Marine Aircraft Group 53
{{Use American English|date=March 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= Marine Aircraft Group 53
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|dates= 1 April 1943 - 31 May 1947{{cite news |last=Wygant|first=William C. |title=MAG-53 Dies After Four Years Varied Service |url= https://www.cherrypoint.marines.mil/Portals/86/Windsock/1947/19470613.pdf|work=The Windsock |location= Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point|date= 13 June 1947|access-date=26 October 2020}}
|country = {{flagu|United States|name=United States of America|size=23px}}
|branch = {{flag|United States Marine Corps|size=23px}}
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|role= Training
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|notable_commanders=Frank Schwable
Marion M. Magruder
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Marine Aircraft Group 53 (MAG-53) was a United States Marine Corps night fighter training group that was commissioned during World War II. It was the first night-fighter group in the Marine Corps.{{r|Wygant}} During the course of the war the group trained eight night fighting squadrons and sent seven of them into combat.{{sfn|Sherrod|1952|pp=447}} The group was decommissioned after the war during the post-war drawdown of forces.
History
Marine Night Fighting Group 53 (MAG(N)-53) was formed on 1 April 1943, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.{{sfn|Porter|Hammel|1985|pp=183}}[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:19431231_-_Wing_General_Order_36_-1943_-_Commissioning_MAG-53,_VMSB-344,_AWS-6_%26_AWS(AT)-10.pdf 3d MAW General Order 36-1943 - Commissioning MAG-53, VMSB-344, AWS-6 & AWS(AT)-10] It was the first night fighter group in the Marine Corps and was responsible for the training of all VMF(N) squadrons.{{sfn|Sherrod|1952|pp=447}} The group trained in Vero Beach, Florida in the spring and summer of 1944 and moved to Marine Corps Air Station Eagle Mountain Lake, Texas in November 1944.{{sfn|Rottman|2002|pp=437}} MAG(N)-53 was re-designated Marine Night Fighter Group 53 (MNFG 53) in April 1945. The group remained in Texas until the end of the war.{{fact|date=March 2024}}
The group moved back to MCAS Cherry Point in February 1946 [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:9th_MAW_-_Wing_Special_Order_8-1946_-_MAG-53_Movement_Order.pdf 9th MAW Special Order 8-1946 directing MAG-53 Movement to MCAS Cherry Point, NC.] and changed its name again, this time to Marine Aircraft Group 53 (MAG-53) in November of that year. The group was decommissioned on 31 May 1947.{{r|Wygant}}
See also
Notes
:This article incorporates text in the public domain from the United States Marine Corps.
{{Reflist}}
References
{{refbegin}}
;Bibliography
- {{cite book
| last1 = Porter
| first1 = R. Bruce
|last2= Hammel
|first2= Eric
| year = 1985
| title = Ace! - A Marine Night-Fighter Pilot in World War II
| publisher = Pacifica Press
| location = Pacifica, California
}}
- {{cite book | last = Rottman | first = Gordon L. | title = U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle: Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939-1945 | publisher = Greenwood | date = 2002 | pages = 449| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=y56Dut69s5UC&q=Marine+Air+Warning+Squadron+8&pg=PA449 | isbn =9780313319068
}}
- {{cite book
| last = Sherrod
| first = Robert
| year = 1952
| title = History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II
| url = https://archive.org/details/historyofmarinec00sher
| url-access = registration
| publisher = Combat Forces Press
| location = Washington, D.C.
}}
{{refend}}
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