HMM-365

Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 365 (REIN)
VMM-365(REIN) Insignia
Active	July 1, 1963 - March 1, 1971 June 13, 1980 - present
Country	United States
Branch	USMC
Type	Marine Medium-lift Tiltrotor Squadron
Role	Conduct air operations in support of the Fleet Marine Forces
Part of	Marine Aircraft Group 26 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Garrison/HQ	Marine Corps Air Station New River
Nickname(s)	Blue Knights
Patron	Second To None
Tail Code	YM
Mascot(s)	Lancer
Engagements	Vietnam War Operation Desert Storm Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003 invasion of Iraq Operation Enduring Freedom
Commanders
Current commander	LtCol Anthony G. Krockel

Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 365 (VMM-365) is a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22B Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "Blue Knights", is based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 26 (MAG-26) and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (2nd MAW).

Provide assault support of combat troops, supplies, and equipment during amphibious operations and subsequent operations ashore.

Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 365 was established on July 1, 1963 at Marine Corps Air Facility Santa Ana, California. Flying UH-34Ds, the squadron’s mission was to provide assault transport of troops and cargo in support of Fleet Marine Forces during ship-to-shore movements. HMM-365 was reassigned to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa in August 1964 in preparation for the squadron’s deployment to the Republic of Vietnam. The squadron arrived at Da Nang Air Base on October 7, 1964 and immediately began performing re-supply missions in support of Operation Shufly.

On October 11, the newly arrived Marine pilots and aircrews were involved in their first firefight when 8 UH-34Ds drew Viet Cong fire while landing a 112 man Vietnamese unit in the hills 10 miles (20 km) west-southwest of Tam Ky. On October 26, the Blue Knights suffered their first combat casualties when a copilot and crew chief were wounded by Viet Cong small arms fire while their helicopter was approaching an enemy contested landing zone 10 miles (20 km) southwest of Tam Ky. The pilot was able to return the damaged aircraft to Tam Ky and land safely. In early November, at the height of the monsoon season, Typhoon Iris struck the Vietnamese Coast. The hazardous weather conditions caused flight operations to be suspended except for emergency medical evacuations. When flight operations resumed on November 10, the crews concentrated on rescuing Vietnamese civilians from the inundated coastal plains. Between 1700 and 1900 on their first day of flood relief operations, HMM-365 rescued 144 flood victims. Many of the rescues were accomplished by hoisting individuals from precarious positions in trees or on rooftops while being subjected to sporadic Viet Cong harassing fire. At the end of a 72-hour time period the Blue Knights had successfully rescued over 1,500 flood victims.