The unit was founded in 1937 as the 1st Tank Company of the 1st Marine Brigade and went through several name changes before it became the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in 1958. The battalion was deactivated on June 12, 1992, before being restored as the Reconnaissance Company of the 1st Marine Division's Headquarters and Service Battalion on October 1, 1993.[1] The 1st Recon Battalion was reactivated on July 5, 2000, as part of Marine Corps CommandantGeneralJames L. Jones' mission to revitalize Marine Corps reconnaissance.
Mission and training
The mission of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion is to provide task-organized forces in order to conduct amphibious reconnaissance, ground reconnaissance, battlespace shaping operations, raids, and specialized insertion and extraction.[2]
Organization
1st Reconnaissance Battalion currently consists of five companies. The companies (except for headquarters and service company) each consist of two platoons. The standard breakdown of the four subsequent companies consists of a reconnaissance and surveillance platoon and a VBSS platoon. Platoons are further divided into three reconnaissance teams, a jump team, dive team and mobility team. A reconnaissance team consists of 6 to 8 Reconnaissance Marines and Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman (SARC). While ideal and established doctrine, this organizational structure can be modified by battalion or company commanding officers as they see fit.
When the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions were created in 1941, each had a Scout Company of seven officers and 132 NCOs and enlisted men divided into a headquarters unit and three platoons.[3] The unit had M3 Scout Cars and a motorcycle platoon.[4] The 1st Tank Company of the former 1st Marine Brigade was re-designated as the Scout Company, 1st Marine Division Special Troops.[1]
In 1941, Lieutenant Colonel William "Wild Bill" Whaling (not to be confused with OSS Director William J. Donovan), the executive officer of 5th Marine Regiment visualized and perceived the use for specialized missions encompassing reconnaissance at the division-level, which would be conducted above the normal infantry battalion-level in scouting and patrolling. He recommended to GeneralAlexander Vandegrift the need of a special "Scout and Sniper unit" for the 1st Marine Division's operations on Guadalcanal. Upon approval, by February 1, each of the three companies were created for each regiment.[5]
New Britain, December 1943
Forming the southern of the Bismarck Sea and the Bismarck Archipelago, the island of New Britain was focused for seizure by General MacArthur as it would mean control of the Vitiaz and Dampier Straits. Planning began and decision was made to first seize Arawe Peninsula, an island, a town, a plantation and the Japanese occupation forces situated on the southern coast, sixty miles south across island from Cape Gloucester. Cape Gloucester was tasked for seizure by Major General William H. Rupertus, the landing force commander of the northern elements.
General Rupertus turned to his scout company's chief, 1st Lieutenant John D. Bradbeer, to lead a team of several Marine scouts to conduct amphibious reconnaissance patrols of New Britain. D-Day was determined on December 26, 1943. They landed on New Britain on September 24, 1943, at night by rubber boats from three PT boats, #110, #325 and #327 of the Motor Torepedo Boat Squadron 21, bringing Royal Australian Navy Lieutenant Kirkwall Smith, a former Australian coastwatcher who knew the area, and two natives.
For nine days, they paddled throughout the prospective landing beaches, locating coastal-defense guns, sketched the beaches and evaded the Japanese patrols in the area. Upon time of return to their PT boat pickup, they could not establish radio contact, so they paddled out into the Dampier Strait until they were able to get contact by radio to arrange recovery. Bradbeer's patrol were able to uncover that Japanese troop strength on New Britain was about seventy-five hundred men.
Forty-five days later of November 1943, Bradbeer accompanied Lieutenants Firm and Smith, and Ensign Gipe (a Navy hydrographer) and their small team and again landed from three PT boats on other proposed beaches. However, they never landing on the proposed landing beach, as it was quickly negated due to the cliffs just inland from the beach.
By December 26, 1943, six days prior to D-Day, or D-6, Bradbeer and 1st Lieutenant Joseph A. L. Fournier split the recon patrol, taking their six Marines to reconnoiter remaining portions of the island; Bradbeer and his team went north, Fournier's team reconned the south. Hours later, they both confirmed the usability of the selected landing beaches, reporting them only lightly defended. Within a few more hours both teams were recovered by their PT boats. While returning, a Japanese barge opened fire onto Bradbeer's PT boat, injuring three of the PT crew personnel. US Navy Lieutenant Paul T. Rennell, the PT boat's captain, was able to break contact and evade the Japanese safely. The reconnaissance they provided was the third and the last preliminary amphibious reconnaissance for the New Britain operation.
