The Scarface legacy begins during World War II when the squadron was activated as Marine Observation Squadron (VMO) 351 on December 1943 in Quantico, Virginia. In January of 1944 the squadron was re-designated as VMO-3 and deployed to Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 11 where it took part in the campaigns on Peleliu and Okinawa.
After being deactivated in August of 1949, the squadron was reactivated in August of 1966 for the conflict in the Republic of Vietnam. It was here that the squadron earned the callsign “Scarface” and was re-designated as Marine Light Helicopter Squadron (HML) 367. Scarface was the first Marine Corps squadron to fly the AH-1G Cobra Attack Helicopter.
Scarface left Vietnam in 1971 and was then stationed on the Island of Okinawa, Japan, but the squadron returned to Vietnam in 1975 to aid in the evacuation of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees. In November of 1979, after more than eight years stationed on the island of Okinawa, HML-367 was reassigned to MAG-39 at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Camp Pendleton.
In August 1990, HMLA-367 deployed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in support of Operation DESERT SHIELD. When the United States and its allies transitioned to Operation DESERT STORM, Scarface supported I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) with more than 250 combat sorties and over 900 flight hours. During this time, Scarface successfully destroyed 86 T-72 tanks and 23 technical vehicles.
Throughout the mid-1990s and early 2000s, HMLA-367 deployed to Okinawa every two years in support of the Unit Deployment Program (UDP). The final 13-month Okinawa deployment from 2002 to 2003 was followed less than a year later by a deployment to Al-Taqaddum, Iraq in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF) II. While there, the squadron flew in support of numerous ground units including the 1st Marine Division at the Battle of Fallujah. Over the next three years, Scarface would return to Iraq two more times in support of OIF.
After three deployments to Iraq in only four years, Scarface returned to Camp Pendleton in November of 2008 to transition its Huey pilots to the upgraded UH-1Y, and to prepare for upcoming operations in Afghanistan. After yet another turnaround of less than a year, HMLA-367 deployed to Afghanistan in October of 2009 to support the United Nations (UN) International Security and Assistance Forces (ISAF) during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF). The squadron’s skills were again put to the test as Scarface simultaneously provided support for seven infantry battalions and participated in the battles for Marjah and Now Zad in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. From 2011 to 2013, Scarface deployed detachments in support of the 11th and 15th Marine Expeditionary Units (MEU).
In 2012, HMLA-367 moved to MCAS Kaneohe Bay, part of Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH). From its new location in the Indopacific, Scarface deployed detachments to Okinawa in support of the 31st MEU, to Australia in support of Marine Rotational Force-Darwin (MRF-D), and to the Korean Peninsula. HMLA-367 deactivated at MCBH in April of 2022 and reactivated on 16 December 2022, back under MAG-39 aboard MCAS Camp Pendleton for the first time in over a decade. In July of 2023, Scarface deployed a detachment on the first ever MRF-D to be supported out of Camp Pendleton.
Throughout its history, Scarface has received numerous awards, to include the Presidential Unit Citation Streamer with four bronze stars, the Navy Unit Commendation Streamer with one silver and three bronze stars, and the Meritorious Unit Commendation Streamer with one silver and one bronze star. It has received the Marine Corps Aviation Association John P. Giguere Award three times in recognition as the Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron of the Year.