United States Marine Corps Scout (Tank) and Sniper Company

Last updated April 01, 2019

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.^[1] 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.

The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or U.S. Marines, is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations with the United States Navy as well as the Army and Air Force. The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the four armed service branches in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States.

The 1st Marine Division is a Marine infantry division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force.

The 2nd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force. The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and headquartered at Julian C. Smith Hall.

Many of their scouts and snipers companies were reinforced with tanks for speed and added firepower. These later developed into the Division recon companies (later battalions) that are presently operating in the Marine Regiments today; also forging the Marine Corps modern Scout Sniper teams that are existence.^[1] Later in the 1980s, the Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) battalions were born from reinforced light tank concept of World War II, remolding the mission plans for division recon. Although this has taken away their expedient armored reconnaissance roles, it was preserved and improved by the LAR battalions.

The United States Marine Corps Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalions, or LAR Battalions, are fast and mobilized armored terrestrial reconnaissance units that conduct reconnaissance-in-force (RIF) ahead of the battalion landing teams or division infantry forces. They mainly provide the Marine Air-Ground Task Force and the Marine Expeditionary Unit commanders vital intelligence of the enemy.

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Training

While the two Marine divisions, (1st and 2nd Marine Division), were still fresh, many of the regimental intelligence sections (G-2) approached reconnaissance differently from the VAC's FMF Amphib Recon Company.^[2] Each of the specialized schools were followed by individual training back in the Corps's parent organization. This was normally scheduled by the company commander or the battalion commander. Each unit had its own means of training its Marines from the lessons learned from previous organization's last recon entry behind enemy territory.^[1] They kept individual and unit training at a high level of proficiency.

The V Amphibious Corps (VAC) was a formation of the United States Marine Corps which was composed of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions in World War II. The three divisions were the amphibious landing force for the United States Fifth Fleet and were notably involved in the battles for Tarawa, Saipan, and Iwo Jima, during the war. The V Amphibious Corps was commanded by General Holland 'Howlin Mad' Smith followed by General Harry Schmidt.

In general, all scout and snipers were trained in scouting and patrolling. This included escape and evasion, land/maritime orientation, knife fighting, close-quarter combat, weapons and demolition, combat swimming, compass swims, hydrographic surveying, etc. Many of these Marines were exceptional marksman and sharpshooters. Most of these courses and training were conducted within the Marine's own training function. However, some were sent to train with the Royal Marines in England, and other specialized schools developed around the areas of the Pacific.^[1]

Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore oil exploration/offshore oil drilling and related activities. Strong emphasis is placed on soundings, shorelines, tides, currents, seabed and submerged obstructions that relate to the previously mentioned activities. The term hydrography is used synonymously to describe maritime cartography, which in the final stages of the hydrographic process uses the raw data collected through hydrographic survey into information usable by the end user.

Royal Marines marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom

The Corps of Royal Marines (RM) is the amphibious light infantry and one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Royal Marines were formed in 1755 as the Royal Navy's infantry troops. However, the marines can trace their origins back to the formation of the English Army's "Duke of York and Albany's maritime regiment of Foot" at the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company on 28 October 1664.

An eight-week course was set up at Mornington Peninsula in Australia, instructed by 1st Lieutenant Holly Whyte. Lt. Whyte gained his recon skills while serving with the 1st Marines on Guadalcanal. The first class of students were mostly combat experienced recon Marines from each of the division's infantry regiments that fought on Guadalcanal. Although scouting and patrolling, field sketching and land navigation were mostly refresher training; rubber boats and amphibious reconnaissance was very new. The nearby Port Phillip bay was used routinely for rubber boat and training.

The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south-east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geographically, the peninsula begins its protrusion from the mainland in the area between Pearcedale and an area south of Frankston. The area was originally home to the Mayone-bulluk and Boonwurrung-Balluk clans and formed part of the Boonwurrung nation's territory prior to European settlement.

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

The 1st Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. The regiment, sometimes known as "Inchon" or Regimental Combat Team 1, falls under the command of the 1st Marine Division and the I Marine Expeditionary Force.

1st Marine Division's regimental intelligence officers, 1st Lieutenants R. B. Firm and John Bradbeer attended the United States Navy's Amphibious Scouts School. They learned in this eight week course in sophisticated ambushes and raids, and more rubber boat work. Bradbeer and Firm were pulled back to Guadalcanal to the Seventh Fleet's Amphibious component—the 3rd Marine Division. Retained by I Amphibious Corps (I MAC), Bradbeer and Firm was briefed on the pending Treasury Islands missions by Marine Raider Major Richard T. Washburn, who was schooling Raiders and division scouts on amphibious reconnaissance. Washburn's teams were about to depart on an amphib recon mission of the Shortland and Treasury Islands.

The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world and it has been estimated that in terms of tonnage of its active battle fleet alone, it is larger than the next 13 navies combined, which includes 11 U.S. allies or partner nations. with the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, and two new carriers under construction. With 319,421 personnel on active duty and 99,616 in the Ready Reserve, the Navy is the third largest of the service branches. It has 282 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of March 2018, making it the second-largest air force in the world, after the United States Air Force.

