The 17th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion (17th AAA Bn) was an

antiaircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

unit in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

that served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The battalion was originally formed in 1942 as the 2d Airdrome Battalion and has the distinction of being the last defense battalion formed in the Marine Corps during the war. Its original mission was to provide air and coastal defense for advanced naval bases. During the war the battalion spent significant time defending

Nukufetau Nukufetau is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu. The atoll was claimed by the US under the Guano Islands Act some time in the 19th century and was ceded in a treaty of friendship concluded in 1979 and coming into force in 1983. It has a ...

and took part in combat operations at

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Tinian Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of th ...

. The battalion was decommissioned on December 6, 1945.

History

Organization

The 2d Airdrome Battalion was commissioned on October 28, 1942 at Camp Elliott,

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It was one of two airdrome battalions formed by the Marine Corps specifically to defend airfields in the

China Burma India Theater China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces (including U.S. forces) in the CBI was officia ...

. Those airfields were overrun by the Japanese before the battalions deployed so the Marine Corps quickly changed their tasking to missions in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. While organizing and training in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

the battalion spent extensive time at

Camp Dunlap Camp Dunlap was a United States Marine Corps base in Imperial County, California. The camp was named for Brigadier General Robert H. Dunlap. The 250,000 acre camp was used to train artillery and anti-aircraft units of the Fleet Marine Force. ...

in the

Imperial Valley , photo = Salton Sea from Space.jpg , photo_caption = The Imperial Valley below the Salton Sea. The US-Mexican border runs diagonally across the lower left of the image. , map_image = Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg , map_caption = Map of Imperial ...

. The 2d Airdrome Battalion departed the United States near the end of May 1943 onboard the

USS Henderson (AP-1) The first USS ''Henderson'' (AP-1) was a transport in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II. In 1943, she was converted to a hospital ship and commissioned as USS ''Bountiful'' (AH-9). Named for Marine Colonel Archibald Hend ...

and SS Cape Clear (AK-5039). The battalion arrived in

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

on May 31, 1943. It remained there for a few months of additional training as it waited for its initial deployment orders. In early August the battalion embarked on the

USS Ormsby (APA-49) USS ''Ormsby'' (APA-49) was an ''Ormsby''-class attack transport that served with the US Navy from 1943 to 1946. She was subsequently sold into commercial service and was scrapped in 1969. History ''Ormsby'' (APA-49) was named after a county in ...

and the SS Whistler and sailed west for the

Ellice Islands Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northea ...

Nukefetau and Tarawa

8-28-20 - 40mm on beach covering unloading beach

After a short layover in

Funafuti Funafuti is the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people (2017 census), and so it has more people than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with approximately 60% of the population. It consists of a narrow sweep of la ...

, the 2d Airdrome Battalion arrived at

on August 25, 1943 along with the first elements of the Navy's 16th Naval Construction Battalion. Nukufetau was a small atoll 75 miles northwest of the airfield that had been established on Funafuti. The battalion was responsible for air defense of the area while the

Seabee United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

s constructed

Nukufetau Airfield Nukufetau Airfield is a former World War II airfield on the south-eastern side of Nukufetau on Motulalo Island during the Pacific War. History Nukufetau Airfield was built by United States Navy Seabees on Motulalo island as an alternative stri ...

. The airfield was opened on October 6, 1943. Half of the 2d Airdrome Battalion was detached from duty on Nukufetau and sailed for

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

2nd Marine Division

assaulted An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

the beaches. The remainder of the battalion departed Nukufetau in March 1944 after being relieved by elements of the 51st Defense Battalion. The 2d Airdrome Battalion sailed for Hawaii landing at

Nawiliwili Harbor Nawiliwili Beach Park is a beach park and port on the south-east coast of the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands. It is located on Nāwiliwili Bay at , about south of Līhue. It is at the south end of Hawaii Route 51, known as Rice Street. J ...

on March 21, 1944.

Reorganization and Tinian

The 2d Airdrome Battalion was redesignated as the 17th Defense Battalion on March 22, 1944 and assigned to the

V Amphibious Corps 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 ...

. On April 19, 1944 it was again re-designated as the 17th Antiaircraft Battalion. In Hawaii they trained for the occupation and defense of small islands in the Pacific. Between June 10–18 the battalion departed Hawaii in three echelons. The unit spent the next 54 days at sea en route to their final objective. While anchored in the harbor at

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

on July 19 the battalion's moniker was changed for the final time, this time to the 17th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion. 17th AAA Bn Sign

The 17th Defense Battalion landed on

on August 2, 1944. The battalion immediately established anti-aircraft positions north of the

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

and in the harbor. The battalion remained on occupation duty on Tinian for the next year. During these months they conducted routine patrols and took a number of Japanese

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

still on the island after the battle. Three Japanese aircraft bombed and strafed the island on November 3, 1944 however the battalion's batteries were not able to successfully engage any of the aircraft. The battalion was guarding the airfield on August 6, 1945 when the

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it be ...

launched to drop the first ever nuclear weapon against Hiroshima in mainland

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. On August 15, 1945 the 17th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion was relieved of its tactical duties on Tinian. It finally departed the island on November 1, 1945 on the USS Griggs (APA-110). The battalion sailed back to the United States and was officially decommissioned on December 6, 1945 at

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...

Gallery

11-27-30 - 90mm Height finder at new 4th Btry position.jpg, Coincidence rangefinder being utilized on

on November 27, 1943.

Unit awards

A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the awarded unit citation. The 17th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion has been presented with the following awards:

Citations

References

;Bibliography * * * * Journal * * ;Web * Part 2 ;Further reading * Henry Jr., Charles E. (1971) ''One Of A Kind: 2d Airdrome Battalion Fleet Marine Force United States Marine Corps'' Mercury Printing Company {{US Marine Corps navbox AAA17 Military units and formations established in 1942

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...

Military units and formations of the United States Marine Corps in World War II