Marine Air Group 25 and SCAT – Images of Aviation

Marine Air Group 25 and SCAT
128 Pages
ISBN 1467127434

Marine Air Group 25 was a pioneering combat air transport unit that entered overseas service during the Guadalcanal campaign in September 1942, helping to achieve the first American offensive victory of the war in the Pacific. It quickly gained fame for its rapid delivery of vital supplies and its lifesaving evacuation of casualties.

During the fight for Guadalcanal, Marine Air Group 25 became the nucleus of the joint-service SOPAC (South Pacific) Combat Air Transport Command, or SCAT, partnering with troop carrier and medical units of the US Army Air Forces. SCAT would continue to play a crucial role in subsequent Allied operations throughout the Solomon Islands, including the battles for New Georgia and Bougainville. After SCAT was dissolved in February 1945, Marine Air Group 25 continued its mission in the Philippines and then Northern China until being deactivated in 1947. In 1950, the group was reactivated, seeing further service during the Korean War.

This book, through 221 period photographs, is the most comprehensive published history of MAG-25 and SCAT to date. It covers MAG-25's origins in the pre-war Marine Corps and its service during World War II and Korea. It is the first publication to fully credit the diverse units of SCAT, which at its height included five Marine Corps squadrons (HqSq-25, VMJ-152, VMJ-153, VMJ-253, and SMS-25) and four USAAF squadrons (the 13th, 63rd, and 64th Troop Carrier Squadrons and the 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron).

William Armstrong

About William Armstrong (Annapolis, Maryland Author)

William Armstrong

William M. Armstrong is a professional military and public historian specializing in archival research, analysis, and exhibit content development. He has worked on behalf of prominent law firms, corporations, and museums, as well as various federal government agencies.

A graduate of Towson University, Mr. Armstrong is originally from the Annapolis area and lives in Frederick. He has a longstanding interest in Maryland's military history, and is the author of Maryland in World War I (2017) and Baltimore in World War II (2005) in Arcadia's Images of America series. He is also the author of Images of Aviation: Marine Air Group 25 and SCAT (2017), the most complete published history of Marine Air Group 25 and the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command.