Quantico: Crossroads of the Marine Corps PCN 19000307200 4...76 QUANTICO: CROSSROADS OF THE MARINE CORPS QUANTICO RESERVATION 1975 Potomac River 1. Mainside 2. Midway Island Dwellings

CHAPTER V

WORLD WAR II AND BEYOND

"PEARL HARBOR HAS BEEN ATTACKED!THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" were the words com-ing over the military communication systems 7 De-cember 1941 at all Marine Corps posts includingQuantico.

Marines were standing by to see what wouldoccur next and what their role in this new warwould be. It wasn't long before things started tohappen. Within days, many Quantico Marineshad their orders in hand and were on their way tothe West Coast.

On the eve of the Japanese attack, there wasonly one air group in each Marine aircraft wing.Quantico was the home of the 1st Marine AircraftWing, and it was imperative that its Marine Air-craft Group 11 leave for the Pacific immediately.Three squadrons were on maneuvers at New Bern,North Carolina, but within two days the first ele-ments were ready. On 9 December the commandbegan the long trip by air and train across theUnited States. By 21 December Quantico's aviatorshad arrived at San Diego, California.1

After the tactical squadrons left Quantico forthe Pacific, the airfield became an overhaul andrepair facility as well as an advanced trainingbase for aviators. A huge building to house theoverhaul and repair functions was built on the siteof Field No. 1. Due to the shortage of steel, theentire rear of the building was made of largewood beams. The facility overhauled F4U Cor.sairs, and did modifications to SB2C Helldivers,Mitchell PBJ bombers, and F6F Hellcats duringthe war.2

During those first days of World War II, Quan.tico's air station had another brief but importantrole to play. In late December 1941, Quanticowas cut off from the rest of the world for a timeas an event critical to the prosecution of the warwas taking place. Captain James P. Berkeley wasin charge of the post telephone system at Quanticothen, and was responsible for the entire base com-munication system including a small radio station.

74

Without advance warning, one day he receivedtop priority and explicit orders from Washingtonthat no telephone or telegraph messages were tocome in or leave Quantico until further notice.Even parts of U.S. Highway 1 were closed to alltraffic by State Police.

It wasn't until after four hours of no contactwith the outside world that Quantico heard on theradio the reason for this seclusion: WinstonChurchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, hadarrived in Washington, D.C., for crucial talkswith President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Quanticohad been chosen as the alternate landing site forChurchill's arrival.

Q uantico was called upon a number of timesduring the war to serve as a meeting place, anairfield for important visitors, or as an "alternate"for a variety of other important functions conSnected with the government's military and civilactivities. This frequent and important role—prompted by Quantico's proximity to Washington,D.C.—coupled with nation-wide rationing of foodand fuel, and frequent base-wide blackouts caused

The intersection of Barnett and Potomac Avenues atthe beginning of World War II. (USMC Photo 31487).

WORLD WAR TWO AND BEYOND 75

by the threat of German submarines off the EastCoast, brought the war to the homefront. But thereal evidence of the war was not these peripheralthings; it was the role Quantico had assumedyears earlier and which now became critical tothe nation's success—training Marines for am-phibious warfare.

The farsightedness and prophecies of Marinesover the previous four decades, plus the pioneer-ing work of the 1920s and 1930s had well pre-pared the Marine Corps and Quantico in particu-lar for the amphibious role the Corps was to playduring the war. Quantico's professional educa-tion system, the development of amphibiousdoctrine and hardware, the testing of techniquesand equipment, the integration of developmentand education—all were crucial prerequisites tothe Corps' success in the Pacific. When WorldWar II came, Quantico and the Corps were ready.

Within weeks of the attack at Pearl Harbor,Congress authorized the expansion of the Corpsfrom 60,000 to more than 104,000 and by war'send the Corps reached an all-time high strengthof almost 500,000.

Between Pearl Harbor and V-I Day, 15,000second lieutenants were commissioned and trainedat Quantico, and an estimated 20,000 additionalMarine officers and officers of other U.S. ArmedForces and Allied nations received specializedtraining in Quantico's various schools. A fewmonths before the beginning of the war therewere fewer than 2,000 Marine officers on activeduty. At the end of the war there were nearly37,000. The job of training these belonged toQuantico, as it had in World War I and the inter-vening years, and Quantico met the challenges'

From the time the war began until peace in1945, neither the instruc'tors nor the administra-tors at Quantico had a moment's rest. Just as thepressure was on in the jungles and atolls of thePacific, the schools labored under the philosophythat "nothing is impossible" on the home front.The battle being waged at Quantico, thoughsheltered in civilian comforts, was a crucial one.

To accommodate the vast influx of manpowerand increased training demands, additional bar-racks, classrooms, shops, and warehouses werebuilt at Quantico. Low-cost government-financedhousing was built to shelter the growing numberof Marine families unable to find other accommo-dations in the nearby, crowded civilian communi-ties. Training areas had to be expanded. The staffof support personnel, administrators, and instruc-tors had to be increased dramatically. New schools

came and went, and new organizations wereformed and shipped out.

