Marine Corps Aviation is Showcased In New Museum at Quantico

By DAVID F. WINKLER

When visitors stroll through the central 210-foot-high Leatherneck Gallery of the new National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., and into the adjoining exhibit halls, they will see that the Quantico, Va., facility is also an impressive showcase for Marine aviation.

The reputation of the Marine Corps Air-Ground team is legendary. Marine Corps aviation, which traces its roots back to 1912, played a role in World War I. An armed Curtis Jenny, on display in the Leatherneck Gallery, represents Marine aviation during this time frame.

However, it was during the interwar years that the Marines developed an organization and tactics for infantry support that were tested at such locations as Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and China.

When the Fleet Marine Forces became a reality in 1933, the role for aircraft in support of amphibious operations further crystallized and airplanes such as the F4U Corsair came to dominate the skies over Pacific islands during World War II.

Museum visitors will be able to see two of the gull-winged aircraft suspended high above the Leatherneck Gallery floor. With a pinnacled glass roof as a backdrop, the two aircraft seem to be in flight as clouds float by overhead.

Also featured in the museum, in the World War II section, is the last Grumman-built F4F-4 Wildcat in existence. Six of the 11 Marine aviators who earned the Medal of Honor during World War II flew Wildcats.

After World War II, the Marines recognized that atomic weapons threatened the conventional over-the-beach insertion of infantry and that alternative methods were needed to bring Marines ashore. The doctrine of vertical envelopment became reality with the development of the helicopter.

In the museum’s Korean War Gallery, an early model Sikorsky helicopter and F9F Panther jet are featured. This latter aircraft took part in the first Marine jet combat mission on Dec. 10, 1950. And in true Marine Corps tradition, this first mission was one of ground support.

In the Vietnam section of the museum, visitors will find themselves embarked in the fuselage of a CH-46 helicopter. As they move to the rear, they will hear the voices of the pilot and crew chief as the helicopter lands at Hill 881 South. As they exit the aircraft, audio and special lighting complete the experience, down to the sound of the prop wash that would be present with rotating blades.

Walking off the CH-46, the visitor steps on the red-clay soil of northern South Vietnam, and is confronted with life-sized figures depicting an injured Marine being tended to by a Navy chaplain and corpsman set against an impressive backdrop of the surrounding landscape. The scene was painted onto the exhibit’s walls by a veteran of the campaign.

Another helicopter featured is a UH-1E “Huey,” which was flown over Vietnam by then-Capt. Stephen Pless, who earned the Medal of Honor for using this aircraft to extract Army soldiers who were under intense enemy fire near Quang Ngai in August 1967.

The Marine commitment to close air support was exemplified in the late 1970s with the acquisition of the vertical-takeoff-and-landing AV-8A Harrier. With an ability to station these aircraft close to the front lines, Marine infantry officers can call for bombs on target on short notice.

The Marines are still the only U.S. service to fly this aircraft. One of the early production models of the improved AV-8B version is on display.

Scheduled to open on the 231st birthday of the Corps, Nov. 11, the National Museum of the Marine Corps will form part of a Marine Corps Heritage Center that will include a memorial park, parade grounds, and artifact and restoration facilities. Eventually, a hotel and conference center will open adjacent to the museum.

The museum itself will eventually expand its floor space from 118,000 square feet to 181,000 square feet as additional exhibits are opened.

For more information about the National Museum of the Marine Corps, visit www.marineheritage.org

Source: Lt. Col. Edward C. Johnson, USMC Aviation: The Early Years, History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1977. Ben Kristy and Chris Vassil assisted in the preparation of this article.

Dr. David F. Winkler is a historian with the Naval Historical Foundation.