marine division

Don't get me wrong.

I do wear my Marine Division patch on my vest.

That's for me.

That's not for anybody else.

There he discovered that several factors, to include the lack of adequate landing craft, made it impossible to rapidly build up combat power on a hostile shore.

the initial assault elements would thus be vulnerable to counterattack and defeat while most of the amphibious force remained on board its transports as a partial response to this problem smith seized upon the newly developed destroyer transport during flex six his plan called for the manly a p d one to land a company of the fifth marines via rubber boats at h minus three hours prior to dawn at a point away from the primary assault beach this force would advance inland seize key terrain dominating the proposed beachhead and thus protect the main landing from counter-attack a year later during flex seven smith had three destroyer transports he designated the three companies of the seventh marines embarked on these ships as the mobile landing group during the exercise these units again made night landings to protect the main assault or conducted diversionary attacks smith eventually crystallized his new ideas about amphibious operations he envisioned making future assaults with three distinct echelons the first wave would be composed of fast-moving forces that could seize key terrain prior to the main assault the first element would consist of a parachute regiment an infantry regiment glider borne troops a light tank battalion and at least one a p d high speed destroyer transport battalion with a relatively secure beach head the more ponderous combat units of the assault force would come ashore the third echelon would consist of the reserve force and service units in the summer of nineteen forty one smith was nearly in a position to put these ideas into effect he now commanded the amphibious force atlantic fleet afaf which consisted of the first marine division and the army's first infantry division During maneuvers at the recently acquired Marine base at New River, North Carolina, Smith embarked the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines in six APDs and made it an independent command reporting directly to his headquarters.

The operations plan further attached the Marine Division's sole company of tanks and its single company of parachutists to the APD Battalion.

The General did not use his task force to lead the assault, but instead landed it on D-plus-2 of the exercise.

on a beach well in the rear of the enemy's lines with all aviation assets working in direct support the mobile force quickly moved inland surprised and destroyed the enemy reserves and took control of key lines of communication smith called it a spearhead thrust around the hostile flank the afaf commander had not randomly selected the first battalion fifth marines for this role in june nineteen forty one he personally had picked lieutenant colonel merritt a red mike edson to command that battalion and had designated it to serve permanently with the navy's a p d squadron smith began to refer to edson's outfit as the light battalion or the a p d battalion when the fifth marines and other elements of the first marine division moved down to new river that fall the first battalion remained behind in quantico with force headquarters reports going to and from afaf placed the battalion in a category separate from the rest of the division of which it was still technically a part lieutenant colonel gerald c thomas the division operations officer ruefully referred to the battalion as the plaything of headquarters edson's unit was unique in other ways in a lengthy august nineteen forty one report the lieutenant colonel evaluated the organization and missions of his unit he believed that the a p d battalion would focus primarily on reconnaissance raids and other special operations in his mind it was a waterborne version of the parachutists in a similar fashion the battalion would rely on speed and mobility not fire power as its tactical mainstay since the a p d s could neither embark nor offload vehicles that meant the battalion had to be entirely foot mobile once ashore again like the parachutists to achieve rapid movement edson recommended a new table of organization that made his force much lighter than other infantry battalions He wanted to trade in his 81-millimeter mortars and heavy machine guns for lighter models.

There also would be fewer of these weapons, but they would have larger crews to carry the ammunition.

Given the limitations of the APDs, each company would be smaller than its standard counterpart.

There would be four rifle companies, a weapons company, and a headquarters company with a large demolitions platoon.