Like the barrage ballonists and parachutists ofthe days just before the war, Quantico becamehost to another unique unit when the war wasjust a month old—the Marine raiders.

Also like balloonists and parachutists, the idea ofa small, highly trained, hard-hitting unit was notnew to the Corps. Lightning-type raids and be-hind-the-lines reconnaissance patrols had been dis-cussed in the 1935 Tentative Manual for LandingOperations, and during many of the Fleet Land-ing Exercises of the 1930s small units with thesemissions had been organized temporarily. "Pro-visional Rubber Boat Companies" had beenformed during the landing exercises of February1941 to give further test to the idea.

The success of British commandos and ChineseCommunist guerrillas gave more incentive to thosein the Corps who advocated formation of similarunits, and in January 1942 a battalion of the 5thMarines was taken away from the 1st Marine Divi-sion, given to the Amphibious Force, AtlanticFleet, and redesignated the 1st Separate Battalionwith Quantico as its home. Within a month, asimilar organization was formed on the WestCoast.

These new organizations were charged withspearheading amphibious landings, conductingraids against the enemy, and performing guerrillaoperations behind enemy lines.

On 16 February 1942 Quantico's 1st SeparateBattalion became the 1st Raider Battalion underLieutenant Colonel Merritt A. Edson.

After intense training at Quantico, the bulk ofthe 1st Raider Battalion left on 1 April for theWest Coast and then to Samoa. The remainder ofthe battalion continued training at Quantico untilearly June and then also departed for the Pacific.In about two months, the 1st Raider Battalionsaw its first action on Tulagi as part of theGuadalcanal landings, along with the Quantico-formed 1st Parachute Battalion.

One of the first new schools of the war was theSchool of Quartermaster Administration whichopened 2 February 1942 with 30 officer studentsand 200 enlisted Marines. Designed to train sup-ply specialists to meet the demands of an expand-ing Marine Corps, the school did not last through-out the war.9

The largest acquisition of land in the base's his-tory took place in 1942 to meet the need for ex-panded training areas. Almost 51,000 acres ofland west of U.S. Highway 1 were purchased in1942 and became a permanent part of the base

76 QUANTICO: CROSSROADS OF THE MARINE CORPS

QUANTICORESERVATION

1975

Potomac River

1. Mainside

2. Midway Island Dwellings3. Lyman Park, Thomason Park,

Purvis Park Trailer Sites

4. The Basic School (Camp Barrett)5. Rifle Range, F.B.I. Range6. Camp Upshur7. Lunga Reservoir

8. Proposed Veteran's NationalCemetery

FARQUIERCOUNTY

STAFFORDCOUNTY

PRINCE WILLIAMCOUNTY

\


in 1943. This vast area, named the "GuadalcanalArea" after the Corps' first offensive success inthe war, was ideal for Quantico's needs because itcame close to duplicating much of the terrainMarines would encounter in the Pacific.1°

With this new, bigger training area, the Corps'artillery could take part in live firing exercises aspart of officer training, and it gave the new offi-cers a chance to see what artillery could really do.Also on the artillery scene, the Marine CorpsOrdnance School opened at Quantico in April1942 with 112 students and a small staff of in-structors. This unique school had the job oftraining Marines to keep artillery weapons, firecontrol instruments, and ammunition functioningproperly no matter how tough the going. Artil-lery weapons, antiaircraft guns, fire controldirectors, range finders, gasoline-electric powerplants, gyro-stabilized guns in light tanks—allcame under the maintenance responsibilities ofOrdnance School graduates. Within a year, theschool had 12 separate courses under three maindivisions, Artillery Mechanics, Fire Control Equip-ment, and Ammunition. There were about 400students in residence at a time. Officers took spe-cial courses that covered all three areas, whileenlisted Marines specialized.

The Ordnance School began on a shoestring asthe result of the initiative and foresight of a fewMarines who saw a need. By begging and borrow-ing texts and equipment from around the Corpsand other Services, enough was eventually as-sembled to start a school and a repair shop. Thesyllabus, training aids, charts, and displays weredeveloped from scratch in the shortest possibletime to achieve the school's objective—"keep 'emfiring."

Artillery officers themselves were trained atQuantico during the war. The organization withthis job was the Marine Corps Schools TrainingBattalion formed 19 August 1943. It containedintelligence, supply, engineer, communications;chemical, infantry, weapons, and artillery sections.Its mission was to support the schools every waypossible, but also to train artillery officers.

In April 1944 the Field Artillery TrainingBattalion was formed as a separate unit for train-ing artillerymen, but was later integrated backinto the Schools Training Battalion. By this timethe training of artillery officers had become thethird largest training function at Quantico afterofficer candidate training and the Reserve OfficersCourse.

