When we think of the U.S. Marine Corps and World War II we all too often think of grand amphibious assaults at places like Tarawa or Iwo Jima. Rarely do we consider that the U.S. Marine Corps was, and is, more than a bunch of highly trained light infantry. So on this year's Memorial Day I would like to remind our readers of a few of the U.S. Marine Corps stunning Second World War aviation accomplishments.
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
