22-616: South Field may refer to: South Field, Berkshire , a location in England South Field, East Riding of Yorkshire , a location in England South Field (Iwo Jima) , World War II airfield in Japan South Field (Provo) , Utah, soccer stadium in the United States See also [ edit ] Southfield (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
44-601: A result, the airfield again became operational after only twelve hours. It was used by the Japanese until 19 February 1945 when the United States Marines landed on the island. It was the assignment of the 133rd Naval Construction Battalion to get this airfield operational as soon as the Marines had secured it. By the time that happened the 133rd had taken so many casualties supporting the 23rd Marines that
66-610: Is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) squadron in the United States Marine Corps that operates the RQ-21 Blackjack . It is the fourth UAV squadron in the Marine Corps and the first in the reserve component . The squadron, nicknamed the "Evil Eyes", entered the force structure on 1 July 2010, when Marine Observation Squadron 4 (VMO-4) was reactivated and redesignated VMU-4. The squadron inherited
88-615: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages South Field (Iwo Jima) South Field was a World War II airfield on Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands , located in the Central Pacific . The Volcano Islands are part of Japan. The airfield was located on the southern corner of Iwo Jima located on the Motoyama plateau, to the north of Mount Suribachi . South Field
110-582: The 21st Fighter Group moved to the field from Central Field . After the war, the 20th Air Force fighter squadrons moved out to Japan , Okinawa or Philippines and South Field came under the Jurisdiction of Military Air Transport Service (MATS), becoming a refueling stop for MATS aircraft in the Western Pacific. It hosted various communications, weather as well as Far East Materiel Command units for supply and maintenance activities. It
132-489: The 9th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) landed, the first of 2,400 emergency landings by American aircraft at South Field and North Field on Iwo Jima. On 6 March, the P-51 Mustangs of the 15th Fighter Wing moved to the field for close air support for the ongoing battle and long-range B-29 fighter escort operations. From then on, South Field was in constant use. On 16 March, US Navy PB4Y-1's (Navy version of
154-837: The B-24 ) patrol bombers of VPB-116 arrived at this airfield from Tinian. The patrol bombers performed various missions from South Field through the remainder of the war. The PB4Y-1 were later relieved by PB4Y-2 aircraft. On 7 April 1945, P-51s took off from South Field to form the first land-based fighter escort for B-29s on a strike against the Japanese homeland. By July, the runway had been extended to 6,000 feet (1,800 m) by 200 feet (61 m) and had been surfaced with emulsified asphalt. Also constructed were 7,950 feet (2,420 m) of taxiways and 258 hardstands. This field could accommodate 100 P-51s and 30 B-24 Liberators. In an emergency, B-29s could land here. Fighter escort operations took place from March until November 1945. On 16 July 1945
176-590: The Battle of Iwo Jima . The squadron waited offshore to support Marines on the ground at Iwo until two planes from the USS Wake Island (CVE-65) were able to land at the airstrip on 26 February 1945. These were the first two aircraft to land on the newly captured airstrip and they did so while still under heavy small-arms and mortar fire. In time the mere presence of these small planes overhead would influence Japanese gunners to cease fire and button up against
198-446: The Battle of Saipan on 17 June 1944 and began operating immediately. Six days later all squadron gear and personnel were ashore and the squadron shifted operations to Aslito Field . During the battle they their mission was to conduct tactical reconnaissance for ground troops and direct artillery and naval gunfire strikes. VMO-2 was the only other similar squadron to fly during the invasion of Saipan. Two months later two planes from
220-536: The Marine Air-Ground Task Force . The squadron was originally activated as Artillery Spotting Division (Marine Observation Squadron 951) ( ASD(VMO-951) ) on 20 December 1943 at Marine Corps Air Station Quantico , Virginia . This happened because the Marine Corps' field artillery school was located at Marine Corps Base Quantico . Less than a month later they were redesignated as Marine Observation Squadron 4 (VMO-4) as they trained to fly
242-585: The OY-1 Grasshopper . The squadron would later move to San Diego, California and the deploy overseas to Marine Corps Air Station Ewa in Hawaii for further training where they would be assigned to support the V Amphibious Corps . In April 1944 they were sent to Maui for duty with the 4th Marine Division and on 29 May 1944 they left Pearl Harbor for their first combat mission. The first two planes from VMO-4 landed on Charan-Kanoa airstrip during