Needless to say, World War II prompted somechanges in Quantico's basic officer training pro-

grams. The Basic School was still at Philadelphiawhere it had moved in 1923 due to lack of spaceat Quantico. It remained, however, under Quan-tico's control. It drew its new officers from theNaval Academy, the Corps' enlisted ranks, thePlatoon Leaders Class, and directly from civiliancolleges. Classes were tailored to meet the differentbackgrounds of the students.

Platoon Leaders Classes had been initiated atQuantico and San Diego in 1935. This program,initially under Lieutenant Colonel Clifton B. Catesat Quantico, gave reserve commissions to quali-fied college graduates after completion of twosix-week summer training sessions. Six-weekclasses for reserve officers were initiated in 1939.These courses, taught by officers of the 1st MarineBrigade, had divisions for Infantry, Field Artil-lery, and Base Defense Artillery. Students re-ceived their commissions through the PlatoonLeaders Course, the Marine Corps Reserve pro-gram, and—later—through the Officer CandidatesClass.

When President Roosevelt declared a limitednational emergency in June 1940, the Corps wascharged with acquiring and training large num-bers of new officers. Colonel Lemuel C. Shepherd,Jr, headed a special unit at Quantico tasked withtraining officer candidates, and this unit soon be-came the Officer Candidates Class.

All the Corps' junior officer training, excludingaviators, was concentrated at Quantico shortlyafter the war began, including The Basic Schoolfunctions performed in Philadelphia until thewar. The Basic School did not reopen at Quanticoduring the war as a separate institution, but itsimportant tasks were absorbed by the OfficerCandidates Class, Platoon Leaders Class, and theReserve Officers Class. But only one of these, theReserve Officers Class, trained young men afterthey had been commissioned.

To absorb The Basic School subjects, the Re-serve Officers Class was quickly extended fromsix to 10 weeks, with 517 hours of instruction.Classes convened every two weeks with about 250officer students each.

Subjects covered by the new Marine lieutenantsran the gamut from naval law, topography,camouflage, combat intelligence, aviation, artil-lery, communications, antiaircraft defense, totank tactics, infantry tactics through companylevel, mess management, company administration,terrain appreciation, and amphibious opera-tions. 13

During the early days of the Reserve OfficersCourse, training took place at nearby Civil War


Officer students run the obstacle course at Quantico.(USMC Photo A301694).

battlefields as well as on the Quantico reservation.The acquisition of the Guadalcanal Area in 1942allowed all the training to take place on MarineCorps property and permitted the use of artilleryin realistic exercises.

Several tent camps were thrown up in theGuadalcanal area, and vacated farms were scoutedand attacked day after day, night after night, asnew Marines prepared themselves for the realthing. On the other side of the highway, amphib-ious exercises took place up and down the Po-tomac along Marine Corps property.

With these three officer schools, Quantico con-centrated on the training of junior officers at theexpense of the two higher level, prewar schools.The greatest demand for officers was at the lowerend of the rank structure, and this was where thetraining was needed. Officers above the basic levelreceived most of their training "on-the-job."

Many field grade officers who did return toQ uantico during the war for one reason or an-

other were grabbed up by the schools as advisorsand instructors where their valuable knowledgeand experience could be passed on to those nextin line for the Pacific. Shortages of qualified of-ficers to command in the Pacific left the Corps nochoice but to temporarily suspend the seniorschools. Those senior officers not serving as full-time teachers busied themselves with studying thereports and problems coming back from the warand searching for new ideas and techniques.

Aside from the candidates and basic officersschools, Quantico's main schools during most ofthe war were the Field Artillery School, OrdnanceSchool, and the Aviation Ground Officers School.A Communications Officers School was organizedin late 1944.

The Aviation Ground Officers School, born dur-ing the early months of the war and later renamedthe Marine Air-Infantry School, had the job ofindoctrinating aviators and ground officers in theconduct and coordination of air-amphibious op-erations. The integrated operations of the battalionlanding team and the air squadron was stressed.Of the thousands of pilots who received this ad-vanced amphibious and aviation training at Quan-tico, 120 became aces during World War li-

On 24 August 1942 the U.S. Army took overfrom the Marine Corps the command of Amphib-ious Corps, Atlantic Fleet. The Marine com-mander, Major General Holland M. Smith, andhis staff were reorganized as the AmphibiousTraining Staff, Fleet Marine Force, with head-quarters at Quantico. Later that year GeneralSmith and his staff moved to San Diego, Cali-fornia, where they became part of the Amphib-ious Corps, Pacific Fleet. At the time of the switchfrom Marine to Army command, the Corps whichhad once consisted of the 1st Marine Divisionand the 9th Army Division, was little more thana skeleton headquarters unit. 14

Out of the Marine Corps' early World War IIemphasis on artillery support of the infantry, aneed arose for observation squadrons to conductairborne artillery spotting. Six observation, orVMO, squadrons were employed in the Pacificduring the war, and Quantico formed and trainedall of them. As part of this program, ground offi-cers were trained as airborne artillery spotters.The first Marine Observation Squadron, VMO-1,was activated 27 October 1943J5

The Corps got the official approval to form aMarine Corps Women's Reserve on 7 November1942, which resulted in more than 20,000 womenserving in the Marine Corps to "free a man tofight."


