Marine Aircraft Group 26 Marine Aircraft Group 26 ( MAG - 26 ) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Station New River that is currently composed of seven MV - 22 Osprey squadrons one of which is the Fleet Replacement Squadron and one aviation logistics squadron . It falls under the command of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing and II Marine Expeditionary Force . History . 1950s through to the 1980s . Marine Aircraft Group 26 was activated on 16 June 1952 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point , North Carolina , and was assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing . The first operational Marine Aircraft Group arrived from MCAS Cherry Point in July 1954 . Marine Aircraft Group 26 , a group of helicopters originally commissioned in 1952 , filled the needs of the Marine Corps to maintain a force which was expeditionary and amphibious in nature . In July 1954 , the group relocated to Marine Corps Air Station New River , North Carolina . On 1 March 1959 , it was designated Marine Aircraft Group 26 . During this period , the group flew 10 different types of aircraft . Elements of MAG - 26 participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis ; intervention in the Dominican Republic ; Antilles disaster relief operation in the Dominican Republic ; the Iranian hostage rescue attempt ; Multinational Peacekeeping Force , Beirut , Lebanon ; Operation Urgent Fury , Grenada and the Carriacou Islands ; Hurricane Hugo relief , Puerto Rico and Charleston , S . C . ; and Operation Sharp Edge , Monrovia , Liberia . 1990s . In December 1990 , MAG - 26 relocated to expeditionary airfield Lonesome Dove in Jubail , Saudi Arabia , to support the I Marine Expeditionary Force and the 2nd Marine Division in the liberation of Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm . The composite squadron included nine squadrons from MAG - 26 , MAG - 29 and the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing . Elements of the group were involved in Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq and Turkey ; Operation Victor Squared , Guantanamo Bay , Cuba ; and Operation Deny Flight in the former Yugoslavia and the Adriatic Sea . The group is one of the most heavily tasked and deployed units in the Marine Corps and provides special operations capable aviation combat elements for the Marine Expeditionary Unit s in support of the 6th Fleet and Central Command elements . Since January 1992 , the group participated in Operation Provide Promise ; Operation Southern Watch in which MAG - 26 squadrons self - deployed in less than 12 hours , flew over a thousand miles and then embarked aboard ship ; Operation Southern Support ; Operation Support Democracy ; Operation Sharp Guard ; Operation Continue Hope ; and Operation Uphold Democracy . In addition to deployments around the world , from 1 January 1993 to 31 December 1994 , MAG - 26 garrison squadrons accomplished an average of 10 major Marine exercises , 12 local exercises , 12 deployments for training and 60 , 455 mishap - free flight hours over the past two years . The beginning of 1995 was met with many firsts for MAG - 26 . In conjunction with , HMH - 461 was the first fleet squadron to perform Hover In - flight Refueling while hovering astern a naval vessel . HMLA - 167 was also the first squadron to employ Night Targeting System on the AH - 1W SuperCobra . As Hurricane Floyd moved up the East Coast in September 1999 , soldiers , sailors , airmen and Marines relocated hundreds of military aircraft and vessels out of Floyd ' s path , and evacuated all non - emergency military and civilians to help ensure their safety . From Marine Corps Air Station , New River , N . C . , all flyable CH - 53E Super Stallion aircraft from Marine Aircraft Group 26 were evacuated to Maxwell Air Force Base , Alabama . All flyable CH - 46E , UH - 1N and AH - 1W aircraft from Marine Aircraft Group 26 and all flyable CH - 53E , CH - 46E , UH - 1N and AH - 1W from Marine Aircraft Group 29 were evacuated to Wright - Patterson Air Force Base , Ohio . All grounded aircraft were secured within station hangars . War in Iraq . On 28 January 2009 , MAG - 26 turned over with Marine Aircraft Group 16 and assumed primary command of aviation support in Iraq ’ s Al Anbar Province . This year - long deployment for the MAG in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom culminated in November when the 2nd MAW headquarters turned over its mission as the aviation combat element of Multi - National Forces West to the MAG .