3rd Marine Division

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Badge of the 3rd Marine Division

The 3rd Marine Division ( German  3rd Marine Division , shortly 3rdMarDiv ) is a major unit of the US Marine Corps and one of three currently active Marines - divisions of the US armed forces . It is under the command of Major General Robert B. Neller and forms together with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st Marine Infantry Fliegergeschwader) and the 3rd Marine Logistics Group (3rd Marine Infantry Logistics Group ) the III. Marine Expeditionary Force , a corps-level association .

The division's headquarters are on Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler , Okinawa , Japan . The division is part of the Marine Corps Forces, Pacific , which forms the marine infantry component of the US Pacific Command regional command .

history

The division was set up on September 16, 1942 during the Second World War and demobilized on December 28, 1945. She was reactivated on January 7, 1952 during the Korean War and has been in continuous service ever since.

In the Vietnam War was the 1st Battalion, the first Marines who were sent in March 1965 to Vietnam to the Da Nang Air Base south of Da Nang to protect. At the end of 1965, the division had all of its regiments (3rd Marines, 4th Marines and 9th Marines) in service in Vietnam. At the end of 1966, the 3rd Division moved its headquarters from Da Nang to Phu Bai near Huế . At the same time, the division also built outposts along the southern half of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Quảng Trị Province . The 3rd Marine Division took part in Operation Hastings and Operation Prairie against the North Vietnamese Army in 1966 . At the end of 1967 the headquarters moved again from Phu Bai to Đông Hà and further outposts were opened. The two main divisions the Marines fought were the 324B NVA Division and the 320th NVA Division. On November 14, 1967, the commander of the 3rd Marine Division, Major General Bruno Hochmuth , was killed in a helicopter crash northwest of the city of Hue. Some of the major operations in the area in 1967 and early 1968 were Operation Prairie III, Operation Prairie IV, Operation Hickory I, Operation Cimarron, Operation Buffalo, Operation Kingfisher, and Operation Kentucky. Almost 8,000 North Vietnamese soldiers were killed during this time. The Marines had over 1,400 dead and over 9,000 wounded. During the Tet Offensive of 1968, the division conducted operations along the DMZ, with part of the division fighting in Huế. The operational pace increased with the initiation of the Tet Offensive in late January 1968. At that time, the military secret service estimated the combat strength of the NVA soldiers and the Viet Cong in the DMZ zone at 40,943 men. The US bases and the naval base in Cửa Việt were increasingly attacked. 6,869 soldiers of the 3rd Marine Division were killed during the Vietnam War. The division left South Vietnam and moved to Camp Courtney in Okinawa, Japan.

See also: III. Marine Expeditionary Force

assignment

The main mission of the 3rd Marine Division is to carry out amphibious landing operations and similar military missions at the maritime and litioral level.

organization

Organization 3rd Marine Division

The division consists of two infantry regiments , an artillery regiment , a reconnaissance battalion , and a staff battalion.

  • Headquarters - battalion , stationed at Camp Smedley Butler, Okinawa
  • 3rd Marine Regiment (Infantry), in the US state of Hawaii
    • 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines
    • 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines
    • 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines
  • 4th Marine Regiment (Infantry), at Camp Schwab, Okinawa (The regiment's three battalions are subordinate to the three Marine Infantry Regiments of the 1st Marine Division in California)
  • 12th Marine Regiment (Artillery), at Camp Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa
    • 1st Battalion, 12th Marines ( M777A2 Howitzers)
    • 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines (with four batteries from the 10th Marines Regiment and 11th Marines Regiment with a mix of M777A2 howitzers and HIMARS rocket throwing in six-month rotation)
  • 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, at Camp Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa.
  • Jungle Warfare Training Center, Okinawa (Jungle Warfare Training Center)

guide

Commanding general of 3rd Marine Division

Command group

The Command Group of the Division Headquarters consists of Commander Major General Robert B. Neller , his Chief of Staff Colonel Gerald L. Smith and the Division Sergeant Major Robert C. Holling and Command Master Chief Voters.

Others

The division's nickname is: Fighting 3rd ("Fighting Third").

References

literature

  • Robert A. Aurthur, Cohlmia, Kenneth: The Third Marine Division. Infantry Journal Press, Washington DC 1948.
  • Gordon L. Rottman : US Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle - Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War. Greenwood Press, Westport Conn 2002, ISBN 0-313-31906-5 .

Web links

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