Officer students make a landing on the same "Potomacduring the l930s. ((JSMC Photo 55349).

The first step toward establishing the Women'sReserve was taken by Commandant Thomas Hol-comb, who wrote commanders of Marine Corpsposts nationwide announcing that an organiza-tion of women Marines was on the way anddirecting commanders to examine all activitiesunder their charge where women could be usedto replace male Marines. Clerical duties, corn-munications, transportation, mess and commis-sary, and mechanics were identified as likely jobsthat women could fill.

In May 1943 the women Marines began report-ing in small groups to Marine bases around thecountry. The first women Marines, four radiooperators, reported to Quantico on the Corps'Birthday in November 1943. Within a week an-other 60 arrived.

These were not the first women to wear Marineuniforms. During World War I about 305 womenwore Marine green and performed a variety ofclerical duties, mostly in Washington, D.C. Thesewomen received little Marine Corps training, how-

River Beaches" where amphibious doctrine was developed

ever. The women of World War II, on the otherhand, were Marines in the same sense as theirmale counterparts.

Within a year of their first arrival, the num-ber of women Marines at Quantico had grown toa battalion-size organization of almost 1,000, andthey filled numerous critical administrative andtechnical billets until the Women's ReserveBattalion was finally disbanded, company by com-pany, beginning in April 1946, and only a rela-tively small unit remained.

In addition to the expansion of Quantico fortraining purposes, the naval hospital in mid-1942added a new west wing to the three-year-old mainbuilding and to the west of this a combined main-tenance building and isolation unit was con-structed. A year later there was an exchange ofland between Marine Barracks and the hospitalthat added 20 acres to the hospital's existing 40-acre parcel. The hospital's new land extendedsouth along the old channel of Little Creek, andthe barracks received in trade a small segment


Captain Elsie E. Hill leads the first postwar Woman Officer Training Class in a Headquarters Battalion parade in 1949.(USMC Photo 29464).

just south of this. With the new land, the hospitalwas able to build 13 sets of government quarters.

A unique school, even for Quantico, was theMarine Corps Dog School which opened 23 January1943 with a student population of 14 DobermanPinschers. The school had the job of trainingdogs in scouting and security duties. Within twomonths, however, the operation moved to CampKnox, an old Civilian Conservation Corps campsite at Camp Lejeune17

After 10 years of important work, the MarineCorps Equipment Board moved out of its quonsethuts in October 1944 into more appropriate ac-commodations. The board's new home was a$142,000 building with over 16,000 square feet offloor space. Built in a record three months' time,

the structure housed the administrative and ex-perimental sections of the board and was appro-priately located beside the post docks on thePotomac. The board consisted of 21 officers and51 enlisted Marines at the time. 18

But not all war work by Quantico Marines tookplace at Quantico, nor were all the Marines' am-phibious operations in the Pacific.

On 18 November 1944, 170 Quantico Marines"hit the beach" on Foster Avenue in Chicago,Illinois, as part of a Navy-Marine demonstrationfor the Sixth War Loan Drive. An estimated100,000 spectators watched the Marines comeashore with flamethrowers and tanks from land-ing craft and amphibian tractors. A Navy gun-boat offshore in Lake Michigan provided the


simulated naval gunfire support. The Marineswere scheduled to make daily landings in Chicagoover a two-week period before returning home.1°

The 28-man "Marine Bagpipe Band" fromQ uantico appeared in Chicago at the same timeand was featured on a coast-to-coast radio pro-gram publicizing the war bond drive.

On 14 August 1945, President Harry S. Trumanannounced that World War II had ended, andArmy General Douglas MacArthur was authorizedto accept Japan's unconditional surrender. Thepeak strength of the Marine Corps at war's endwas 485,833. 20

The Marine Corps Schools reached its peak inthe production of new officers and officer-specialistsas the war ended. On 1 September 1945 Quan-tico's total strength was 10,800, and a demobiliza-tion got under way, the number of Marinesdropped to under 8,000 by the end of the year.By next May, Quantico population had skiddedto 4,600.21

Q uantico was one of several bases tasked withhelping return individual Marines back to civilianlife, and, at the same time its missions of educa-tion and development were to continue but at aslower pace. It also had important responsibilitiesin connection with postwar reorganization andplanning.

