Marine Air Support Squadron 3
Marine Air Support Squadron 3 (MASS-3), is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control unit that provides the Direct Air Support Center (DASC) for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. They are based out of the 32 Area on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and fall under the command of Marine Air Control Group 38 and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
Sergeant Howard J. Johnson, with MASS-3 Det A, strolls along with what’s left of an enemy flag he captured when an estimated 40 enemy attacked his unit’s position four miles west of Da Nang.
IRAQ – Lance Cpl. John A. Marcogliese of MASS-3 stands guard at one of several Olympic stadiums in Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
MASS-3 logo from Iraq 2006
Marines from MASS-3, Air Support Liaison Team, deployed to MOB Lashkar Gah in support of the UK's Operation Herrick XVI
Direct Air Support Center
The Direct Air Support Center (DASC) is the principal United States Marine Corps aviation command and control system and the air control agency responsible for the direction of air operations directly supporting ground forces. It functions in a decentralized mode of operation, but is directly supervised by the Marine Tactical Air Command Center (TACC) or the Navy Tactical Air Control Center (NTACC). During amphibious or expeditionary operations, the DASC is normally the first Marine Air Command and Control System (MACCS) agency ashore and is usually categorized as the Ground Combat Element's (GCE's) senior Fire Support Coordination Center (FSCC). The DASC's parent unit is the Marine Air Support Squadron (MASS) of the Marine Air Control Group (MACG).
Overhead shot of a DASC setup
Photo showing MTACS-2's Air Support Section at Hagaru-ri during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
Dev Chrl Sign
Photo of the AN/TPQ-10 Radar outside of the MASS-3 Headquarters building on Camp Pendleton, CA. This is one of the radars employed by the ASRTs during the Vietnam War.
