 Two 1st MAW aircraft groups, MAG-33 and MAG-12, and the 1st Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion served during the course of the war.The wing flew 127,496 sorties of which over 40,000 were close air support and Marine helicopters evacuated more than 9,800 wounded personnel

From April 1962, when HMM-362 flew into the Mekong Delta to set up operations at the Sóc Trăng Airfield, through April 1975, when helicopters of HMM-164 evacuated the last Americans from the US Embassy, Saigon.While early missions involved Marine helicopters providing logistical support for South Vietnam, this role quickly expanded when 1st MAW pilots and crewmen were called upon to perform their traditional role of providing close air support for Marine combat units as American involvement in the war escalated.