The mission of Marine Aircraft Group 39 is to provide utility helicopter support, close-in fire support, fire support coordination, aerial reconnaissance, observation and forward air control in aerial and ground escort operations during ship-to-shore movement and subsequent operations ashore.
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 HMLA-367 earned the callsign “Scarface” and was re-designated as HML-367. Scarface was also 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, 3D MAW, at Camp Pendleton, CA.
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 Desert Storm, Scarface supported I 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.
Through the mid-1990s and early 2000s, HMLA-367 deployed for six months at a time every eighteen months to Okinawa in rotation with three other HMLA squadrons. The final 13 month Okinawa deployment from 2002-03 was followed less than a year later by a deployment to Al Taqaddum, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II (OIF II). While there, the squadron flew in support of numerous ground units including the 1st Marine Division at the Battle of Fallujah. In the next three years, Scarface would return to Iraq two more times in support of OIF 05-07.2 and OIF 08.1-08.2.
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 new 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 international security and assistance forces during Operation Enduring Freedom. 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. In 2012, HMLA-367 moved to its current location of MCBH Kaneohe Bay on island of Oahu in Hawai’i. The squadron has conducted deployments as part of the 31st MEU and to Okinawa as part of the Unit Deployment Program.
In April of 2022, HMLA-367 deactivated from MCB Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Scarface reactivated on 16th December 2022, under MAG-39 on MCAS Camp Pendleton, California.