3rd Marine Division (United States) unit of the United States Marine Corps

The 3rd Marine Division is an infantry division of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Courtney, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler and Okinawa, Japan. It is one of three active duty divisions in the Marine Corps and together with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1stMAW) and the 3rd Marine Logistics Group forms the III Marine Expeditionary Force. The division was first formed during World War II and saw four years of continuous combat in the Vietnam War.

Treasury Islands are a small group of islands a few kilometers to the south of Bougainville and 24 kilometres from the Shortland Islands. They form part of the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. The two largest islands in the Treasuries are Mono Island and the smaller Stirling Island. The deep water strait between these two islands is called Blanche Harbor.

History

Lt. Colonel "Wild Bill" Whaling [sitting on ground] overlooking map of Guadalcanal with accompanying officers GuadBillWhaling.jpg — Lt. Colonel "Wild Bill" Whaling *[sitting on ground]* overlooking map of Guadalcanal with accompanying officers

In 1941, Lieutenant Colonel William "Wild Bill" Whaling, the executive officer of 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 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.^[1] He recommended to General Alexander Vandegrift the need of a special "Scout and Sniper unit" for the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal. Upon approval, by February 1, each of the three rifle companies that were used during the Guadalcanal campaign were tasked in sending one their best field craft Marines to devise the scout-sniper unit with each regiment containing a Scout and Sniper Platoon within the regimental headquarters and service company. This was the birth of division reconnaissance.

Most of these Marines were skilled marksmen and outdoorsmen. General Vandegrift appointed Lt. Colonel Whaling to start a school where the selected Marines received intense additional training. While some Marines weren't selected and were sent back to their units, others took their place and the "Whaling Group" was available to scout and spearhead operations.^[3] Initially, they acted as guides in movement of units from one area to another and were able to confirm unit locations in the thick jungle foliage. They later conducted independent patrols into areas of critical interests to the Division.

It wasn't before long many of the regiments requested their scouts to be heavily reinforced with tanks. The mechanized recon scouts proved to be very efficient in reconnaissance in force (RIF). They would ride on top the tanks and rapidly be inserted behind the enemy lines and "look" for the enemy. Whenever encountered, they would fall back and immediately report to the battalion commander of its new findings Although, the division commander retained the amphibious and ground reconnaissance to its company level and took advantage of its sniper development. Those scout and sniper platoons later formed the Marine Scout Sniper and Surveillance and Target Acquisition platoons.

By 1944, The Marine divisions contained elements of scout/snipers, armored recon teams, and ground and amphib recon platoons within the division. Marines from the recently disbanded Raider and the Paramarine battalions filled most of the vacancies.^[4] The division commander at that time reassembled the separate division assets. This formation consolidated collecting more efficiently under the Commanding General and his Intelligence (G-2) and Operations (G-3) staffs.

World War II

Prior to the arrival of Marines in this area of the Pacific War, the Australians had already established a network of deep reconnaissance agents known as the Australian Coastwatchers. They operated not only on coasts, but deep in jungles as well. Initially, some Marines became part of the unit.^[5]

The I Marine Amphibious Corps (I MAC) and III Marine Amphibious Corps (III MAC) approached its reconnaissance assets more differently from the V Amphibious Corps's (VAC) FMF Amphib Recon platoons

Notes

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The United States Marine Corps Reconnaissance Battalions are the Special Operations Capable reconnaissance 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.

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1st Reconnaissance Battalion is a reconnaissance battalion in the United States Marine Corps. It falls under the command of the 1st Marine Division and the I Marine Expeditionary Force.

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1st Force Reconnaissance Company conducts 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 26 October 2006 and the majority of the personnel were used to create 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion.

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References

1 2 3 4 5 Bruce F. Meyers, Swift, Silent, and Deadly: Marine Amphibious Reconnaissance in the Pacific, 1942-1945, (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2004).
↑ Ray W. Stubbe, "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, HQMC: Historical Division, 1981).
↑ Henry I. Shaw, First Offensive: The Marine Campaign for Guadalcanal, (Darby, PA: DIANE Publishing Company, 1992).
↑ Charles D. Melson and Paul Hanon, Marine Recon, 1940-1990, (London: Osprey, 1998).
↑ E. A. Feldt, "Coastwatching in World War II," (U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings: September 1961) 87:9; pgs 72—79.

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[Meyers,_AmphibRecon-1] 1 2 3 4 5 Bruce F. Meyers, Swift, Silent, and Deadly: Marine Amphibious Reconnaissance in the Pacific, 1942-1945, (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2004).

[2] Ray W. Stubbe, "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, HQMC: Historical Division, 1981).

[3] Henry I. Shaw, First Offensive: The Marine Campaign for Guadalcanal, (Darby, PA: DIANE Publishing Company, 1992).

[Melson_and_Hanon-4] Charles D. Melson and Paul Hanon, Marine Recon, 1940-1990, (London: Osprey, 1998).

[5] E. A. Feldt, "Coastwatching in World War II," (U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings: September 1961) 87:9; pgs 72—79.