The III Amphibious Corps, led by Major General Geiger tasked MGen Rupertus's 1st Marine Division for the main assault landing on Peleliu. Originally, the 1st Tank Battalion's scout company were part of the "floating reserve", but was ordered ashore on D-Day, September 15, 1944. Early in the afternoon, Company D (Scout) reinforced Colonel Herman Hanneken's7th Marines to cover the 5th Marines. The island was declared secured on November 27.
On April 3, 1945, 1st Marine Division sent their scout company in front of their zone of action along the boundary of the 6th Marine Division to their north. The recon company, commanded by 1st Lieutenant Robert J. Powell, Jr., traversed by motorized patrols to the eastern shore of Okinawa, reaching the base of Katchin Peninsula by 1300. They received further orders to advance north up the east coast toward Hiazaonna. Along the way they encountered a lightly held tank trap, then returned to 1st Marine Division before dark. Colonel Edward Snedeker 7th Marine Regiment followed the recon action report of 1st Marine Division's Company D (Scout) and pushed across the island to the town of Hiazaonna, reaching it at 1830 on April 3, 1945.[6]
North China
In the fall of 1945, the Reconnaissance Company was deployed to Tianjin in north China. It returned to Camp Pendleton, California, in June or July 1947.[1]
Korean War
A selected platoon of Kenny Houghton's 1st Marine Division Reconnaissance Company was dispatched to Korea as part of 1st Marine Brigade (5th and 11th Marines) landing at Pusan.[7] The remainder of the Company arrived with the remainder of the Division, and all landed at Inchon. Recon Marines from the 2nd Marine Division Recon later arrived to augment the reconnaissance unit including Lieutenant "Bull" Francis Kraince. Barry Crossman was the Executive Officer.[8]
The organization was quickly altered from an amphibious unit of nine-man boat teams to a motorized unit of four-man jeep teams[9] utilizing jeeps loaned by the United States Army.[10] Using these vehicles the Company dispatched motorized patrols on a deep reconnaissance to scout from Wonsan and Hungnam to Huksori, an enemy supply depot some forty miles distant.[9] An element of the Company acted as a point for Tobin's B/1/5 push on August 13, 1950, travelling by jeep about a mile forward of the infantry force.[11]
In January 1951, the unit dispatched patrols to search out guerrillas in the Andong area and later, on one occasion, stayed concealed in a town for two nights tracing enemy cavalry and infantry patrols, and ended up by directing air strikes on them.[9]
Marines from the 1st Recon Company made seven raids into North Korea from the USSHorace A. Bass(APD-124),[7] one of which was conducted 12—16 August 1950, in which a combined force of sixteen Marines and twenty-five Navy Underwater Demolition Teams raided the Posung-Myon area destroying three tunnels and two railway bridges without losing one man.[12]
Deactivated in on 30 April 1958, and reformed as the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion on 1 May 1958 as part of the 1st Marine Division.[1]
Interim Years
Cuban Missile Crisis
1st Reconnaissance Battalion (Forward) deployed to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba and Haiti in October–November 1962 to await the invasion of Cuba. Upon the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the battalion returned to MCB Camp Pendleton.
BGen. Stiles had divided the operation into two phases. The first phase was to send in his recon assets in an area in the vicinity of the Hiệp Đức District. The division's intelligence (D-2) section had sources of a headquarters of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 2nd Division lying somewhere near the western border of I Corps in the Quế Sơn Valley. The second phase consisted of a massive exploitation of the recon team's findings, by sending in a joint show-of-force; four infantry battalions from the 1st Marine Division and the ARVN 2nd Division.
On the afternoon of June 13, a thirteen-man recon team, accompanied by the command group, of 1st Recon Battalion landed by helicopters in the middle of the Quế Sơn Valley onto the small mountain of Nui Loc Son. In the course of the next 24-hours, six more recon teams were deployed in different strategic positioning sites, ringing the valley. This enabled the teams to actively report on enemy activity, and if possible, forward observe for either air strikes or artillery fire. Up to eight battalions were on full standby— four battalions of Marines and ARVN each, ready to deploy against any hostile forces encountered. One recon team worked their way south of Hiệp Đức after they set up positions along the heavily wooded Hill 555. They spotted several groups of PAVN of varying size that appeared to be training in the area.
The next day on June 14, a scout dog accompanying an enemy patrol caught scent of the nearby Marines and the patrol advanced towards their position; the recon team's leader immediately called for an extraction. A helicopter was inbound within minutes and the team hastily scrambled aboard and were safely flown back to Chu Lai Base Area.
