Marine Air Control Squadron 23
Marine Air Control Squadron 23 (MACS-23) was a reserve United States Marine Corps aviation command and control squadron. It provided aerial surveillance and air traffic control for the Marine Forces Reserve. They were based at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, and were part of Marine Air Control Group 48 and the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing. Their job was to detect, identify, and intercept hostile aircraft and missiles, and to give navigational help to friendly aircraft.
MACS-23 began service on 16 October 1949 as Marine Ground Control Intercept Squadron 23 (MGCIS-23) with the Marine Air Reserve Training Command at Naval Air Station Denver, Colorado. It was redesignated Marine Air Control Squadron 23 on 1 March 1954, then in January 1961 became Marine Air Control Squadron, Sub Unit #1. In 1966 they moved to Marine Aircraft Group 42 and, a year later, to Marine Air Control Group 48. The squadron supported Operation Desert Storm in Southwest Asia from October 1990 through April 1991.
On 30 June 1992 they were redesignated Marine Air Control Squadron 24, Detachment A. Two years later they became Marine Air Control Squadron 24, Tactical Air Operations Center Detachment. On 8 March 1997 they took their current name, MACS-23. They deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from July 2008 to January 2009 to Al Asad, where fewer than 100 Marines performed their mission; senior officers praised their work, and it was the first and only time the unit carried its colors into a combat zone as MACS-23.
The squadron was officially deactivated on 16 September 2012.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:33 (CET).