Official MWSS-371 BASCO 2026 Patch - Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 Sandsharks Exercise Balikatan 2026 Basco, Philippines Embroidered Patch.Sandsharks on the ground, fuel in the line, and the mission running at the edge of the Indo-Pacific.Marine Wing Support Squadron 371, known as the Sandsharks, is an aviation ground support unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, operating under Marine Air Control Group 38 and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. The squadron's mission covers the full range of aviation ground support requirements, including expeditionary airfield operations, fuels, engineering, motor transport, aircraft rescue and firefighting, and explosive ordnance disposal. That breadth of capability is exactly what made MWSS-371 a key player at Basco during Exercise Balikatan 2026. In April 2026, Marines assigned to MWSS-371 partnered with U.S. Air Force airmen from the 317th Airlift Wing to conduct a Specialized Fueling Operation at Basco Airport on Batan Island in the Batanes Islands of the northern Philippines, a location closer to Taiwan than to the Philippine mainland. The operation demonstrated the squadron's ability to push fuel and ground support capability into remote, strategically significant terrain in support of a major U.S.-Philippine combined exercise. That kind of forward expeditionary work connects directly to the Sandsharks' long history of enabling Marine aviation in austere environments, from Desert Storm through Iraqi Freedom and now into the modern Indo-Pacific posture.Perfect For: MWSS-371 Sandsharks veterans and active-duty members, Balikatan 2026 participants, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing collectors, MACG-38 alumni, expeditionary ground support community members, I MEF supporters, Marine aviation enabler veterans, deployment keepsakes, shadow boxes, challenge coin and patch boards, reunion gifts, and anyone building a unit-history collection around the Marine Corps aviation support mission in the Pacific. It also suits families and supporters who want a specific, dated piece tied to a real forward deployment rather than a generic unit emblem.Sandsharks heritage, stitched at the edge of the Luzon Strait.