The other five recon teams remained undetected and continued reporting on the enemy for the next two days, until the moment Team 2 spotted a large enemy formation as they took up positions on Nui Vu hill, at the east end of the valley. Staff Sergeant Jimmie E. Howard (a decorated Korean War veteran), called in numerous fire coordination support, from an ARVN artillery battery located at an Army Special Forces camp 7km to the south.
The PAVN quickly adapted when they realized the barrage of artillery fire was more than mere coincidence; a battalion-size force was heading toward Nui Vu. On the night of June 15, a Special Forces team spotted the advancing enemy presence and alerted headquarters. However, they relayed the information too late. SSgt Howard had heard the enemy forces approach them as they amassed below them at the bottom of the hill. While the next few hours were quiet, by midnight, several of Howard's men spotted silhouettes as dozens of PAVN soldiers furtively climbed up the hill in the darkness. The PAVN instigated the fight by throwing grenades at the Marines. Greatly outnumbered, Howard's men held off the attackers.
Howard understood that they would soon be overwhelmed and radioed to his commander, Lt. Colonel Arthur J. Sullivan, for an immediate extraction. A short time later, the UH-34s were inbound. However, the helicopters were under immediate attack from machine gun fires, forcing them to return. Sullivan relayed the bad news back to Howard that they would not be able to be extracted until daylight.
Throughout the night, close air support, artillery strikes, and gunship fire support pounded the enemy, but the PAVN launched three strong attacks against Team 2. By 04:00 on 16 June, six out of eighteen Marines were killed in action and Howard was temporary immobilized from shrapnel wounds. Every other man was hit at least once. While they were suffering from ammunition shortages, some recon Marines resorted to throwing rocks at the enemy, others managed to pick up captured AK-47 rifles.
By dawn, Company C of 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment (1/5) landed at the base of Nui Vu and reinforced recon Team 2. The Marines of 1/5 forced their way up the small mountain through scattered but strong resistance to reach Howard and his recon team. Howard and the surviving Marines were immediately evacuated; however, Charlie Company of 1/5 continued to battle for control of Nui Vu. The PAVN finally disengaged and withdrew, leaving 42 dead.
The first phase of Operation Kansas had ended, however, the second phase of the operation was changed. On June 17, the day before the first assault was scheduled, General Walt advised Gen. Stiles that the ARVN units would be unavailable due to the Buddhist Uprising in Huế. Although aware of the circumstances, both Generals Walt and Stiles decided to continue the effort. Overall, the recon teams reported over 141 sightings of enemy forces. The second phase of the operation commenced artillery and air strikes, dispersing the enemy. Operation Kansas ended on June 22, 1966.[13]
Operation Washington, July 1966
On 6 July 1966, Lieutenant Colonel Arthur J. Sullivan, battalion commander of 1st Recon Battalion, moved his battalion headquarters to Hau Doc, a location 25km west of Chu Lai. For eight days his recon teams covered four-hundred square kilometers of his area of operation (AO); sighting forty-six PAVN that were scattered throughout the dense, rugged double- and triple- canopy jungle terrain, roughly ranging of 200 soldiers at most. The ground combat and supporting elements resulted only in thirteen PAVN killed, with four prisoners. Because of the poor results, General Lewis J. Fields, the commanding general of the Chu Lai TOAR, ended the operation on July 14, 1966.[13]
September 1967
On 5 September 1967, Nine Paratroopers [8 USMC and 1 Navy HM2] 1st Force Recon Company, 1st Recon Battalion, 1st Marine Division parachuted into "Happy Valley" southwest of Da Nang, Quanh Nam Provience Against North Vietnam/Viet Cong supply centers. Because of unexpected high winds the mission could not be completed and the members Evacuated. Loses were 3 injured and 1 MIA.[14]
Operation Scott Orchard, April 1971
Operation Scott Orchard was the last major 1st Marine Division operation of the Vietnam War, issued by the 1st Marine Division commander, MG Charles F. Widdecke. The operation began when Marines of 1st Recon Bn. commenced a heliborne assault into abandoned Fire Support Base (FSB) Dagger at 10:45 on 7 April 1971. After the brief firefight, the fire support base was declared secured. The plan was to reopen FSB Dagger in the Quế Sơn mountains by emplacing a provisional composite battery of 105-mm and 155-mm howitzers from the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines (1/11). FSB Dagger was used the previous autumn during Operation Catawba Falls. The intelligence sources from MACV had included reports of American prisoners-of-war were being held at an isolated camp in the mountainous region of the Quảng Nam Province, however no prisoners were found, contact was minimal and only abandoned base camps were discovered. The operation concluded on 12 April, the Marines had killed 4 PAVN/VC and captured 1 and 12 weapons.[13][15]:234–5
The last elements of the battalion left South Vietnam on 13 May 1971.[15]:314
Persian Gulf War
In 1990—1991, the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion participated in the Persian Gulf War. Upon returning from the Gulf War plans were enacted to break up 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and spread it out to AAV's, 1st Marines and 5th Marines. In June 1992 Alpha Company was moved and attached to Headquarters Battalion 1st Marine Division. Bravo Company was moved and attached to Headquarters Battalion 5th Marine Division. Charlie company was moved to the Marine Corps 8 wheeled amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) unit, forming LAR (Light Armored Reconnaissance). Delta Company was disbanded and folded into Charlie Company. Reconnaissance Company 5th Marines deployed as a company to Somalia in January 1993 and was spread around Somalia conducting reconnaissance and surveillance operations in Mogadishu, Biadoa and Bardere to help stop the flow of weapons being brought in by militant groups. Reconnaissance Company 5th Marines returned to Somalia on deployment multiple times in the next 5 years. Reconnaissance Company 1st Marines and Reconnaissance Company 5th Marines were brought back together in 2000 to reform 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in Camp Margarita, Camp Pendleton Ca, with only 50 unfilled billets on its first day.