Special units were organized at Quantico tohandle the demobilization of 150-plus Marinesdaily, and the tasks of these units as well as thebase mission itself were severely handicapped byQuantico's own personnel losses. Discharges werenot uniform over the span of occupations, andadministration, operations, communications, andsecurity personnel were hardest hit by losses. Inmany cases, those occupations hardest hit werethe ones sorely needed to keep the base going. 22

Q uantico's immediate postwar mission was toreorganize, and to analyze, study, direct, coordi-nate, and supervise all teaching in the MarineCorps Schools, and to provide necessary facilitiesfor academic records, research, and reference.The developmental mission continued, and theresponsibility for demobilizing Marines was addedtemporarily.

The sudden ending of the war found Quanticowith few instructions and few plans to switchimmediately to a peacetime environment. Com-plaints from commanders about critical personnelshortages were so frequent that some Marineshad to be held over so that others could be dis-charged. New education and development pro-grams were hampered temporarily due to theturbulent personnel situation.

On 1 September 1945 the major units at Quan-tico had included a Service Battalion, SchoolsDetachment, Field Artillery Training Battalion,Infantry Training Battalion, The Basic School,Marine Air-Infantry School, Guard Battalion,Casual Company, Marine Corps Air Station,Women's Reserve Battalion, and a Rifle RangeDetachment, with a total strength just under11,000.

But even with the end of the war, demobiliza-tion and cutting back everywhere, Quantico'seducation mission continued. In October 1945Quantico established a two.month.long Adjutants'School for officers from around the Corps. Oneprecipitating factor was the great need for quali-fied administrative officers to supervise demobili-zation and reorganization. 23

The mission of the Overhaul and Repair Fa-cility terminated with the end of the war. Allflying had stopped on Brown Field at the AirStation although Turner Field continued to bebusy. Aircraft Engineering Squadron 12 took onthe mission of supporting the Marine CorpsSchools and the Equipment Board. 24

The 1st Special Marine Brigade was formed atQ uantico on 28 January 1946, as a temporaryorganization under the Commander in Chief,Atlantic Fleet, tasked with maintaining a state ofcombat readiness for expeditionary service in theAtlantic or Caribbean. The unit was to be main-tained on two weeks' readiness.

At this time the Marine Corps had not com-pleted its post-war demobilization, reorganization,and relocation of combat units. Despite the endof war, there still was not total peace in the worldand Corps planners felt a need for an amphibious-ready combat unit on the East Coast much asthere had been an Advanced Base Force and lateran Expeditionary Force at Quantico many yearsearlier.

The brigade of two battalions and a headquar-ters at Quantico and a third battalion at CampLejeune, North Carolina, drew its 1,100 personnelfrom Marines normally assigned to routine baseduties. The brigade conducted a four-day amphib-ious exercise off the Virginia Capes in mid-April1946, and took part in only one major trainingoperation outside of Virginia during its shortexistence. This was a joint Navy-Marine operationin the Caribbean during May 1946. The 1st Spe-cial Marine Brigade was disbanded at Quanticoin August 1946 as other east coast Marine unitsassumed its mission. 25

The same month the brigade was formed, theAir Observers Training Center moved from Pearl


On 5 May 1949, General Clifton B. Cates, Commandantof the Marine Corps, Major General Lernuel C. Shepherd,Jr., Commandant, Marine Corps Schools, and Mrs. Bar.neSt unveiled the plaque which marked the site where theQua ntico Marine Base was founded 32 years earlier.(1JSMC Photo 026952).

Harbor, Hawaii, to Quantico. This 14-week coursehandled an average of 20 officer students at atime. 26

On 16 July 1946 the Commanding General,Marine Barracks, Quantico, assumed the dual titleand authority of Commandant, Marine CorpsSchools, and was directed to reorganize all activi-ties so as to orient the major effort of Quanticotowards support of education. Previously, thecommandant of the schools had been a subordi-nate commander, and he now became a deputy.Aside from elevating the importance of theschools, this move permitted them to devote them.selves exclusively to academic endeavors, whilethe staff of the new commandant took up all thepersonnel, administrative, supply, and materialchores previously handled by the Marine CorpsSchools staff. 27

In 1946 the schools themselves were rapidlyreturning to a peacetime role. The number ofMarines going through precommissioning train-ing and basic officer training was cut backdrastically, and The Basic School reappeared onthe scene as a distinct institution once again. Bythe fall of 1946, the Junior and Senior Schoolswere back in full operation after almost six years.

By 1 October 1946, the reorganization had re-sulted in an Academic Headquarters; the Amphib-ious Warfare School, Senior Course; AmphibiousWarfare School, Junior Course; The Basic School;Field Artillery School; Communication OfficersSchool; Ordnance School; Air ObservationSchool; Extension Division; Schools Regiment

(containing an infantry and an artillery trainingbattalion); a Service Battalion; Medical andDental Detachments; Marine Corps Air Station;Equipment Board; and a Supply Depot, all with atotal authorized strength of about 4,550 Marinesand Navy. Actual strength—including students—was 3,126. 28

A short time later the Aviation TechnicalSchool was opened at Quantico. This school train-ed officers and senior enlisted Marines in fieldmaintenance of aircraft and related equipment.Graduates were qualified supervisors for aircraftengineering maintenance, aviation ordnance, sup-ply, and accounting. 29

The Extension School published a completelyrevised, updated syllabus in 1947 to parallel thenew courses of instruction in the resident schools,and The Basic School assumed responsibility fortraining officer candidates—including those of thePlatoon Leaders Class and the Naval ReserveOfficers Training Corps—that same year.

