Beachmaster Unit One

Last updated
Beachmaster Unit One
U.S. Sailors with Beachmaster Unit 1 conduct a maritime prepositioning force training scenario June 13, 2013, in Coronado, Calif., as part of exercise Dawn Blitz 2013 130613-M-KO203-806.jpg
BMU-1 Insignia
ActiveJuly 13, 1949 - Present
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  United States
BranchFlag of the United States Navy (official).svg  United States Navy
Garrison/HQ NAB Coronado
Motto(s)"Any Beach, Any Time"
Colorsyellow patch
Engagements
Commanders
Current
commander
Commander William Albert

Beachmaster Unit One, (BMU-1) is a United States Navy amphibious beach party unit based at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in Coronado, California. BMU-1 is the sister unit of Beachmaster Unit Two located in Norfolk, Virginia.

Contents

Mission

Beachmaster Unit One deploys and supports combat ready Beach Party Teams in support of amphibious operations around the world. Their function is to control landing craft, lighterage, and amphibious vehicles in the vicinity of the beach from surf line to high water mark, and coordinate movement over the beach of equipment, troops, and supplies. They also maintain observation of wind and surf conditions, and provide limited assistance in local security and beach defense. They have the capability to provide beach and surf zone salvage with use of their LARC-V vehicle and provide the evacuation of casualties, prisoners-of-war, and non-combatants.

Beachmaster Unit 1 reports to Naval Beach Group 1.

History

Beachmaster Unit was formed from the Navy Shore Party of World War II. The Shore Party formed the nucleus to which the various land and naval elements were assigned for an operation. The naval elements included the Underwater Demolition Team, a Naval Pontoon Unit, and a Boat Pool. Units called Beach Parties were formed and were composed of members of the ship's crew to ensure the mass movement and orderly flow of troops, equipment and supplies, through the surf zone, onto the hostile shore, and across the assault beaches to achieve the success of the amphibious operations. The original units consisted of approximately two officers and thirty men, to support the landing of the battalion of troops. In July 1948, the Chief of Naval Operations ordered the commissioning of the Beachmaster Unit as a separate command with designation as Beachmaster Unit One. Beachmaster Unit One was commissioned at the U.S. Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, July 13, 1949.

Beach Party Teams

BMU-1 offloads a LARC-V onto the shore of Hawaii BMU-1 in Hawaii.jpg
BMU-1 offloads a LARC-V onto the shore of Hawaii

Beach Party Teams are responsible for controlling the boat traffic in the surf zone, controlling the beaching and retracting the landing craft, and directing the smooth and efficient flow of personnel and material over the beach. Beach Party Teams are led by the Beachmaster Team Commander. Beachmaster Unit One has 8 deployable departments.

DET ALPHA
DET BRAVO
DET CHARLIE (Reserve)
DET DELTA
DET ECHO
DET FOXTROT
DET GOLF (Reserve)
DET WESTPAC (DET has been commissioned as a separate command, Naval Beach Unit Seven (NBU-7) and is no longer part of BMU-1.)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landing craft</span> Seagoing watercraft

Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Production of landing craft peaked during World War II, with a significant number of different designs produced in large quantities by the United Kingdom and United States.

USS <i>Tripoli</i> (LPH-10)

USS Tripoli (LPH-10), an Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship, was laid down on 15 June 1964 at Pascagoula, Mississippi, by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation; launched on 31 July 1965; sponsored by Jane Cates, the wife of General Clifton B. Cates, former Commandant of the Marine Corps; and commissioned on 6 August 1966 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Tripoli was the second US Navy ship named for the Battle of Derna in 1805. It was the decisive victory of a mercenary army led by a detachment of US Marines and US Army soldiers against the forces of Tripoli during the First Barbary War. It was the first recorded land battle of the United States fought overseas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underwater Demolition Team</span> US Navy special operations group

The Underwater Demolition Team (UDT), or frogmen, were amphibious units created by the United States Navy during World War II with specialized non-tactical missions. They were predecessors of the navy's current SEAL teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amphibious warfare</span> Military operation attacking from air and sea to land

Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted using ship's boats as the primary method of delivering troops to shore. Since the Gallipoli Campaign, specialised watercraft were increasingly designed for landing troops, material and vehicles, including by landing craft and for insertion of commandos, by fast patrol boats, zodiacs and from mini-submersibles. The term amphibious first emerged in the United Kingdom and the United States during the 1930s with introduction of vehicles such as Vickers-Carden-Loyd Light Amphibious Tank or the Landing Vehicle Tracked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Naval Special Warfare Command</span> Naval component of United States Special Operations Command

The United States Naval Special Warfare Command (USNSWC), also known as NAVSPECWARCOM and WARCOM, is the naval component of United States Special Operations Command, the unified command that oversees and conducts the nation's special operations and missions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joint Expeditionary Base–Little Creek</span> Base for the Amphibious Forces in the US Navys Atlantic Fleet