Invasion of Iraq
1st Recon Battalion in Afghanistan.
In January 2003, the battalion deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The 1st Reconnaissance Battalion participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq from March 2003 to June 2003. The battalion redeployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom from February 2004 to October 2004, where it took part in Operation Vigilant Resolve; September 2005 to April 2006, March 2007 to October 2007, and October 2008 to April 2009.[16] In January 2006, the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion was in the national news for leading Operation Green Trident, which discovered over ten metric tons of insurgentmunitions, hidden in caches throughout a large area south of Fallujah in the Euphrates River Valley. Marines of 1st Recon told military reporters that about 90 percent of their time in Operation Iraqi Freedom was spent in mounted patrols, using their Humvees.
The 1st Recon were also deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2010 where they produced 300+ enemy KIA, did not lose a single man in their seven-month deployment and was regarded as "The deadliest battalion in Afghanistan right now" by Lt. Gen James Mattis.
The unit conducted a battalion-sized helicopter insert into the area of Trek Nawa, operating for 32 days straight, away from friendly lines, during that period there was contact with Taliban forces for 28 of those days using tactics and offensive action that stunned the local enemy forces. Following the missions in Trek Nawa and surrounding areas, the battalion deployed two companies to the Upper Sangin River Valley.
In February 2012, there was controversy when a September 2010 photograph was published showing members of Charlie Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, posing in front of a flag with a logo resembling that of the German Schutzstaffel while serving in Afghanistan.[17]
Capt Brent L. Morel, Global War on Terror, Operation Iraqi Freedom, 7 April 2004 (posthumously)[21]
GySgt Brian M. Blonder, Global War on Terror, Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan, 8 August 2008[22]
Cpl James R. Solis, Santa Paula, CA. Corporal Solis was one of the only Marines in history to score a near perfect score on Edson Range (M-16A2 Service Rifle) with a final tally of 249 points out of a possible 250. During the Invasion Of Panama (Operation Just Cause) he saved the lives of 18 fellow Marines by maintaining a steady rate of well thought-out sniper fire which allowed the 18 pinned-down Marines to be airlifted to safety. Through meritorious mast he was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon, Bronze Star, Silver Star, Purple Heart, and Navy Cross for gallantry under fire. As a sniper he acquired 48 confirmed kills. [Military Times/Hall of Valor].
Force Reconnaissance (FORECON) are United States Marine Corps deep reconnaissance companies that supply military intelligence to the command element of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF). Force Reconnaissance companies, unlike USMC division reconnaissance, report to the Marine expeditionary force (MEF) and provide direct action and deep reconnaissance during large-scale operations.
A long-range reconnaissance patrol, or LRRP, is a small, well-armed reconnaissance team that patrols deep in enemy-held territory.
The United States Marine Corps Reconnaissance Battalions are the special operations assets of Marine Air-Ground Task Force that provide division-level ground and amphibious reconnaissance to the Ground Combat Element within the United States Marine Corps. Division reconnaissance teams are employed to observe and report on enemy activity and other information of military significance in close operations. The Military Occupational Specialty code for Reconnaissance Marine is 0321.
The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division is a cavalry unit of the United States Army based in Fort Cavazos, Texas.
2nd Battalion, 4th Marines (2/4) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. The battalion, nicknamed the Magnificent Bastards from the Vietnam War, is based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and is a part of the 4th Marine Regiment and 1st Marine Division.
