USMC MWSS-373 Joker Crash Fire Rescue Patch
Marine Wing Support Squadron 373 (MWSS-373) — Crash Fire Rescue Section
Marine Wing Support Squadron 373 (MWSS-373), known as "The Aces," traces its lineage to Wing Equipment and Repair Squadron 37 (WERS-37), activated on 1 April 1967 at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, Santa Ana, California. The squadron was restructured and redesignated as Wing Transportation Squadron 37 (WTS-37) on 31 January 1977, before being redesignated MWSS-373 on 5 June 1986. On 21 August 1998, the squadron relocated from MCAS El Toro to MCAS Miramar as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process.
The Crash Fire Rescue section is one of MWSS-373's most critical capabilities. In July 1992, MWSS-373 became the first support squadron in I Marine Expeditionary Force to achieve 100 percent readiness. During Operation Iraqi Freedom in January-June 2003, the squadron constructed a 4,000-Marine base camp and installed a 431,000-square-foot Harrier parking ramp at Al Jaber Air Base, Kuwait, while conducting Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) operations at Jalibah Airfield, Iraq, in support of the attack on An Nasiriyah. MWSS-373 completed rapid runway repair of a 5,000-foot KC-130 operating strip at Jalibah on the third night of the ground war.
During the Battle of Fallujah in 2004 (Operation Al Fajr), MWSS-373 provided crash fire rescue response to life-threatening U.S. and coalition structural and vehicle fires while conducting EOD support to clear main supply routes. Today, MWSS-373 serves under Marine Air Control Group 38, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, at MCAS Miramar, providing aviation ground support including aircraft rescue and firefighting, expeditionary airfield services, heavy equipment operations, and tactical fuel distribution.
Perfect For: MWSS-373 Marines past and present, crash fire rescue personnel, MACG-38 members, 3rd MAW support squadron veterans, MCAS Miramar station personnel, and Marine Corps aviation ground support professionals.
A tribute to the Aces of MWSS-373 — keeping the flight line operational and the fires suppressed from El Toro to Fallujah and beyond.
