For most of this time, standard practice was to deploy two MWSSs under the direction of a MWSG to the Al Anbar Province.  Each MWSS operated out of a main air base, either Al Asad or Al Taqqaddum, and supported several FOBs and outposts with detachments.  This arrangement ended in early 2009 when MWSS-271 deployed to Iraq and assumed responsibility for all AGS in Al Anbar.  By 2009, the security situation in Iraq had improved sufficiently that responsibility for the country was being transitioned to the new democratically elected Iraqi Government.  The Iraqi Government and the Bush Administration had agreed upon a timetable for the departure of U.S. forces.  So, one of MWSS-271’s primary missions was to retrograde AGS equipment from Iraq and assisted other units with their retrograde operations.  The retrograde would last longer than MWSS-271’s seven-month deployment so completing the retrograde would be accomplished by another MWSS --- MWSS-472, a Marine Corps Reserve unit based in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.[4]

MWSS-472 was originally founded as two separate Reserve infantry companies at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1926.  These companies were consolidated into a battalion in 1929.  Through the succeeding decades, this Marine Reserve unit underwent a number of reorganizations.  Its members were mobilized for World War Two and the Korean War.  In 1989, the Reserve unit adopted its current organization as a Marine Wing Support Squadron with several detachments located across the country.   The Squadron mobilized and deployed detachments which augmented other units for Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003.[5]

By 2004, MWSS-472 now had three detachments were concentrated in the north-east United States.  Detachment Minus was located at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Det Alpha was located in Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Det Bravo was located at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts.[6]

In 2004/2005, the Squadron mobilized and deployed to Iraq Operation Iraqi Freedom under the command of LtCol Robert Lain.  During this time, the Squadron operated as part of MWSG-37 at Al Asad Air Base and several FOBs across Al Anbar Province.  “As part of the first-ever 4th MAW MWSS to activate and deploy to a combat zone, we Dragons proved our mettle, and demonstrated the remarkable capability of reserve forces to augment and reinforce the active component of the Marine Corps,” LtCol Lain would later write.  The Squadron returned home, demobilized and resumed its Reserve status.[7]

MWSS-472 remained in a Reserve status for just three and a half years.  In early January 2009, MWSS-472 officially received orders to mobilize and deploy to Iraq later that year.  MWSG-47 commander Col Wayne Steele flew out from his Headquarters in Michigan and personally gave the news to the members of Det Minus at a formation during their monthly training weekend.  The Squadron mission would be to perform AGS and to help complete the retrograde of Marine Corps equipment from Iraq as part of the U.S. drawdown of forces.  MWSS-472 would be the only MWSS in Iraq during their deployment.[8]

MWSS-472 mobilized on 15 May 2009 under the command of LtCol Rory Langran with LtCol Edward Gatewood serving as Executive Officer and Sergeant Major Richard Oddi serving as Squadron Sergeant Major. In early June, the Squadron transferred to North Carolina and became part of MWSG-27 for pre-deployment training.  Billeting was a challenge because another USMCR unit, Combat Logistics Battalion 46 was also mobilizing at this time.  So MWSS-472 was split between Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.[9]

In North Carolina, MWSS-472 re-organized into four companies.  Headquarters and Service Company was commanded by Capt Daniel Struzik, who was the Det Minus’s Instructor-Inspector Officer in Charge (OIC).  Det Minus’s commander, Major Robert F. Williams III, became commander of Airfield Operations Company.  Capt Sean McGraw commanded Motor Transportation Company which included the Immediate Reaction Platoon (IRP).  The IRP consisted of Military Policemen trained in air base defense and convoy security operations.  LtCol Mark Gerhard commanded Engineer Company which included the newly formed Route Clearance Team (RCT).  RCT’s mission was to sweep Al Anbar roads of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).  RCT included Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel as well as specialized vehicles for IED detection and disposal.[10]

Like its first OIF deployment, MWSS-472 was heavily augmented by other Reserve and Active units. “Mobilization was composed of 13 separate commands, so bringing them together was a challenge,” recalled LtCol Gatewood.  “We went from a 425 pax [member] squadron to 700 pax in the period of a month, so integration was a challenge.” Among the units providing augmentees were MWSS-471, MWSS-473, and MWSG-47, and several Active Duty units.[11]

MWSS-472 also had a large Navy contingent, most of whom were borrowed from other units. The Squadron’s Navy contingent included two doctors, a physician assistant, five Chief Petty Officers, 25 corpsmen, and a Religious Ministry Team (RMT) comprised of a chaplain and a Religious Program Specialist.  In Iraq, the RMT would provide religious ministry and run the Flight Line Chapel at Al Asad Air Base.[12]

MWSS-472 arrived in Al Anbar, Iraq in late September / early October 2009 and officially relieved MWSS-271 in a TOA / RIP (Turnover of Authority / Relief in Place) ceremony on 13 October.  Most of the Squadron was located at Al Asad with detachments of varying sizes being sent to Al Taqqaddum Air Base, Camp Korean Village, and Combat Outpost Ubaydi.  With no MWSG present in Iraq, MWSS-472 was initially attached directly to 2nd MAW (Forward) Headquarters.  After 2nd MAW left Iraq in November, the Squadron was attached to Marine Aircraft Group 26 (Reinforced).[13]

In November, MWSS-472 received two new missions.  A small team of fire fighters, aircraft refuelers and weather forecasters was sent to Camp Ar Ramadi to perform AGS for the U.S. Army units who operated the base.  A much larger detachment of AGS personnel, corpsmen, food services and Military Police was sent to support security operations at An Nuhkayb.  Located at a vital road junction in southern Iraq, Marines at An Nuhkayb provided security for pilgrims making the Hajj – the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.[14]

