 the landing force. This command sends United States Marines on their way from sea to shore. Over the side, down cargo nets into landing craft. Through the open doors of LSTs and amphibious tractors. From the decks of aircraft carriers and helicopters go these combat trained fighting men ready to assault and capture enemy held positions. And this has been the historic mission of the United States Marine Corps since the earliest days of our republic when in 1776 at New Providence Island Captain Samuel Nicholas the first Marine officer led continental Marines in an early amphibious operation. From the British the Marines captured guns and ammunition badly needed by our 13 colonies. This Marine expedition was one of our most successful American naval operations during the revolution. In 1800 the seizing of American ships by warring French and British demanded action. At Puerto Plata, Santa Domingo, the Marine detachment from the Constitution boarded English ship Sandwich under the guns of the French fort. Stormed the fort, spiked its guns and sailed Sandwich out of the harbor in a brilliant hit and run operation. In 1846 during the war with Mexico the Navy's principal mission was to close the Mexican ports. Using Marines in the landing force they quickly seized frontier and moved the expeditionary force in towed slopes and barges up the Tabasco River. The landing force was put ashore and marched into San Juan Batista where they met no resistance. Tampico and Panuco were seized by the Marines within a few days leaving the way open for the assault on Barracruz. Key factors such as forces, equipment and supply were planned in a coordinated amphibious operation by General Winfield Scott and Commodore David Connor. Transport vessels were convoyed to Anchorage at Anton Lissardo where the first division including Marines was transferred to these vessels and to naval ships Raritan and Princeton. These ships towing empty surf boats, especially provided for the landing, moved to a position southeast of Barracruz where they anchored. The Marines in the assault force entered the surf boats and rendezvoused in the Lee of Princeton until five gun boats and two small steamers formed in line along the beach. With their bombardments supporting the landing, the surf boats were rode ashore, landing at sunset. The assault force moved rapidly inland occupying a line of hills a mile and one-half from the beach where it could prevent counter-attack on further landing operations. Meanwhile landing boats shuttled between ships and the beach. By ten o'clock that night the entire first division had been put ashore. The following morning horses artillery and heavy stores were landed in support of the assault. The basic pattern of Marine Corps amphibious operations had been established. The Marines together with the Army held the Barracruz under siege for 20 days until it surrendered. In 1861 at the opening of the Civil War Fort Clark and Fort Hatteras that Hatteras inlet North Carolina. Kept Confederate supply lines open to Europe. In August 1861 the United States Navy arrived off Hatteras inlet to find both ports heavily manned and fortified. Marines boarded special surf boats supported by naval bombardment landed and captured Fort Clark by bayonetta assault. Three days later the Marines stormed and captured Fort Hatteras. Port Royal South Carolina and other points along the coast were reconnoitered and rendered useless by Marine units. Until by 1864 the only available Confederate port was Wilmington North Carolina guarded by Fort Fisher. Here Marines and sailors conducted a diversionary attack from the sea preparing the way for the night capture of Fort Fisher by the Army. A convincing demonstration of joint operations based on these principles. Coordinated planning, preparatory naval bombardment, landing troops in successive waves, supporting naval gunfire after landing, confusion of the enemy and aggressive assault by trained Marines. These principles were to be tested again in 1871 halfway around the world in Korea to obtain assurance that Americans would be protected and to establish trade relations. President Ulysses S. Grant sent a diplomatic representative to Korea. A survey party set up the Saley River was fired upon by Riverside ports. The Navy took action against this insult to the American flag and Marines were landed below the ports. Lack of reconnaissance resulted in extreme hardships as artillery pieces were dragged through the tidal marsh. The assault and capture of the first and second ports drove the enemy from the high ground bordering the river. Covered by supporting naval bombardment, the Marines drove through to the main port. Deadly accurate rifle fire and a bayonet assault won the victory. In 1898, sudden war with Spain proved the Marine Corps a highly trained, well-disciplined force in readiness. Immediate orders were issued to assemble every available Marine in the eastern United States for service in Cuba. Only six weeks after the declaration of war, over 600 seagoing leathernecks were poised off the natural harbor of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ready for action to seize it as an advanced U.S. naval base. Remembering the lesson about thorough beach reconnaissance learned in the Korean marshes, Marines scouting detachments were set ashore. Their reports enabled the main body of Marines to land with maximum efficiency. High ground was secured as a main defensive line where the Marines successfully withstood Spanish attacks. Although there were never more than 1,000 Marines involved in the Cuban campaign, Marine patrol actions against Spanish strong points were conducted with such speed and devastating effect that one Spanish commander reported that he had been attacked by more than 10,000 men. Training, leadership and discipline had multiplied the Marines' effectiveness. From 1912, Marines were busy in the Caribbean supporting the Monroe Doctrine, keeping the peace and protecting life and property. At Santa Domingo, they learned the special jungle tactics which were to prove so essential on islands in the Pacific at a later time. At Haiti, the problems of jungle supply of fighting troops were met and overcome through the use of pack animals and marine ingenuity. And in