Because of this expanded role, Camp Goettgeand Camp Tjpshur were planned as new BasicSchool training facilities in the Guadaleanal Area.When The Basic School reopened at Quanticoafter the war, its first home was in D Barrackson Quantico's main street, Barnett Avenue. Itmoved to Brown Field at the Air Station in 1947pending completion of the Guadalcanal Areacamps.

At about the time of the Marine Corps Birthdayin 1947, the statue of the historic Iwo Jima flag-raising was moved from Constitution Avenue inWashington, D.C., where it had been placed on10 November 1945, to Quantico. The statue hadbeen constructed of Indiana limestone, cement.and sand due to a lack of bronze during the war,and was a miniature replica of the much largerstatue to bebuilt at Arlington Cemetery later. Thestatue had deteriorated due to weather and ex-tensive repairs were needed. Also, heavy coatsof paint to give the look of bronze had hiddenmuch detail and had to be removed. The sculptorwho had cast the statute in only two weeks' timeduring off-duty hours while in the Navy was Felixde Weldon who came to Quantico to supervise re-pairs. The statue was officially dedicated at themain entrance to Quantico on 10 November1951. °

As Quantico's postwar mission became con-firmed and education the dominant activity, thecommand dropped the Marine Barracks title andbecame Marine Corps Schools on the 1st day of1948. ' Thus, after 30 years the name of "bar-racks," which failed to distinguish Quantico and


The old Post Brig as it appeared in 1948. The building isCorps History and Museums Division. (USMC Photo 25546).

its important work from numerous other MarineCorps commands, was deleted in favor of a unique,appropriately descriptive title.

Shortly after this important redesignation, theWomen's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948made it possible for women to join the militaryin a regular status. Soon, the Woman OfficerTraining Program was set up at Quantico underThe Basic School, with the first class reportingin June of 1949. This new program had the mis-sion of screening and educating candidates forcommissions, of educating new women secondlieutenants, of training women Marine noncom-missioned officers in their duties, and providingadministrative and logistical support for all fe-male Marines on base.

The Woman Officer Training Course consistedof two six-week training periods during the sum-mer, like the male Platoon Leaders Course. Thefirst class of 34 candidates studied drill, navallaw, administration, and military courtesy, aswell as company-level duties. After commission-ing and graduation from college, the women re-turned to Quantico for six weeks of the WomanOfficer Indoctrination Course which correspondedgenerally to the male Basic School.

During World War II, potential woman Ma-rine officers were trained at Mount Holyoke Col-lege in South Hadley, Massachusetts, and SmithCollege in Northampton, Massachusetts.

On 25 August 1948, Second Lieutenant JohnEarl Rudder, the first regular black Marine

now used to house a portion of the collections of the Marine

Corps officer, began training at Marine CorpsSchools.

The end of World War II ushered in the atomicage. Military and civilian prophets—some withinthe Corps itself—predicted the end of amphibiousoperations that Marines had perfected over theprevious several decades, and a reappraisal of themethods and even the feasibility of amphibiouswarfare was called for. In an atomic war, shipsof the fleet could no longer group together inrelatively small concentrations to spill out Ma-rines, their equipment, and supplies for a landingon a finite beach. Any concentration of ships,men, or aircraft provided a good target to anenemy with atomic weapons.

Because of the great destructive power ofatomic bombs, some said the amphibious opera-tion was outmoded and could take its place along-side trench warfare, sieges of castles, and thecrossbow. Some even went one step further andconcluded that if amphibious warfare was a thingof the past, so might be the Marine Corps.

Such a predicament was not new to Marines.Spurred on by cries that the Corps be disbandedor relegated to an Army unit, John A. Lejeunehad realized that the Corps needed a unique mis-sion and a unique organization as early as theend of World War I. From his farsightednesscame the amphibious role of the Corps and themodern Fleet Marine Force.

After World War II there were again heateddiscussions that the Corps be disbanded, reduced


The Hostess House, located in an orea commonly known os 'Cinder City.' This and on identical building to the rightwere formerly utilized as bochelor officers' quarters at mains ide prior to the building of Liversedge Hall. (Quantico Photo012—3523—35—76).

in size or responsibility, or broken up into groundand aviation and integrated with other Services.The studies and hearings resulted in the NationalSecurity Act of July 1947, which finally con-firmed in law that the Marine Corps had an am-phibious mission and the responsibility for de-velopment of related tactics, techniques, andequipment.