MWSS-472 and the other Marine units had a daunting task in retrograding Marine equipment from Iraq.  In six-plus years of operations in Iraq, a staggering amount of gear, vehicles, equipment and supplies had accumulated at some 250 U.S. bases throughout the country.  Over 1.5 million pieces of gear, including over 100,000 vehicles, had to be transported out of Iraq per a 2008 agreement made by President George W. Bush and the new Iraqi Government.[15]

The Marine Corps planned to be completely out of Iraq by the spring of 2010 in order to concentrate on the war in Afghanistan.  Other units had started the retrograde of equipment from Iraq; MWSS-472 would help finish the job.  Already between May 2009 and September 2009, the Marine Corps had redeployed 11,000 Marines and 50 percent of its equipment out of Iraq.  Nevertheless upon arriving in Iraq, MWSS-472 found a major task that needed to be completed as quickly as possible.   At Al Asad and the other bases, the Squadron’s Marines and Sailors found mountains of gear that needed to leave Iraq, including computers, trucks, fueling systems, radios, weapons, ammunition, fire fighting gear, construction equipment and supplies of all kinds.[16]

The coordinator for the Marine Corps retrograde was the Marine Corps Logistics Command (MCLC).  MCLC initially operated out of Al Taqqaddum.  When that base closed in late November, MCLC transferred its operations to a new staging compound at Al Asad that MWSS-472 Engineer Company helped build.[17]

Basically, the retrograde process was as such.  MWSS-472 Marines and Sailors would evaluate and account for gear and supplies at the bases where they operated.   Non-serviceable items were turned over to the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO) for disposal.  Unneeded serviceable items were also given to DRMO for re-issuance in Iraq or elsewhere in the world.  Serviceable items that were still needed by the Marine Corps were processed and turned over to MCLC for shipment out of Iraq.[18]

At Al Asad and Al Taqqaddum, the task of turning over vehicles and equipment to MCLC was just a matter of driving to their staging compounds.  At the other bases, however, retrograde was much more complicated.  The gear and vehicles had to be convoyed from those outlying bases back to Al Asad before being turned over to MCLC.  This entailed heavily armed security teams from the Immediate Reaction Platoon accompanying the convoys and the RCT sweeping the convoy routes beforehand.[19]

After receiving the gear and vehicles, the MCLC personnel arranged for their transport out of Iraq either by air or by land then sea.  Day and night, cargo planes flew into and out of Al Asad Air Base transporting items as large as CH-53E helicopters back to the U.S. or to Afghanistan.  Most equipment went by truck convoy to either Kuwait or Jordan where it was embarked in ships for transport to America.[20]

While performing the retrograde operation, MWSS-472 still had to carry out its aviation ground support mission.  Squadron Marines performed over 7,000 aircraft fuelings, provided weather forecasting for Coalition air forces, and operated aircraft landing systems.  Marines were ready to respond to aircraft crashes and structural fires. Fortunately they were not called upon to perform those services.[21]

As bases were closed or transferred to U.S. Army control, MWSS-472 personnel at those locations returned to Al Asad. Most of them were rotated home in December 2009 and January 2010.  By late January, the 230 Squadron personnel still in Iraq were all located at Al Asad.[22]

On 23 January 2010, the U.S. Army officially took over responsibility for Al Anbar Province from the U.S. Marine Corps.  By now, only a couple thousand Marines remained in Iraq.  “Every Marine that has served in Iraq can be proud that their efforts have brought stability to a nation once consumed by violence and given the people of Iraq the freedom to choose their leaders,” wrote the Commander of U.S. Forces – Iraq, U.S. Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno.[23]  

MWSS-472 remained in Iraq until the first week of February.  Along with Marines from several other units, they boarded a chartered DC-10 passenger jet at Al Asad and headed home.  Including a refueling stop in Europe, their journey back to MCAS Cherry Point took nearly 24 hours.  Return home from North Carolina was delayed for several days by severe snowstorms in the northeast. Many of these Marines remained on active duty until the Squadron officially deactivated in June 2010.  In stark contrast, the Navy Reservists were demobilized within several days of returning to the U.S.[24]

After MWSS-472 left Iraq, the only Marines still there were Embassy Guards, the MCLC staff and some Marine advisors to the Iraqi Forces.  MCLC finished their job in March 2010 and the very last non-Embassy Marines left in October 2011.[25]

In just four months, MWSS-472 Marines and Sailors had performed a major logistical feat.  They had transferred over 4,500 tons of gear to MCLC for retrograde to the United States and Afghanistan.  This included some 180 motor vehicles ranging from HUM-VEEs to large tandem trucks.  Of the $68 million of gear that the Squadron inherited in October, nearly all was retrograded with the remainder turned over to other Defense Department agencies for disposal.  MWSS-472 Marines drove over 105,000 miles across Al Anbar Province without suffering a single combat casualty.   MWSS-472 Marines and Sailors were responsible for processing a substantial part of the 371,218+ pieces of equipment that the Marine Corps retrograded from Iraq in the last year of its operations there.[26]

Marines had fought to liberate Iraq in 2003 and remained for six years to suppress sectarian violence and help the Iraqis build a new democratic nation.  During that time, Marine Wing Support Squadrons provided the essential ground support for Marine and Coalition aviation to help them accomplish their missions.  In the end, MWSS-472 played a major role in the successful retrograde of Marine Corps equipment from Iraq as the last MWSS to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom.