Marine Aircraft Group 13 was formed during World War II, as were most Marine Aviation units. Originally, it was the third group of the first wing, but that numbering system has long been lost. Wings were one digit numbers, groups two digits, and squadrons three digits. The digits in the number designated the parent group and wing.

Headquarters and Maintenance Squadron 13 was the largest squadron in the Marine Corps when I was in it. It had three functions: To provide the administrative support and control of all Group headquarters personnel, to provide Intermediate Maintenance and logistics support to the Group, and to fly the OA-4M Skyhawk. This was a two seat A-4 which was used for Airborne Forward Air Control. In reality, it was a bunch of toys for the Group headquarters pilots to fly cross country with. There was little tactical use made of these jets, although they were much more effective than the rather worthless OV-10 Broncos, as we learned in Desert Storm.

 

"On Time, On Target"

That was the motto of the Bats of VMA(AW)-242 when they flew the A-6E Intruder. I was with them from 1988 to 1991 when they transitioned to the F/A-18D Hornet (two seater). With the Hornet, the logo changed briefly to this but within a month they changed to this logo with the Latin motto, "Mors ex Tenebris" or "Death from the Darkness." The new commanding officer came from the fighter community and he thought we just had to have some Latin to lend credibility to the squadron. Eh, who knows. He was a good CO, and you can find a lot of Bats pictured on calendars and such because of his tendency to be a publicity hound! Not a bad thing, I guess, because he took care of the mission and the people, too. Here's another Bat Hornet patch.

They were formed originally in 1943 as VMTB-242 (the second squadron attached to MAG-24, 2nd MAW, as this is how the numbers were created) flying the TBM Avenger Torpedo bomber. They saw extensive action, but were decommissioned at the end of the war. I'm looking for a copy of their logo. I've only seen this one once, right after our Ops officer went to a reunion. It featured Bugs Bunny riding a torpedo, similar to the VMA-311 patch below. The story goes that when the squadron was formed in WWII, one of the people in the squadron used to work for Warner Brothers, but I can't vouch for the story's veracity. If you know where I can find this, please email me.

From 1961 to 1964, they were recommissioned as VMA-242 and flew the first version of the A-4 Skyhawk. Thanks to Jim Sullivan who sent this to me to replace my really bad xeroxed copy!

I found an excellent link that has their official history as recorded in the seventies. They added some comments at the end that are incorrect, such as saying that 242 was the first squadron to transition to the F/A-18D, and that this occurred in the late 1980's. Not true, I was there as the maintenance control officer. The first squadron was 121, and 242 transitioned in 1991.

 

The VMA-211 Wake Island Avengers. The most incredible squadron ever to have existed. They were part of the garrison of Wake Island in December, 1941 which held out for sixteen days against an overwhelming Japanese amphibious assault. It was the only time in the war that an amphibious assault by any military force was thrown back into the sea. Major Devereux commanded the Marine forces and is rightfully regarded as a heroic figure for his determined leadership.

 

The VMA-214 Blacksheep, yes it's the same one of Pappy Boyington fame

The VMA-311 Tomcats, no, not the F-14. These guys came first, and flew the A-4M when I knew them, though they and all the VMA squadrons now fly AV-8Bs. It's a particularly useless airplane, and only serves to make grunts feel good. Its engine exhaust is right at the wing root, so it's particularly vulnerable to missiles. The idea of having fixed wing attack aircraft close to the lines is anachronistic and isn't necessary or desireable for the modern battlefield.

By the way, I'm told the original logo had the cat flipping the bird, but this wasn't allowed in polite society.

 

 

Not Pictured: VMGR-352 (which looks like an Oakland Raiders Patch with a C-130 superimposed on it, and VMA(AW)-121 Green Knights.

 

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