Description
Officially Licensed USMC MALS-13 Black Widows Sticker — Keeping the Corps’ Most Lethal Strike Aircraft in the Fight Since 1942
From the jungles of Chu Lai to the scorching Arizona desert, the Black Widows have been arming, fixing, and launching Marine attack aircraft for over eight decades.
Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 13 (MALS-13) — the ‘Black Widows’ — is one of the Marine Corps’ longest-serving aviation logistics units, commissioned on March 1, 1942, at San Diego, California, as Headquarters and Service Squadron 13. The unit saw frequent action in the Pacific Theater during World War II before being decommissioned in November 1945. Reactivated in March 1951 at MCAS El Toro as H&MS-13, the squadron deployed to Chu Lai Air Base in the Republic of Vietnam in September 1966, where it remained for four years supporting MAG-13’s combat operations. During Vietnam, H&MS-13 operated TF-9J Cougars and later TA-4F Skyhawks as fast forward air control aircraft in direct support of ground troops. After returning stateside and relocating to MCAS Yuma in 1987, the unit was redesignated MALS-13 on October 5, 1988. During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Black Widow Marines provided critical aviation logistics support from August 1990 through October 1991. In October 2002, the squadron deployed a detachment supporting six AV-8B Harriers in combat operations in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. In January 2003, MALS-13 embarked 205 Marines aboard USS Bonhomme Richard for Operation Iraqi Freedom, deploying detachments to Al Jaber Air Base in Kuwait and An Numiniyah Expeditionary Air Field in Iraq. In September 2012, MALS-13 personnel were augmenting MALS-16 Forward at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, when the base came under a devastating Taliban assault — Sergeant Bradley W. Atwell, a MALS-13 Marine, gave his life in defense of the airfield that night. Today, the Black Widows remain at MCAS Yuma as part of MAG-13 and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, now supporting the Marine Corps’ exclusive all-F-35 MAG. This sticker honors every Black Widow who ever loaded ordnance, turned a wrench, or held the line at the airfield.
Explore more from our collection.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.