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1928 - Marine planes bombed a bandit group at Nueve Segovia, Nicaragua.
This was the first use of close air support. In 1927, a civil war led to American intervention. Following were years of sporadic bush fighting which continued until 1932. Observation Squadron One from San Diego and Observation Squadron Four from Quantico, constituted the Marine Aviation support for the brigade. The Nicaraguan deployment produced some notable achievements by Marine Aviation, precursors of what was to become the Marine air-ground team standard of future decades.
In Jan. 1927, 8 officers and 81 enlisted men of VO-1M, led by Maj. Ross Rowell, arrived at Corinto, Nicaragua with six DH’s. Amidst the anarchy of the civil and banditry, the U.S. Marines held the railroad. In July the Sandinista rebels (the original ones) besieged 37 Marines at the Ocotal garrison, 125 miles from Manaagua. Patrolling Marine pilots, Lt. Hayne Boyden and Gunner Micahel Wodarczyk, discovered the defenders’ plight. After they reported this to Maj. Rowell, he led five DH’s to bomb the rebels. From 1,500 feet, they conducted one of the first dive bombing missions, killing dozens of Sandinistas. Rowell and his fliers flew 50 missions against the Nicaraguan guerrillas.
https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/march-19/
This was the first use of close air support. In 1927, a civil war led to American intervention. Following were years of sporadic bush fighting which continued until 1932. Observation Squadron One from San Diego and Observation Squadron Four from Quantico, constituted the Marine Aviation support for the brigade. The Nicaraguan deployment produced some notable achievements by Marine Aviation, precursors of what was to become the Marine air-ground team standard of future decades.
In Jan. 1927, 8 officers and 81 enlisted men of VO-1M, led by Maj. Ross Rowell, arrived at Corinto, Nicaragua with six DH’s. Amidst the anarchy of the civil and banditry, the U.S. Marines held the railroad. In July the Sandinista rebels (the original ones) besieged 37 Marines at the Ocotal garrison, 125 miles from Manaagua. Patrolling Marine pilots, Lt. Hayne Boyden and Gunner Micahel Wodarczyk, discovered the defenders’ plight. After they reported this to Maj. Rowell, he led five DH’s to bomb the rebels. From 1,500 feet, they conducted one of the first dive bombing missions, killing dozens of Sandinistas. Rowell and his fliers flew 50 missions against the Nicaraguan guerrillas.
https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/march-19/
US Marine Corps (USMC)
Nicaragua
Military History
Close Air Support (CAS)
Posted 9 y ago
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1SG (Join to see), I suppose this is an example of the implementation of the Monroe Doctrine where we felt that we had the right to intervene in the activities of sovereign nations in this hemisphere. I was interested to learn that the Sandinistas were active in the 1920s over a half century prior to the activities that would come to light in the Iran-Contra hearings.
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