3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (3/4) or (V34) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Nicknamed "Thundering Third" and "Darkside," it is based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, and consist of approximately 1,000 Marines. The unit currently falls under the command of the 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, but — along with its two sister battalions — is hosted by the 3rd Marine Division, at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan, when training in jungle warfare. The 3rd falls under the 4th Marine Regiment at such times.
The 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion conducts amphibious and ground reconnaissance in support of the 3rd Marine Division and Marine Forces Pacific (MarForPac), operating in the commander's areas of influence. The battalion is based out of Camp Schwab, a satellite base of Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler. It is geographically located on the Okinawa Prefecture in Japan.
The 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion is a reconnaissance battalion in the United States Marine Corps. Located at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the battalion falls under the command of the 2nd Marine Division and the II Marine Expeditionary Force.
Jimmie Earl Howard was a Marine Corps staff sergeant when he led an eighteen-man reconnaissance patrol in a fierce battle against a battalion of Viet Cong in June 1966. As a result of his heroic actions, Howard became the sixth U.S. Marine to be awarded the nation's highest honor for heroism in combat in Vietnam. The Medal of Honor was presented by President Lyndon B. Johnson in White House ceremonies on August 21, 1967.
The 4th Reconnaissance Battalion is a reserve reconnaissance battalion in the United States Marine Corps. It falls under the 4th Marine Division and Marine Forces Reserve.
The United States Marine Corps's Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion, formerly Company, was a Marine Corps special operations forces of United States Marine and Hospital corpsman that performed clandestine operation preliminary pre–D-Day amphibious reconnaissance of planned beachheads and their littoral area within uncharted enemy territory for the joint-Navy/Marine force commanders of the Pacific Fleet during World War II. Often accompanied by Navy Underwater Demolition Teams and the early division recon companies, these amphibious recon platoons performed more reconnaissance missions than any other single recon unit during the Pacific campaigns.
The United States Marine Corps is tasked by Department of Defense directive to "conduct complex expeditionary operations in the urban littorals and other challenging environments" and "conduct amphibious operations, including engagement, crisis response, and power projection operations to assure access." Before 2006, the Marine Corps was the only branch of the Armed Forces that did not have any of its special warfare elements participating in the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), due to confining its special operations capabilities only for the purpose to the Fleet Marine Force.
The reconnaissance mission within the United States Marine Corps is divided into two distinct but complementary aspects; Marine Division Recon and Force Reconnaissance.
The United States Marine Corps Scout and Sniper companies and the Scouts (Tank) companies of the tank battalions were the first among the division's reconnaissance assets. They existed around the same exact moment when 1st and 2nd Marine Division were created. In 1941, each regiment had a scout and sniper platoon. They were assigned to the regimental Headquarters and Service Company. These companies were used in variety of tasks and, on occasion in severe combat, were used as "spare" rifle companies. When 6th Marine Division deactivated after the end of World War II, its recon assets also deactivated. Only the current Marine Division Recon Battalions that exist today hold history reference to the Scout and Sniper Companies.
1st Force Reconnaissance Company conducted deep reconnaissance and direct action raids in support of I Marine Expeditionary Force requirements across the range of military operations to include crisis response, expeditionary operations and major combat operations. 1st Force Recon Company was deactivated on 26 October 2006 and the majority of the personnel were used to establish the 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion.
3d Force Reconnaissance Company is a force reconnaissance unit of the United States Marine Corps Reserve. The company is located in Mobile, Alabama.
The Battle of Hill 488 was a military engagement of the Vietnam War that took place on the night of 15–16 June 1966. A small United States Marine Corps (USMC) reconnaissance platoon inflicted large casualties on regular People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) fighters before withdrawing with only a few dead.
Company E, 52nd Infantry, (LRP) was a 120 man-sized long-range reconnaissance patrol unit attached to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in Vietnam in 1967-69. Its origin begins on January 1, 1967, as "LRRP Detachment G2," 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). It was then redesignated "Headquarters & Headquarters Company LRRP Detachment" in April 1967, and redesignated "Company E, 52nd Infantry (LRP)" on December 20, 1967.
1 2 Stubbe, Ray W. (1981). AARUGHA!: History of Specialized and Force-level Reconnaissance Activities and Units of the United States Marine Corps, 1900–1974, Fleet Marine Reference Publication 12–21. MCB Quantico, VA: United States Marine Corps.
↑ Interview of MGen Kenneth B. Houghton, (San Diego, CA: MCRD, 18 November 1975)[citation needed]
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