The History of ground based air defense in the United States Marine Corps dates back to the early 1930s with the establishment of the Advanced Base Force. World War II would be the high-water mark for air defense units when 20+ defense/anti-aircraft battalions were formed with many seeing significant action throughout the Pacific Theater. Following the war, the Marine Corps divested itself of most of its air defense capability at a time when the service was facing deep personnel cuts and fighting for its institutional survival. Beginning in the early 1950s the Marine Corps aligned itself with the Navy and their development of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). The Marine Corps retained both flak weapons and SAMs throughout the 1950s until the fielding of the MIM-23 Hawk Missile System in 1960. The HAWK Missile was employed by Light Antiaircraft Missile (LAAM) battalions and remained a mainstay of Marine Corps ground based air defense for the next four decades.
Beginning in the mid-1950s the Marine Corps also teamed up with the United States Army to develop a Man-portable air-defense system (MANPAD) for more expeditionary operations. This led to the development and fielding of the FIM-43 Redeye in the mid-1960s and its successor, the FIM-92 Stinger. MANPAD systems were originally utilized by Forward Area Air Defense (FAAD) units until the Low Altitude Air Defense (LAAD) battalions were formed in the early 1980s. Following the Cold War, the Marine Corps divested itself of its medium air defense capability with the deactivation of the HAWK Missile battalions. Since the late 1990s the Marine Corps has retained a small air defense capability with its LAAD Battalions which utilize the Stinger Missile. With the recent proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles and Cruise missiles on the battlefield it appears that air defense in the Marine Corps is set to grow again as leadership explores Directed-energy weapons, electronic warfare and other new technologies to counter emerging threats.
Background The United States Marine Corps has a long history of seizing and defending advance bases. Prior to World War I, base defense was the Marine Corps' primary mission. During the war the Marines fought alongside the Army as part of an extended land campaign in France. Following the war, the Advance Base Force concept, which had been adopted in 1913, was reinvigorated with the Marines as a coastal and naval base defense force designed to set up mobile and fixed bases in the event of major landing operations within, and beyond, the territorial United States.Commander Richard H. Jackson, USN, History of the Advanced Base (May 15, 1913) and The Naval Advanced Base (May 29, 1915); Subject File 408, Records of the General Board. General Board to SecNav, "Letter to the Secretary of the Navy (LSSN)"; August 13, 1906. General Board memo; May 29, 1915. Established in the beginning of the 20th century, the Advanced Base Force was the United States' first combined task force built on the concept of the Marine Corps' traditional role in expeditionary warfare. The slow development of the advanced base force played a significant role in the controversy over the removal of the ships' guards (Marines on Navy ships) in 1908–1909.
On December 7, 1933, Secretary of the Navy Claude A. Swanson issued General Order 241 defining the Fleet Marine Force. This change was brought about because the Marine Corps had recently adopted amphibious warfare in order to seize and defend advanced naval bases in conjunction with the fleet. Defending advanced naval bases brought with it the need for an air defense capability. Thus, in the fall of 1933 the Marine Corps assigned four students to the Coast Artillery School at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Then 1stLt James P. S. Devereaux was one of these four men. These men graduated in the summer of 1934 and were assigned to the two new batteries of coastal artillery that were commissioned at Marine Corps Base Quantico. One of these new batteries was a .50cal antiaircraft machine gun battery. Concurrent to this in 1934, the Marine Corps also started a nine month long Base Defense Weapons Course at MCB Quantico. This course instructed Marines on both coastal defense and aintiaircraft weapons. This remained the sole antiaircraft battery in the Marine Corps until July 20, 1937 when the 1st and 2d Antiaircraft Battalions were formed at MCB Quantico.
By 1939, the looming threat of Japanese aggression in the Pacific solidified the need for advance base defense in the region. Commandant Major General Thomas Holcomb formed four Defense Battalions to defend advance naval bases from ground and air attack. The core of the original battalions was formed from two infantry battalions, 1st and 2nd Battalion, 15th Marine Regiment. Subsequent Defense Battalions were formed with air defense personnel and artillerymen; infantrymen were attached as required. The first Defense Battalions included nearly 900 Marines divided into three anti-aircraft batteries, three seacoast batteries, and ground and anti-aircraft machine gun batteries. Follow-on evolutions included more sophisticated artillery, anti-aircraft guns, and search radars. These Defense Battalions provided the first combined arms teams and proved to be a very effective fighting force.
World War II In the spring of 1941, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox approved the creation of separate infantry battalions to serve with the Defense Battalions in response to growing concern that Defense Battalions could not repel a major hostile amphibious landing. However, the United States' subsequent entry into the war created more demand for infantry units elsewhere and the Defense Battalions only occasionally received infantry support. Consequently, every Marine in a Defense Battalion also trained to fight as an infantryman. This training, while hugely beneficial to Defense Battalion Marines, failed to account for the fact that they could not defend against ground and air threats simultaneously.
