Officially Licensed Marine Aviation Support Squadron MASS-3 Patch - Marine Air Support Squadron 3 (MASS-3), Direct Air Support Center unit of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, officially licensed embroidered patch.
The voice between the ground and the sky — MASS-3 puts the right aircraft on the right target at the right moment for the Marine Air-Ground Task Force.
Designated Marine Air Support Squadron 3 on 15 February 1954, MASS-3 has built one of the most operationally tested records in Marine aviation command and control. The squadron operates under Marine Air Control Group 38 and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, where it provides Direct Air Support Center and DASC-Airborne capabilities for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. That mission means processing immediate air support requests, integrating aircraft with supporting arms, and managing terminal control assets across the full spectrum of MAGTF operations. MASS-3 carried that mission into Vietnam from 1966 to 1971, where its Air Support Radar Teams controlled more than 38,000 radar-guided bombing missions and directed ordnance onto more than 56,000 targets. During Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the squadron's DASC ran for more than 4,400 operational hours, controlling thousands of fixed-wing and rotary-wing sorties while processing hundreds of tactical air requests and medevacs. MASS-3 later supported the 1st Marine Division from the Kuwaiti border to Tikrit during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and deployed to Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan in 2010 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. This embroidered patch represents the controllers, directors, and support Marines who have kept Marine aviation connected to the ground fight across every major conflict of the modern era.
Perfect for MASS-3 veterans and alumni, Marine Air Control Group 38 collectors, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force supporters, close air support community members, Camp Pendleton and 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing enthusiasts, shadow box builders, reunion attendees, deployment keepsake displays, and anyone assembling a serious Marine aviation command and control patch collection that honors the people who coordinate the fires and the flights.
MASS-3 heritage — where the ground and the sky meet, stitched into every thread.