Joint Expeditionary Base–Little Creek (JEB–LC), formerly known as Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek and commonly called simply Little Creek, is the major operating base for the Amphibious Forces in the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet. The base comprises four locations in three states, including almost 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) of real estate. Its Little Creek location in Virginia Beach, Virginia, totals 2,120 acres (860 ha) of land. Outlying facilities include 350 acres (140 ha) located just north of Training Support Center Hampton Roads in Virginia Beach and 21 acres (8.5 ha) known as Radio Island at Morehead City, North Carolina, used for U.S. Coast Guard ships and personnel as well as serves as an amphibious embarkation/debarkation area for U.S. Marine Corps units at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. It is also home to the Naval School of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amphibious ready group</span> US Amphibious Assault Group

An amphibious ready group (ARG) of the United States Navy consists of a naval element—a group of warships known as an Amphibious Task Force (ATF)—and a landing force (LF) of U.S. Marines, in total about 5,000 people. Together, these elements and supporting units are trained, organized, and equipped to perform amphibious operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Amphibious Base Coronado</span> US Navy installation near San Diego, California, United States

Naval Amphibious Base Coronado is a US naval installation located across the bay from San Diego, California. The base, situated on the Silver Strand, between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is a major Navy shore command, supporting over 30 tenant commands, and is the West Coast focal point for special and expeditionary warfare training and operations. The on‑base population is 5,000 military personnel and 7,000 students and reservists. The base is one of the eight components of Naval Base Coronado (NBC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Navy Expeditionary Combat Command</span> Echelon III command of the U.S. Navy

The Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) is an echelon III command of the United States Navy, which serves as the single functional command to centrally manage current and future readiness, resources, manning, training and equipping of the United States Navy's 21,000 expeditionary forces who are currently serving in every theater of operation. The NECC was established in January 2006. NECC is a subordinate command of the Navy's Fleet Forces Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Australian Navy Beach Commandos</span>

During World War II the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) formed beach commando units to go ashore with the first wave of amphibious assaults. They would conduct local reconnaissance, signpost the beaches, control boat traffic, and communicate with the maritime forces. These were known as Royal Australian Navy Beach Commandos. They took part in the Borneo campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Naval Commandos</span> Military unit

The Royal Naval Commandos, also known as RN Beachhead Commandos, were a commando formation of the Royal Navy which served during the Second World War. The first units were raised in 1942 and by the end of the war, 22 company-sized units had been raised to carry out various tasks associated with establishing, maintaining and controlling beachheads during amphibious operations. The Beach Commando's principal duty was "the quick and safe turnaround of all boats on the beaches"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil H. Bucklew</span> American football player and US Navy officer (1914–1992)

Phil Hinkle Bucklew was a professional American football player who went on to become a United States Navy officer. He served in one of the Navy's first special warfare units during World War II. While serving in the European Theater, he was twice awarded the Navy Cross, the second highest decoration in the United States Military.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amphibious warfare ship</span> Ship used in amphibious warfare

An amphibious warfare ship is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beachmaster Unit Two</span> Military unit

Beachmaster Unit Two (BMU-2) is a United States Navy amphibious beach party unit based at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek in Little Creek, Virginia. Since 1949, BMU-2 has been involved in major amphibious exercises and operations in Lebanon, Cuba, Grenada, Desert Storm, Kosovo, and Afghanistan.

The Fleet Landing Exercises, or FLEX were amphibious landing exercises conducted by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps between 1935 and 1941. The purpose of these exercises was to formulate a workable amphibious warfare doctrine. The development of the necessary craft and other equipment, and the proper tactical deployment of them were also results. Finally, the exercises demonstrated the usefulness of a standing body of Marines, the Fleet Marine Force, specially prepared for amphibious expeditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133</span> United States Navy unit

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 is a United States Navy Construction Battalion, otherwise known as a Seabee battalion, homeported at the Naval Construction Battalion Center. The unit was formed during WWII as the 133rd Naval Construction Battalion. It saw action and was decommissioned shortly after the war ended. The unit was reactivated as Mobile Construction Battalion 133 for the Vietnam War and remains an active unit today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assault Craft Unit 2</span> Military unit

Assault Craft Unit TWO (ACU-2) is an Atlantic Ocean Maritime Prepositioning Force in the United States Navy operated under Naval Beach Group Two out of Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia. ACU-2's force consists of Landing Craft Utility boats (LCU), Landing Craft Mechanized, Mark 8 boats (LCM), and Maritime Prepositioning Force Utility Boats (MPFUB). The sister unit of ACU-2 is Assault Craft Unit 1 in Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Beach Group One</span> Military unit

Naval Beach Group One, (NBG-1) is a United States Navy amphibious unit based at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in Coronado, California. Naval Beach Group Two is its sister unit based at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Beach Group Two</span> Military unit

Naval Beach Group Two, (NBG-2) is a United States Navy amphibious unit based at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Naval Beach Group One is its sister unit based in Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in Coronado, California.

Naval Beach Unit Seven, (NBU-7) is a United States Navy amphibious unit based at United States Fleet Activities Sasebo in Sasebo, Japan.