In July 1941 the 5th Defense Battalion landed in Iceland as part of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade alongside the 6th Marine Regiment and other elements of the 2nd Marine Division, augmenting British forces until they departed in September. The battalion had left its Coast Defense Group behind and exchanged the aircraft sound locators for SCR-268 radar sets. Iceland was the first ever operational use of a radar by the Marine Corps. In March 1942 the battalion was relieved by the Army's 61st Coast Artillery Regiment.Bogart, Charles H., "Fifth Marine Defense Battalion in Iceland", Coast Defense Journal, Vol. 29, Issue 3, August 2015, Coast Defense Study Group, Inc.
By December 1941, the Marine Corps' six Defense Battalions consisted of 5,000 Marines and constituted 20 percent of the total FMF. These six battalions were given sole responsibility for defending the islands of Wake, Johnston, and Midway, and represented the Allies' first line of defense against any Japanese aggression in the Pacific. Defense Battalions were among the first to embrace the "detachment concept" and task organize as required for the mission on each island. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, where defenders shot down three planes on 7 December 1941, the defense battalions expanded rapidly. On 8 December, the Japanese began an assault on Wake Island, and the defenders, including 399 Marines of the 1st Defense Battalion, surrendered after a prolonged battle on 23 December.
1942 saw the Marine defense battalions reinforce, redeploy and grow. On 4 June, the Marines of the 6th Defense Battalion at Midway Island fended off a Japanese aerial attack, which contributed to the victory of the naval battle hundreds of miles away. On 7 August, the 3rd Defense Battalion went ashore at Guadalcanal in support of the 1st Marine Division. After Henderson Airfield was secured, the battalion assumed perimeter security and repulsed several enemy counterattacks.
In the summer of 1943, elements of the 9th, 10th, and 11th Defense Battalions supported the Army's XIV Corps in the central Solomons campaign. In 1944 additional battalions helped clear the northern islands, including Bougainville. By the end of 1943, the Defense Battalions reached a maximum strength 26,685 Marines across 19 Battalions. As the threat to advanced naval bases decreased later in the war, Defense Battalions were decommissioned or reformed as anti-aircraft battalions.
As the war progressed, the Marine Corps executed more offensive missions and shifted focus from solely defending bases to seizing and defending enemy islands. The transition to a more offensive employment method forced the Defense Battalions to adapt, leading to tremendous growth in strength, weaponry, and capabilities. During subsequent assaults, Defense Battalions landed with initial assault waves of the amphibious force and protected key terrain such as beachheads, harbors, and airfields, thereby freeing infantry units to push inland and conduct more offensive operations.
In early 1944, the Marshall Islands became the next target in the Pacific, and the Marine defenders moved in. By summer, they came ashore in the Mariana Islands, including Saipan, and Guam. During that time, Commandant of the Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Alexander Vandegrift began to scale back on defense battalions. Two were disbanded, and the remaining began to gradually focus on anti-aircraft defense, rather than coastal defense. Only the 6th, 51st, and 52nd remained designated as defense battalions by 1945 with the rest becoming anti-aircraft artillery units under Fleet Marine Force, Pacific.
In late 1944, the 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 16th Antiaircraft Artillery (formerly Defense) Battalions formed the 1st Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Group in preparation to invade the Japanese Home Islands. While they did not participate in the Battle of Iwo Jima, they did land on Okinawa in April 1945. Soon after, the Japanese surrender most of the defense battalions were deactivated as the Marine Corps dramatically scaled down in size.
Marine defense battalions were seen as an ideal platform for integrating African Americans into units with white leaders, since they trained independently and fought in isolated areas.Melson, "Two African-American Defense Battalions", 1996, pp. 8–9. Those recruits slated for defense battalions were trained at the then-segregated Montford Point (now known as Camp Gilbert H. Johnson, part of the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune complex in North Carolina). They would then be assigned to the two black defense battalions, the 51st and 52nd.
Demobilization, the Korean War and development of SAMs The close of World War II and subsequent manpower reductions left the island-hopping AA Battalions without a legitimate peacetime role. These battalions were among the first units to be deactivated and by the outbreak of the Korean War the Marine Corps was down to two active duty 90mm AAA Battalions in the Fleet Marine Force. The majority of the Marine Corps' air defense capability during this time was maintained in the reserves with air defense batteries scattered all around the country. Expansion of the Marine Corps during the Korean War did see the addition of two Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons) Battalions and a 75mm Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battery. The automatic Weapons battalions initially utilized M-55 quad-.50 machine guns and towed, 40mm Bofors cannons. These battalions eventually upgraded to M42 Dusters and mounted the M-55 quad-.50 machine guns on the back of an M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriages in order to be completely self-propelled. The 1st 75mm Anti-Air Artillery Battery