While the defense debates were going on, theCommanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pa.cific, Lieutenant General Roy S. Geiger was oneof the highly impressed spectators at the BikiniLagoon atomic bomb tests in the summer of 1946.His report to the Commandant prompted GeneralVandegrift to form a special board at Quanticoto look into the role of Marine Corps amphibiouswarfare in the atomic era.4

By the end of the year the special board recom-mended that helicopters be used to move Marinesfrom amphibious ships to beaches, and furtherproposed that a helicopter squadron be formed tostudy the necessary tactics and procedures.34 Theboard's recommendations were approved imme-diately. General Vandegrift, then Commandant,recalled:

I refused to share the atomic hysteria familiar tosome ranking officers. The atomic bomb was not yet

adapted for tactical employment, nor would this hap-pen soon. Accordingly, I did not feel obliged tomake a sudden, sharp change in our organizationalprofile.

I did feel obliged to study the problems in all itscomplexity. For if we believed the basic mission ofthe Marine Corps would remain unchanged in anatomic age, we knew that the conditions surroundingthis mission would change and change radically.The problem, in my mind, divided itself into threemajor considerations: how to reorganize the FleetMarine Force to render its units less vuhierable toatomic warfare and at the same time retain the finalassault concentration essential to success; how todecrease our reaction time or, conversely, attain andmaintain a preparedness by which a large unit couldmount out in hours; and, how to put atomic weaponsof the future to our own best use.

Practically nothing was deemed too fanciful forconsideration. We toyed with the large troop-carryingairplanes as the assault vehicles of the future, andwith troop-carrying submarines, and with helicoptersthen in their infancy.5

In much the same way and in a very similarenvironment as the 1920s and 1930s, Quantico inlate 1947 introduced a new amphibious concept—vertical envelopment—that would circumvent theoverwhelming restrictions of amphibious opera-tions in an atomic war. With the concept camethe equipment, the helicopter.


The helicopter, which was a new, virtually un-tried machine in both military and civilian avia-tion circles, could rapidly move troops and equip-ment from widely scattered ships to dispersedlanding sites on a hostile shore. Marines couldland in the rear and on the flanks of enemy posi-tions. Heavily defended beaches could be by-passed. Large concentrations oi ships, men, andsupplies could be avoided, and a potential enemy'satomic capability could be nullified.

On 1 December 1947, Marine Helicopter Squad-ron One (HMX-1) was established at Quantico,initially as part of the Landing Force Develop-ment Center, to test this new concept of verticalenvelopment and the new flying machine thatwould make it work.

The new squadron's tasks were many. It wascharged with developing a doctrine in conjunction

with Quantico's other institutions for aviationtactics and techniques for helicopters in amphib-ious operations. It was to study the operation andmaintenance of this new aircraft; pilots and aircrews had to become qualified in its operation.Mechanics had to be trained from scratch, andrecommendations for the organization andequipping of helicopter units had to he developed.Also, the helicopter was to be evaluated as a re-placement for Marine fixed-wing aircraft thenused for liaison and artillery and naval gunfireobservation. 3S

Q uantico's—and the Corps'—first helicoptersquadron was commanded by Colonel Edward C.Dyer, who initially had eight other Marines in hisunit and no helicopters. None of the nine Marineshad ever flown a helicopter before. In February1948, the first two helicopters, HO3S—ls, arrived

The HRP—1 by Piasecki was the first large helicopter to join the Marine Corps. Called the "flying banana" it be-

came operational in 1948, carried 10 passengers, and cruised at 75 miles per hour. ((JSMC Photo 529983).


at Quantico from the Navy Helicopter Develop-ment Squadron, Lakehurst, New Jersey. Later inthe month three more machines arrived fromSikorsky. These first Marine "chopper" pilots andcrews had little time to spare during the firstmonths of the squadron's existence. Pilot, crew,and mechanic training had top priority.

By May 1948, only three months after the firsthelicopters arrived at Quantico, the squadron wasready for its first real test. During that month,HMX—1 took part in Operation PACKARD II,conducting the Marine Corps' first ship-to-shoremovement with helicopters by lifting a platoon ofcombat-ready Marines—-at a rate of two or threepassengers per helicopter per trip—from amphib-ious ships to a spot behind the beach.

In August that year Quantico received two newhelicopters for test and evaluation. These werethe BeU HTL—1 and the tandem-rotor PiaseckiHRP—1. The HRP—1, nicknamed the "FlyingBanana," was then the world's largest helicopter.A few months later in November, the HelicopterBoard published the military's first guide foremployment of helicopters in amphibious opera-tions. 40

Still later in December 1948 and January 1949,HMX—1 was on board the USS Saipan taking partin a daring rescue attempt of 12 downed U-S.aviators from the Greenland ice cap. Quantico'saviators left Christmas Day and had threePiasecki, twin-rotor helicopters on board for thejob. The aircraft had to be altered while afloatfor extreme cold and high winds. Storms, highwinds, and heavy seas, however, slowed the rescueship to a snail's pace, and the U.S. Air Forcereached the flyers while the Saipan was still 560miles away. 41

A spectacular demonstration was put on in May1949 to show off the capabilities of helicopters.Laying of communication wire, evacuation ofsimulated casualties, and "flying crane" lifts of75mm pack howitzers were vividly portrayed toan impressed audience consisting of members ofthe 81st U.S. Congress.

