801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron

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801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron
Country United States
Role Aeromedical evacuation
Engagements World War II
* Guadalcanal Campaign
* New Georgia Campaign
* Battle of Vella Lavella
* Bougainville Campaign
* New Guinea Campaign
* Philippines Campaign (1944-1945)
Korean War
Decorations United States Army and U.S. Air Force Presidential Unit Citation
ribbon.svg
Distinguished Unit Citation Army
AF Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon.png
Presidential Unit Citation Air Force
U.S. Navy Unit Commendation ribbon.svg
Navy Unit Commendation
The 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron was a United States Army Air Forces
(USAAF) unit that provided aeromedical evacuation and support services to front-
line units in the Pacific Theater of World War II. From the latter part of the
Guadalcanal Campaign through Operation Cartwheel it was attached to Marine Aircraft
Group 25 and the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command (SCAT).[1]

Contents
1 History
2 References
2.1 Notes
2.2 Bibliography
3 Further reading
History
The squadron organized at Bowman Field, Kentucky, as the 801st Medical Squadron,
Air Evacuation Transport, and was rushed to the South Pacific for service during
the Guadalcanal Campaign before its training regimen was complete. The 801st was
the first Air Evacuation Transport squadron to deploy, and as such its nurses were
some of the first American women of the war to enter forward areas during offensive
operations. It began arriving in New Caledonia in January 1943, starting with a
cadre of male flight surgeons who participated in the latter phase of the
Guadalcanal Campaign. It was directly attached to the USAAF 13th Troop Carrier
Squadron, which itself was attached to MAG-25. On 28 February 1943, a nurse of the
801st Medical Squadron became the first American servicewoman to land on
Guadalcanal. In May 1943 the squadron was renamed the 801st Medical Air Evacuation
Transport Squadron (MAETS).[2]

As the only component of SCAT specifically trained in aeromedical evacuation, the

801st contributed to operations throughout the advance through the Solomon Islands.
SCAT crews typically included a nurse, medical corpsman, or flight surgeon from the
801st, or a hospital corpsman or flight surgeon from Headquarters Squadron, MAG-25.
After the Bougainville Campaign the 801st, recently renamed a Medical Air
Evacuation Squadron (MAES), separated from MAG-25 and continued its service in the
Southwest Pacific under the 54th Troop Carrier Wing of the U.S. Fifth Air Force.[3]

The 801st MAES received a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations during the
Philippines Campaign.[4] SCAT, including the 801st MAETS, received a Navy Unit
Commendation for its operations in the South Pacific from December 1942 to July
1944.[5]

The 801st MAES resumed its role during the Korean War, operating as part of the
315th Air Division of the United States Air Force, and received the Presidential
Unit Citation for evacuation of over 6,000 casualties during September and
December, 1950.[6]

References
Notes
Armstrong, William. (2017). Marine Air Group 25 and SCAT (Images of Aviation).
Arcadia. ISBN 1467127434.
Armstrong, William. (2017). Marine Air Group 25 and SCAT (Images of Aviation).
Arcadia. ISBN 1467127434; Page, Evelyn. (1989). The Story of Air Evacuation, 1942-
1989. Taylor Publishing Company.
Armstrong, William. (2017). Marine Air Group 25 and SCAT (Images of Aviation).
Arcadia. ISBN 1467127434; Page, Evelyn. (1989). The Story of Air Evacuation, 1942-
1989. Taylor Publishing Company.
Page, Evelyn. (1989). The Story of Air Evacuation, 1942-1989. Taylor Publishing
Company.
Armstrong, William. (2017). Marine Air Group 25 and SCAT (Images of Aviation).
Arcadia. ISBN 1467127434.
Page, Evelyn. (1989). The Story of Air Evacuation, 1942-1989. Taylor Publishing
Company.
Bibliography
Armstrong, William. (2017). Marine Air Group 25 and SCAT (Images of Aviation).
Arcadia. ISBN 1467127434.
Page, Evelyn, ed. (1989). The Story of Air Evacuation, 1942-1989. Taylor Publishing
Company.
Further reading
Capt. Robert Joseph Allen and 1st Lt. Otis Carney, The Story of SCAT: Part I and
The Story of SCAT: Part II, in Air Transport magazine, December 1944 and January
1945, accessed at The DC3 Aviation Museum [1] and [2] 2 August 2006
Capt. John M. Rentz, Marines in the Central Solomons (Ch.6, The Role of Aviation:
pp. 141�145), USMC Monograph accessed at [3] 2 August 2006
Maj. Gen. Norman J. Anderson and Col. William K. Snyder, SCAT, Marine Corps
Gazette, September 1992 accessed at [4] 2 August 2006
Seth P. Washburne, The Thirsty 13th, [5]
Categories: Pacific Ocean theatre of World War IIMilitary units and formations
established in 1942Aeromedical evacuation squadrons of the United States Air Force
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