Nicaragua, when in 1927 the bandit, Sandino, started insurrection, burned villages, and in the early hours of July 16, 1927, attacked the Marine garrison at Okotal. Although surrounded, they held their position and inflicted heavy losses on the bandits. That afternoon, five Marine planes made history's first dive bombing attack, pioneering a fundamental concept of future marine operations. The use of aviation, supporting troops, evacuating wounded, maintaining communications, and providing aerial resupply was continued until the insurrection was stopped and has since been included as part of all marine operational planning. During the early 20s, Major Earl H. Ellis, a young marine staff officer, wrote in Operation Plan 712. To effect an amphibious landing in the face of enemy resistance, requires careful training and preparation. The troops must be skilled water and jungle men who know it can be done. Marines with marine training. Throughout the 20s in the Caribbean, at Guantanamo Bay, at Culebra, and Panama, development and testing of suitable equipment to land in the face of enemy resistance were continued. Strange vehicles were developed, the Christie Amphibious Tank, and the Beetle Boats, a landing barge with good beaching characteristics. The pre-planning and coordination of both preparatory and supporting naval gunfire were practiced until perfect. A regular procedure was established for combat loading of supplies and equipment in such a way that ammunition, food, fuel, and other priority items would be the first to shore. Using these developments, Marine Corps General John A. Lejeune effectively demonstrated that the Marine Corps could plan and execute amphibious operations of division dimensions. Dedication to the cause of the Marine Corps specialty and seaborn attack paid off when the joint board of the Army and Navy stated that the Marine Corps would provide and maintain forces for land operation in support of the fleet for the initial seizure and defense of advanced bases. The traditional Marine Corps mission had at last become a part of the nation's official military policy. The Marine Corps School at Quantico, Virginia, went to work blending all of these hard-bought experiences and promising theory into usable principles based on that priceless ingredient of any amphibious assault, healthy, intelligent, well-trained men. These principles tested at Quantico became the Marine's guide, the landing operations manual. A wide variety of landing craft were studied and tested. The Navy whale boat, the sea skip used by Atlantic fishermen, the sea sled which had the virtue of high speed, the bureau boat developed by the Navy, and a strange wonderful shallow draft boat from the Bayous of Louisiana built by a man named Andrew Higgins. Ironically, from the Japanese who had shown some interest in amphibious landing craft, the Marines borrowed the ramp front and applied it to the Higgins boat. All this experimentation, discipline, and determination were soon to be put to severe test against the Japanese on an island in the Pacific few men had heard about, Guadalcanal. At dawn, naval bombardment began. The day was August 7, 1942. In transports, combat-trained well-equipped Marines waited ready to launch the first American offensive action of World War II. Then, as they had done over and over again in training, down the sides on cargo nets, into landing craft, and on to rendezvous areas. There, they circled, waiting for the order to head for the line of departure. General Alexander A. Vandegriffe, commanding the Marine Force, had set H-H hour for exactly 9.10 a.m. Precisely at H-H hour, the bombardment was shifted to inland targets as the first wave hit the beaches. Moving forward rapidly, the Marines passed through the coastal palm groves and established a perimeter defense to protect the landing of later waves. In the meantime, artillery was being hauled ashore to provide ground support. The next day, the Japanese airfield was captured and, as Henderson Field became a turning point of the Pacific War, where both ground and air Marines halted Japanese aggression. The first Marine amphibious assault of the 20th century had achieved its mission. This mission was repeated on other beaches throughout the Pacific, New Georgia, Macon, Bougainville, then Tarawa, where the amphibious tractor, the product of Marine Corps planning, helped make it possible for the Marines to cross coral reefs in the face of fierce enemy fire and turn disaster into victory. Each island became a step closer to Tokyo. Cape Clouster, Roy Namur, Saipan, Guam and Tinian. The assault of Tinian, three miles southwest of Saipan, was the classic amphibious operation of all time, perfectly planned and executed. The Japanese on Tinian strengthened their defense against the landing, which obviously had to be made on the beaches at Tinian Town. But the Marines did not intend to do the obvious. Both ground and aerial reconnaissance revealed that there were two beaches at the extreme northern end of the island, which were relatively undefended. One beach, 60 yards wide. The other, 160 yards wide. The Japanese commander, believing these beaches impossible for amphibious landing, strengthened his defenses in the south, while the Marines made careful plans to land in the north. To capitalize on this Japanese miscalculation, American bombardment was concentrated on the Tinian Town area for several days. Naval bombardment and Navy and Marine Corps air strikes ranged the length of Tinian, reducing enemy strong points. Napalm incendiary bombs were first introduced in these air attacks. These waves of fire were a new and terrifying weapon. 