THE AMPHIBIOUS MARINES

[Music] this is an amphibious assault by the United States Marines against an enemy beach in their long and colorful history the Marines have never failed to take their objective because of their Long training and ability in amphibious Warfare the Marines have been assigned this Duty by the Congress as their major mission the development of amphibious assault has been a feeli particularly suited to the Marines against tremendous odds with the Enemy ready and waiting how able to succeed Marines were first recruited at ton Tavern in Philadelphia November 1775 in March 1776 their first amphibious Landing was carried out in the Bahamas at New Providence where they captured badly needed military stores during our war with the barber pirates from 18001 to 18005 the Marines again conducted assaults upon the beach their amphibious landing at DNA distracted The Defenders of that wall City and permitted another force of Marines under Lieutenant obannon to assault and gain the walls to capture the city the seol Indian Wars found the Marines ashore in Florida swamp in the war with Spain at the turn of the century Marines smashed ashore in the Caribbean to seiz Guantanamo which has been held as a great Naval Base Ever since in 19002 the Marines began their annual amphibious exercises on kbra island following World War I in which the Marines disembarked at ports in Europe the progress of the amphibious attack concept was slow however in 1927 a directive of the joint Board of the Army and Navy stated Marines because of their constant associ ation with Naval units will be given special training in the conduct of Landing operations by 1929 the amphibious operation of the Marines was officially termed expeditionary Force by the Navy and was established to seize and occupy overseas bases for Fleet operations in time of war in the joint Army Navy exercises of 1931 32 the Marines tried out new Landing equipment in their their search for faster ways to reach the beach the term Fleet Marine Force became the official designation in 1933 and in 1934 the tenative Landing operations manual was accepted World War II was to find it basically correct in its concept various types of Landing equipment were experimented with but by 1937 it was clear that makeshift equipment was not the answer and exposure to enemy Fire by coming ashore in open boats was a problem that required solving transport operations in amphibious Landings were bringing the men and material in compact units to Offshore positions annual exercises were being held to test the improved methods of operation one of the Prime problems in amphibious assault lay in getting the forces from ship to beach with the least amount of exposure to enemy fire open landing craft failed to provide the protection necessary a partial solution existed in the invention of bow ramp landing craft of shallow draft that could drive up onto the beaches the bow ramp also offered a means of getting tanks ashore in shallow water or through heavy surf while experiments were being conducted on amphibious Beach assault methods the air arm of the Marine Corps was developing its flight ability pilots and ground Crews were improving their teamwork in the plan to eventually coordinate air and ground forces during assault [Music] Marine planes were experimenting with operation from Navy carriers by 1935 or low altitude strafing and bombing runs on the beach the Marine air arm was dropping bombs with increasing accuracy on ground targets the light Flames came into use for observation of enemy positions and directing of gunfire as new types of planes were developed the Marine Flyers adapted their new speeds and maneuverability to Pro problems of close air support a concept of ground Attack under Low cover air support that has belonged particularly to the Marines one of the major problems of amphibious attack operations lay in unloading ammunition and supplies for the beach top priority the material required last minute loading so that it might be unloaded first at the beach the problems of combat unit loading of ships were studied for a number of years and by 1940 plans have been perfected to ensure the proper loading and unloading techniques to place ammunition medical supplies Transportation food and other supplies asore first resupply at the beach head might prove to be the determining factor in holding the beach or extending our forces Inland cargo and transport ships were in a very vulnerable position offshore and had to be unloaded swiftly cargo could complicate All Shore operations if it were not moved in along established priority the pre-planning of combat unit loading was carefully developed by the Marines to anticipate such requirements by the wartime year of 1942 the Marine Corps concept of amphibious operations had been firmly established as a joint planning operation with the other services amphibious attack required six component parts all of them carefully integrated first a joint Services planning conference with command relations and Joint agreement second Naval gunfire support softens the Beach area prior to the landing operation third aerial support for ground troops and aerial bombing is provided saturating the areas on and Beyond the beach fourth ship to shore movement of the Marines the actual amphibious assault takes place as a carefully coordinated attack f secur the beach head and sixth Supply when it is needed ammunition and supplies are moved to the beach in their established priority along with medical stores while the developing concept of amphibious attack was being tested the Marines necessary to carry it out were being trained and that training was received by all Marines as soon as a man signs up with the Marines he receives a type of training designed to make him an allround fighting man he is prepared physically and mentally to go anywhere anytime and do anything as a fighter no more thorough physical training has ever been devised than that used in the modern Marine Corps amphibious assault requires the finest man available the Marines more than any other Serv use the team Concept in their training operations teamwork learned in their Sports is simply another way of stressing these techniques to the men every Marine is taught to be a leader whether he is actually operating the guns or is a member of a fire team of four men at any moment he may have to take charge during combat long before that time comes he has been trained for such an emergency combat team training provides versatility in operation whatever weapons they are using the Marines have been taught to use them in a concentrated Firepower pattern to gain greatest results this is training but an amphibious Landing under enemy fire on the beach would require training and more training the Marines get it again and again the great traditions of World War II in the Pacific remain and are improved upon training with new and improved equipment the Marines establish their own Communications posts with the advanced forces when they hit the beach self-sufficiency must be maintained in such operations Marine planes are an important part of every training exercise [Music] the Marines were the first to recognize the combat possibilities of helicopters in landing their troops and removing their wounded training in this new development of warfare has developed a Cavalry of the air the amphibious attack has always been the mission of the Marine Corps backed up by the Navy and the other services they have planned that mission so successfully that no enemy during more than 175 years has ever been able to keep them from taking their objectiv [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] St [Music] [Music] get [Applause] [Music] you [Music] the Advent of the atomic bomb signaled the beginning of a new era in Warfare an era which might make amphibious attacks on target Beach areas too dangerous to be attempted the Marines have always been versatile and again they have found a means of solving new problems even of such magnitude as this the sea approaches to any Beach can be defended in many ways in addition higher land lying Inland can be used for commanding fire positions to make the beaches untenable even after they are taken from such situations Has Come A New Concept of amphibious attack vertical envelopment as landing craft approach the enemy Beach planes clear a commanding Hilltop of enemy troops and helicopters from a carrier offshore transport Marines to occupy the cleared area on the hill airlifting troops and material from carriers offshore to areas beyond the beaches provides our most fantastic mobility and striking power onto even the most difficult Terrain [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] with a last minute cleanup ahead of them on the landing area the Marine helicopters are in route to establish their Advanced post beyond the beaches like the amphibious Landing vertical envelopment requires infinite care in planning and firmly established information about the terrain to be [Music] captured once they have landed the advanced party can hold it until more troops arrive by air replenishment comes in by helicopter with priority ammunition medical supplies and food arriving first the wounded are airlifted with dispatch to a Navy hospital ship offshore saving countless hours during its 175 years of amphibious Warfare the Marine Corps has steadily altered and improved its attack and Landing techniques the beach assault of World War II and the New Vertical envelopment were designed to seize and occupy overseas bases for Fleet operations that is the amphibious mission of the Marines the amphibious Marines