The V Amphibious Corps (VAC) was a formation of 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 ...

which was composed of the

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions in

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 three divisions were the amphibious landing force for the

United States Fifth Fleet The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and headq ...

with two goals, removal of Japanese forces from islands so U.S.

Seabee , colors = , mascot = Bumblebee , battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philippin ...

s could build advance bases to project US power. In doing this VAC was notably involved in the battles for

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

Saipan, and Iwo Jima. V Amphibious Corps was commanded by General Holland 'Howlin Mad' Smith followed by General Harry Schmidt.

History

Cover of V Phib Corps Marianas Report on Phase III (Tinian)

The V Amphibious Corps (formerly Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet; ACPF) was formed on 25 August 1943 at Camp Elliot, California. In September 1943, it moved to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, Hawaii.

Structure

The structure of a United States Marine Corps' amphibious corps by 1945, was broken down into four major subordinate commands with each of them having numerous sub-elements: * The first major element of the Corps was three reinforced Marine infantry divisions. * The second was the Corps artillery, which was composed of a field artillery group made of three battalions of 155mm howitzers, three battalions of 155mm guns, and an Antiaircraft Artillery Group made of three antiaircraft artillery battalions. * The third was the Amphibian Tractor Group, which was made up of four amphibian tractor battalions and an armored amphibian tractor battalion. * The fourth was the Corps Troops, which was composed of a headquarters and service battalion, administrative command, signal battalion, medical battalion, motor transport battalion, engineer battalion,

reconnaissance battalion In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmishers, ...

, and military police battalion.

Subordinate units

The US Marine Corps, US Army, and Naval Construction Force commands that served under the V Amphibious Corps in World War II include:Rottman ''USMC WWII OOB'', p. 111. 6th Naval Construction Brigade insignia

;Marine Corps * 2nd Marine Division *

3rd Marine Division The 3rd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Courtney, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa, Japan. It is one of three active duty infantry divisions in the Marine Corps and together with th ...

4th Marine Division The 4th Marine Division is a reserve division in the United States Marine Corps. It was raised in 1943 for service during World War II, and subsequently fought in the Pacific against the Japanese. Deactivated after the war, the division was re-fo ...

* 5th Marine Division * 22nd Marine Regiment * Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion '' ormerly "Company"' ;Army * XXIV Corps Artillery * 7th Infantry Division * 27th Infantry Division * 32nd Infantry Division ;Navy *6th Naval Construction Brigade (Tinian and Saipan) *9th Naval Construction Brigade (Iwo Jima)

Command and Staff

Corps Commanders

* General Holland M. Smith: 25 August 1943 – 11 July 1944 * General Harry Schmidt: 12 July 1944 – 15 February 1946 (Deactivation)

Chiefs of Staff

* Brigadier General Graves B. Erskine: August 1943 - August 1944 * Brigadier General William W. Rogers: August 1944 - December 1945 * Brigadier General Dudley S. Brown: December 1945 - February 1946

Corps Artillery

*Brigadier general

Thomas E. Bourke Thomas Eugene Bourke (May 5, 1896 – January 9, 1978) was a United States Marine Corps general who, during World War II, commanded Marine artillery units at the Battle of Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Leyte. At the end of World War II, he comman ...

*Colonel John S. Letcher (July 1944 - June 1945)

Personnel Officers

*Lieutenant Colonel Albert F. Metze *Colonel David A. Stafford (October 1944 - February 1946)

Intelligence Officers

*Lieutenant Colonel St. Julien R. Marshall: August 1943 - October 1944 *Colonel Thomas R. Yancey (USA)

Operations Officers

*Colonel John C. McQueen (August 1943 - August 1944) *Colonel

Edward A. Craig Edward Arthur Craig (November 22, 1896 – December 11, 1994) was a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps, and a decorated combat veteran of World War II and the Korean War who eventually attained the rank of lieutenant general ...

(August 1944 - April 1945) *Colonel Walter W. Wensinger (April 1945 - February 1946)

Logistics Officers

*Colonel Raymond E. Knapp (August 1943 - April 1944) *Colonel William F. Brown

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 appropriate ribbon of the awarded unit citation. V Amphibious Corps has been awarded the following:

References

Sources

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