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HMH-466
Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466 (HMH-466) is a United States Marine
Corps helicopter squadron consisting of CH-53E Super Stallion transport
helicopters. The squadron, known as the "Wolfpack", is based at Marine Corps Air
Station Miramar, California and falls under Marine Aircraft Group 16 (MAG-16)
and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (3rd MAW).
History
Early years
Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466 was commissioned November 30, 1984. It
became the Marine Corps' third and Marine Aircraft Group 16's second CH-53E
Super Stallion squadron. By December 12, 1984, the squadron had grown to more
than 180 Marines and had accepted two CH-53E Super Stallions from Sikorsky
Aircraft in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The first operational flight was conducted
December 19, 1984, and by June 30, 1985, HMH-466 had accepted 11 of its 16
allotted helicopters. By then, the squadron had flown 1,100 hours, carried 1,000
passengers, and lifted 175,000 pounds of cargo. Delivery of aircraft continued
until August 5, 1985, when the last CH-53E was delivered.
In the past 10 years, HMH-466 has participated in 10 Marine Expeditionary Unit
deployments and has been the recipient of the Secretary Defense Phoenix Award
for outstanding maintenance (1987), Fleet Marine Forces Pacific Annual Aviation
Safety Award (1986), the Mike Yunck Award for the best overall squadron in the
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (1988), a Meritorious Unit Citation (1986), and a Navy
Unit Citation (1992).
Gulf War & the 1990s
August 1990 brought the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the Wolfpack became the
first CH-53E squadron to deploy to Saudi Arabia. In support of Operation Desert
Storm, HMH-466 recovered downed aircraft, conducted the first Night Vision
Goggles troop insertion, and provided heavy lift support from port facilities to
staging areas in preparation for the ground phase of the operation. Upon
cessation of hostilities, the squadron returned to Marine Corps Air Station
Tustin having sustained no losses of personnel or aircraft.
In May 1992, the squadron embarked upon its first unit deployment to Marine
Aircraft Group 36, Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan and became
the second CH-53E squadron deployed to the Western Pacific. In addition, the
squadron detached four aircraft to HMM-161 in support of the 11th Marine
Expeditionary Unit. In November, 1992, HMH-466 returned to MAG-16, thus
culminating an extremely successful six month Unit Deployment Program. From
December 1992 to March 1993, the Wolfpack detached four aircraft to Somalia in
support of Operation Restore Hope. In November 1993, the Wolfpack attained
25,000 flight hours, becoming the only CH-53E squadron to reach this goal Class
"A" mishap-free. The squadron deployed to the Western Pacific in May 1994,
detaching four aircraft to both HMM-166 and HMM-262 for the 15th and 31st MEUs.
Squadron photo celebrating 60,000 flight hoursThe squadron detachment with the
15th MEU supported Operation Support Hope in Rwanda and supported Marines in
Kuwait. On May 29, 1995, the Wolfpack exceeded 30,000 Class "A" mishap-free
hours, becoming the only CH-53E squadron in the Marine Corps to do so. During
October 1995, the Wolfpack transferred four of its aircraft to HMM-163 in
support of the 13th MEU, and the remainder of the squadron departed for Okinawa,
Japan, on May 1, 1996. During the six month deployment the squadron endured a
three month grounding, due to faulty swashplates. The grounding enabled the
squadron to support operations in the Republic of Korea during August 1996. The
squadron returned to MCAS Tustin November 3, 1996. As of March 10, 1997, HMH-466
has flown 33,680 Class A" mishap-free flight hours, carried 45,957,854 pounds of
cargo and transported 41,826 passengers.
The Global War on Terror
The squadron deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in early 2006 and
were stationed at Al Asad, Iraq. February 18, 2006 marked 60,000 hours of flight
time since the squadron was established in November 1984. This milestone also
coincided with the 60,000th hour of Class A mishap-free flight time. They
returned from Iraq in the summer of 2006
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