Officially Licensed USMC Marine Aircraft Group MAG-16 PVC Patches

Officially Licensed USMC Marine Aircraft Group MAG-16 PVC Patches — The Rotary-Wing Backbone of the Third Marine Aircraft Wing

From Vietnam's Marble Mountain to Iraq's Al Anbar Province, MAG-16 has been putting Marines where they need to be since 1952.

Marine Aircraft Group 16 (MAG-16) was formed on March 1, 1952, at Marine Corps Air Facility Santa Ana, California, and has grown into one of the most storied rotary-wing commands in Marine Corps aviation. Currently based at MCAS Miramar and assigned to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, MAG-16 commands a formidable fleet of tiltrotor and heavy-lift helicopter squadrons — including MV-22 Osprey and CH-53E Super Stallion units — responsible for assault transport, heavy lift, and sustainment operations for the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The group's combat lineage is legendary: in April 1962, MAG-16's HMM-362 became the first Marine aircraft unit to serve in South Vietnam, flying UH-34 Seahorses ashore from the USS Princeton into the Mekong Delta during Operation Shufly. By 1965, MAG-16 was operating from Marble Mountain Air Facility outside Da Nang, growing into one of the largest Marine Air Groups in Corps history and supporting operations across I Corps throughout the war. The group was deactivated in June 1971 but reactivated and went on to participate in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, and the full scope of the Global War on Terror in both Iraq and Afghanistan. During its 2008–2009 deployment to Al Anbar Province, MAG-16 commanded all Marine aviation in-theater and logged a milestone 80,000 flight hours. This PVC patch represents over seven decades of Marine rotary-wing excellence — from the rice paddies of Vietnam to the deserts of the Middle East.