155 millimeter and 105 millimeter artillery pieces were positioned along the southern beaches of Saipan to provide covering fire for the assault. Lighter artillery pieces and anti-tank guns were loaded into amphibious vehicles to be moved from Saipan across the three-mile channel to Tinian. The assault troops of the 4th Marine Division boarded LSTs and entered amphibious tractors deep in the holes of these ships, while en route to the northern beaches of Tinian. To further confuse the enemy, the 2nd Marine Division was put into boats and ferried out to waiting transports at the south end of the island. These transports were to appear off Tinian town just before the actual landing at the north end of the island. Landing craft were to be loaded with troops and begin a fake run to the beach. This activity would cause the Japanese commander to commit his mobile reserve to the southern beaches. Meanwhile, the assault forces prepared to land on the northern beaches at 7.45 on the morning of July 24, 1944. When the order was given to land the landing force, everyone did his job and knew that the man beside him would do his. The assault regiments penetrated to 500 yards by 10 o'clock. Three days later, the island was secured. This classic amphibious operation had been executed with perfection. Reconnaissance, planning, leadership, coordination, and training combined to guarantee victory. As the Navy and Marines went forward to Pelelu, the Marine concept of close air support of ground troops took on a new meaning. The 1st Marine Division held an airfield, but the Japanese held the far end. Marine pilots in an ingenious action took off, dropped their bombs at the end of the field, circled and came back for more bombs and another round trip. Then there was Iwo Jima, where as Admiral Nimitz said, uncommon valor was a common virtue. Then on to Okinawa and victory in the Pacific. Congress recognizing the need for a strengthened and more clearly defined defense structure after World War II passed the National Security Act of 1947, which specifically gave the United States Marine Corps responsibility for amphibious doctrine and development for all armed forces, in addition to its customary role of a striking force in readiness. Marine Corps met the challenge with a vigorous program of amphibious exercises to test improved weapons, like the recoilless rifle. They developed lightweight body armor. They tested the capabilities of new supporting equipment such as mobile cranes, tramways, and boat recovery equipment. And at the center of all Marine Corps development, Quantico, Virginia, they began experiments with the helicopter, a possible way to lift men and equipment beyond enemy positions. Adding a new dimension to amphibious assault. This advanced marine thinking, planning, and training soon had a proving ground, when in 1950, communist North Koreans attacked South Korea. The United States moved to support the United Nations in resisting aggression. And Marines, including the thousands in the Marine Corps reserve, always ready to move, were among the first to go. To ease the pressure on the Pusan perimeter, Supreme Allied Commander in Korea, General Douglas MacArthur, decided to assault the enemy's flank at Incheon. This difficult task was given to General O.P. Smith, commanding the 1st Marine Division. The hazards of the Incheon landing were formidable. Geography was against the Marines. The harbor was protected by a fortified island connected to the mainland by a half-mile-long causeway. The island would have to be seized and neutralized before the main landing. The tides in the narrow channel, the only approach to Incheon, were among the highest in the world, averaging 29 feet and finally mud flats and a 12-foot sea wall. Timing the assault was basic to the planning. And they did it. Supported by naval gunfire and precisely according to plan, the Marines seized the island fortress, crossed the mud flats, scaled the sea wall, blasted access roads through the wall for resupply. And, once again, accomplished their mission. As fighting in Korea progressed, the Marines applied their versatile helicopters to many tasks. To deliver small forces to hilltop positions, bypassing fortifications, as aerial ambulances, delivering wounded directly from the battlefield to hospital ships offshore. As movers of batteries of rocket launchers into firing positions. After these launchers fired, the Marine helicopters lifted the rocket launchers away before the enemy could zero in. These marine operations helped still the enemy guns in Korea. Back at Quantico, the Marine Corps studied ways of lifting entire landing forces to accomplish vertical envelopment of enemy positions. Another new concept. Based on vertical envelopment, it dictated a powerful two-pronged attack. One prong, a surface assault across the beach by the usual means, but at widely separated points. The other, vertical envelopment by assault troops in helicopters. Marine divisions were reduced from 21,000 to 19,000 men, with increased shock and firepower capability. In cooperation with the Navy, USS Thetis Bay was the first aircraft carrier completely converted to support helicopter-born vertical envelopment operations. It has been joined in the fleet by two other proud Marine Corps support vessels, the Boxer and the Princeton. Another example of Navy Marine Corps teamwork. The demands of modern warfare are being met through the adoption of new weapons and equipment. The one-man helicopter, designed for combat use in reconnaissance, observation courier, and limited logistic support missions. The mechanical mule, a combat vehicle capable of carrying equipment, towing artillery weapons, transporting troops, or carrying wounded. The Cobra anti-tank missile, which is guided to its target by electronic signals, above the ground forces providing air protection and close support of advancing troops, are the Marine Corps' high-speed, high-performance jet aircraft, flown by Marines. The individual Marine is being rebuilt and modernized, too, to acquire the additional skills necessary for modern warfare, such as parachute training for reconnaissance personnel, or underwater swimming, demolition work, and beach scouting at night from submarines. These training exercises sharpen the concepts and prove their worth. Marines are being lifted by helicopters from carriers 50 miles at sea in practice assaults, penetrating 50 miles into enemy territory, and extending over a front of as much as 50 miles. The modern Marine Corps is a professional fighting force, determined that when, as in Lebanon, they are required within 24 hours to land it to support American policy and protect American lives. When anywhere in the world, the land is given land-to-landing force. The United States Marines will obey, and soon report, the Marines have landed, and the situation is well enhanced.