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1st Reconnaissance Battalion

1st Reconnaissance Battalion insignia
Active

• March 1, 1937 - present

Branch United States Marine Corps
Type Marine Division Recon
Part of I Marine Expeditionary Force
1st Marine Division
Garrison/HQ MCB Camp Pendleton, California
Patron Lt. Colonel William "Wild Bill" Whaling
Engagements World War II
*Battle of Guadalcanal
*Battle of Okinawa
Korean War

Vietnam War
Operation Desert Storm
Operation Iraqi Freedom
*2003 invasion of Iraq
*Operation Vigilant Resolve

Decorations
Commanders
Current
commander Lt. Colonel Michael J. Mooney

1st Reconnaissance Battalion (1st Recon Bn) is a reconnaissance battalion in the United States Marine Corps. It falls under the command of the 1st Marine Division and the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF).

1st Recon Battalion was reactivated on July 5, 2000 as part of Marine Corps Commandant General James L. Jones’ mission to revitalize Marine Corps reconnaissance. Their scope of missions is broad and currently changing due to Force Reconnaissance units making the move to Marine Corps Special Operations Command.

Mission and training

Organization

1st Reconnaissance Battalion currently consists of four Reconnaissance companies: a Headquarters and Service Company, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Force Reconnaissance Company. While the Force Reconnaissance Company is an organic element of the battalion, Operational Control of the company resides with the I MEF commander.

History

World War II

In 1941, Lieutenant Colonel William "Wild Bill" Whaling, the executive officer of 5th Marine Regiment visualized and perceived the use for specialized missions encompassing reconnaissance at the division-level, which would be conducted above the normal infantry battalion-level in scouting and patrolling.[1] He recommended to General Alexander Vandegrift the need of a special "Scout and Sniper unit" for the 1st Marine Division's operations on Guadalcanal. Upon approval, by February 1, each of the three companies were created for each regiment.

New Britain, December 1943

Forming the southern of the Bismarck Sea and the Bismarck Archipelago, the island of New Britain was focused for seizure by General MacArthur as it would mean control of the Vitiaz and Dampier Straits. Planning began and decision was made to first seize Arawe Peninsula, an island, a town, a plantation and the Japanese occupation forces situated on the southern coast, sixty miles south across island from Cape Gloucester. Cape Gloucester was tasked for seizure by Major General William H. Rupertus, the landing force commander of the northern elements.

General Rupertus turned to his scout company's chief, 1st Lieutenant John D. Bradbeer, to lead a team of several Marine scouts to conduct amphibious reconnaissance patrols of New Britain. D-Day was determined on December 26, 1943. They landed on New Britain on September 24, 1943 at night by rubber boats from three PT boats #110, #325 and #327 of Motor Torepedo Boat Squadron 21, bringing Royal Australian Navy Lieutenant Kirkwall Smith, a former Australian coastwatcher who knew the area, and two natives.

For nine days, they've paddled throughout the prospective landing beaches, locating coastal-defense guns, sketched the beaches and evaded the Japanese patrols in the area. Upon time of returned back to their PT boat pickup, they couldn't establish radio contact, so they paddled out into the Dampier Strait until they were able to get contact by radio to arrange recovery. Bradbeer's patrol were able to uncover that Japanese troop strength on New Britain was about seventy-five hundred men.

Forty-five days later of November 1943, Bradbeer accompanied Lieutenants Firm and Smith, and Ensign Gipe (a Navy hydrographer) and their small team and again landed from three PT boats on other proposed beaches. However, never landing on the proposed landing beach, it was quickly negated due to the cliffs just in land from the beach.

By December 26, 1943, six days prior to D-Day, or D-6, Bradbeer and 1st Lieutenant J. P. Fornier each split the recon patrol, taking six their Marines to reconnoiter remaining portions of the island; Bradbeer and his team went north, Fornier's team reconned the south. Hours later, they both confirmed of the usability of the selected landing beaches, reporting only lightly defended. Momentarily within a few more hours both teams were recovered by their PT boats. While returning, a Japanese barge opened fire onto Bradbeer's PT boat, injuring three of the PT crew personnel. US Navy Lieutenant Paul T. Rennell, the PT boat's captain, was able to break contact and evade the Japanese safely. The reconnaissance they provided were the third and the last preliminary amphibious reconnaissance for the New Britain operation.

Peleliu and the Palaus, September 1944

The III Amphibious Corps, led by Major General Geiger tasked MGen Rupertus's 1st Marine Division for the main assault landing on Peleliu. Originally, the 1st Tank Battalion's scout company were part of the "floating reserve", but was ordered ashore on D-Day, September 15, 1944. Early in the afternoon, the Company D (Scout) reinforced Colonel Herman Hanneken's 7th Marines to cover the 5th Marines. The island was declared secured on September 27.

Northern Okinawa, April 1945

On April 3, 1945, 1st Marine Division sent their scout company in front of their zone of action along the boundary of the 6th Marine Division to their north. The recon company, commanded by 1st Lieutenant Robert J. Powell, Jr., traversed by motorized patrols to the eastern shore of Okinawa, reaching the base of Katchin Peninsula by 1300. They received further orders to advance north up the east coast toward Hiazaonna. Along the way they encountered a lightly-held tank trap, then returned to 1st Marine Division before dark. Colonel Edward Snedeker 7th Marine Regiment followed the recon action report of 1st Marine Division's Company D (Scout) and pushed across the island to the town of Hiazaonna, reaching it at 1830 on April 3, 1945.[2]

Korean War

A selected platoon of Kenny Houghton's 1st Marine Division Reconnaissance Company was dispatched to Korea as part of 1st Marine Brigade (5th and 11th Marines) landing at Pusan.[3] The remainder of the Company arrived with the remainder of the Division, and all landed at Inchon. Recon Marines from the 2nd Marine Division Recon later arrived to augment the reconnaissance unit including Lieutenant "Bull" Francis Kraince. Barry Crossman was the Executive Officer.[4]

The organization was quickly altered from an amphibious unit of nine-man boat teams to a motorized unit of four-man jeep teams[5] utilizing jeeps loaned by the United States Army.[6] Using these vehicles the Company dispatched motorized patrols on a deep reconnaissance to scout from Wonsan and Hungnam to Huksori, an enemy supply depot some forty miles distant.[5] An element of the Company acted as a point for Tobin's B/1/5 push on August 13, 1950, travelling by jeep about a mile forward of the infantry force.[7]

In January 1951, the unit dispatched patrols to search out guerrillas in the Andong area and later, on one occasion, stayed concealed in a town for two nights tracing enemy cavalry and infantry patrols, and ended up by directing air strikes on them.[5]

Marines from the 1st Recon Company made seven raids into North Korea from the USS Horace A. Bass (APD-124),[3] one of which was conducted 12—16 August 1950, in which a combined force of sixteen Marines and twenty-five Navy Underwater Demolition Teams raided the Posung-Myon area destroying three tunnels and two railway bridges without losing one man.[8]

Interim Years

Cuban Missile Crisis

1st Reconnaissance Battalion (Forward) deployed to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba and Haiti in October-November 1962 to await the invasion of Cuba. Upon the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the battalion returned to MCB Camp Pendleton.