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#1732776213434264-471: The assignment was first given to the 31st CB but the 62nd CB ended up with it. Even so, all three battalions worked together to get it operational. It was during the fight to secure this airfield that Medal of Honor recipient Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone was killed by a Japanese mortar shell. The airfield became a battlefield during the Battle of Iwo Jima . It was put into action by the Americans as
286-432: The battle still raged. Named South Field, the east-northeast to west-southwest runway was being used by observation planes as early as 26 February (D plus 7) when the first American aircraft landed on the strip, an OY-1 Sentinel piloted by Lt. Harvey Olson of VMO-4 . By 2 March the runway had been graded to 4,000 feet (1,200 m). Later, on 4 March with the battle still raging a B-29 Superfortress named Dinah Might from
308-499: The battle they returned to Maui in April 1945 where they would remain until the end of the war. Following the surrender of Japan , the squadron returned to San Diego, California where they were deactivated on 21 October 1945. VMO-4 was reactivated on September 1, 1962 at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile , Michigan , from the personnel of HMR-761 and HMR-773, which had recently decommissioned. VMO-4 flew SH-34G/Js until November 1968, when
330-677: The general drawdown of US forces following the end of the Cold War . The squadron was reactivated on 1 July 2010 and redesignated Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 4 (VMU-4). VMU-4 is a subordinate unit of Marine Aircraft Group 41 , 4th Marine Aircraft Wing . VMU-4's first flight with the RQ-7B Shadow was 29 September 2010 in Yuma, AZ. VMU-4 is now currently stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. They moved to Camp Pendleton officially on 22 February 2013. The squadron deactivated in
352-432: The history of VMO-4 which was an observation squadron that saw extensive action during World War II . They were last based at Naval Air Station Atlanta near Atlanta , Georgia and were deactivated on 23 May 1993 as part of the post- Cold War drawdown of forces. VMU-4 is a subordinate unit of Marine Aircraft Group 41 and the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing . Provide aerial fire support spotting and intelligence in support of
374-462: The inevitable counter-battery fire to follow. Often the pilots would undertake pre-dawn or dusk missions simply to extend this protective "umbrella" over the troops, risky flying given Iwo's unlit fields and constant enemy sniping from the adjacent hills. During the battle the squadron would fly 204 sorties in 19 days totaling 366.4 hours of flying. This would leave Six of the seven planes used so badly damaged that they were scrapped afterwards. After
396-458: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title South Field . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=South_Field&oldid=1122455948 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
418-551: The squadron became the first squadron in the reserves to receive the OV-10As. The squadron later relocated to Naval Air Station Atlanta during July 1976. The squadron was called to active service during the Gulf War time-period and become part of Marine Aircraft Group 29 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point , North Carolina however it did not deploy overseas. The squadron was decommissioned on March 31, 1994 as part of
440-727: The squadron would assist their fellow Marines during the week-long Battle of Tinian . During these two battles, the squadron flew 400 sorties and suffered 2 pilots killed. One after he crash landing after getting hit by enemy fire and another over Tinian . The Ground echelon of the squadron suffered 3 dead and 9 wounded during an enemy air raid. On 10 August 1944 the squadron set sail for Pearl Harbor to rest and refit. VMO-4 personnel and gear remained in Hawaii until January 1945 when they set sail for Guam . While in Guam they received new aircraft and which were then flown to Saipan to be loaded upon escort carriers for movement to their next mission,
462-444: Was significant to the overall Battle of Iwo Jima . Built by the Japanese, the base included two runways, one 5,025 feet (1,532 m) and the other 3,965 feet (1,209 m). On 2 January 1944, more than a dozen B-24 Liberator bombers raided Airfield No. 1 and inflicted heavy damage. Commander of the island, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi diverted more than 600 men, 11 trucks, and 2 bulldozers for immediate repairs. As
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#1732776213434484-656: Was under the command of the Iwo Jima Base Command, as a satellite of the 6000th Support Wing, Tachikawa Air Base , Japan. The USAF 6415th Air Base Squadron garrisoned the base until turning over the facility to the Japanese government on 30 September 1955. The airfield was subsequently abandoned and of the three WWII airfields only Central Field remains in use. [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency VMO-4 As VMO-4 : Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 4 (VMU-4)
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