The real test, however, of HMX—l's trainingand developmental efforts didn't come until 30months after it was formed—when Marines wereordered to Korea to stem the advance of NorthKorean Communists.

On 25 June 1950, Communist armies fromNorth Korea crossed the 38th Parallel and in-vaded South Korea. Marine Corps strength at theend of that month was 74,279.

Only days before the unexpected outbreak ofwar in Korea, President Harry S Truman had

Igor Sikorsky (left) visits with Generol Clifton B.Crites, Commandant of the Marine Corps, during o he/i.copter demonstration ot Quantico on 19 April 1950.(USMC Photo A51676).

visited Quantico on 15 June 1950 to witnesscombat demonstrations designed to substantiateMarine Corps requests for a bigger budget. Thehighlight of the demonstration was an assaultlanding using the Piasecki "Flying Banana" heli-copters to show President Truman how men andequipment could be flown from aircraft carriersto objectives behind enemy lines. ' This was thePresident's first view of a Marine Corps base.

Korea was the proving ground for the helicopterand much of the Corps' success with it there canbe attributed to the experience of HMX—1 andthe doctrine developed at Quantico. ' The Corpsdemonstrated the feasibility of the vertical en-velopment doctrine and the value of the helicopterby transporting whole battalions to the front andbehind enemy forces, and by supplying wholeregiments. During Korea, nearly 10,000 men wereevacuated to hospitals or rescued from behindenemy lines by Marine helicopters.

Through the Korean war years, HMX—1 wasbusy at Quantico evaluating new equipment andhelicopters and enabling the officer's schools at alllevels to familiarize their students with the emerg-ing capability. Among the new helicopters werethe CH—37, a heavy-lift aircraft, and the UH—34all-weather helicopter. The addition of these twonew machines to the Corps' inventory gave newcapabilities for helilifting troops and equipment.


On 15 June 1950 President Harry S Truman accepted an invitation to visit Quantico for a field demonstration. Theformer Army artillery captain inspected the honor guard with an experienced eye. (USMC Photo A—51857).

The Korean war years produced the usual ex-pansion of officer training as did previous con-flicts, and Quantico readjusted to meet the need.Camp Goettge and Camp Upshur in the Guadal-canal area were completed in 1950 just in timeto receive the expanded officer population, andwere quickly occupied. A third camp, Camp On-yule—later to become Camp Barrett—was builtto meet a portion of the need. While The BasicSchool headquarters remained at Brown Field forthe time being, the outlying camps quickly filledup—and expanded. Basic School's nine monthcourse was soon cut to 21 weeks and then to 17as demands from Korea grew.

During the Korean war The Basic School grad-uated the largest class in its history up to thatpoint. The 10th Special Basic Class numbering889 lieutenants finished up on 1 February 1952.

Arising out of the recommendations of a groupof 10 generals which met at Quantico in July

1950, a Tactics and Techniques Board was formedand joined with the Equipment Board to form theMarine Corps Landing Force Development Cen-ter. Quantico's numerous schools became theEducation Center at the same time. This new ar-rangement established the centers as separate butequal entities under the Commandant, MarineCorps Schools, and more clearly defined the rela-tionships between them. Management of both theeducation and development programs was en-hanced. These changes took place on 1 October1950.

Later, in March 1952, an Advanced ResearchGroup was formed as part of the Education Cen-ter to tie together the work of the two centersthrough study and research. In essence, this wasa 10-month tour for colonels who spent their timeanalyzing doctrine and relating it to educationand development. They were also charged withseeing how well the Marine Corps was living up


to its responsibilities under the National SecurityAct of 1947.

Elsewhere on the Quantico scene, the SeniorPlatoon Leaders Class—the second of the twosix-week sessions—was temporarily moved toMarine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SouthCarolina, on 12 July 1951 to allow all of Quan.tico's facilities to be used for other officer train-ing. At the same time other demands of the fight-ing in Korea were met by establishing at Quanticoa SQ-hour course for training officers in the useof pack saddles and horses for carrying ammuni-tion and supplies. Classes averaged about 25 stu-dents. " This training, incidentally, provided ad-ditional justification for maintaining the basestables.

Ellis Hall was dedicated on 13 October 1952, inmemory of Lieutenant Colonel Earl Ellis, theCorps' pioneer amphibious prophet and warplanner of the 1920s. Ellis had predicted Japan'swar aims and developed a plan for the step-by-step conquest of the Pacific by amphibious forces.Appropriately, this new facility that bore his namecontained an "amphibious trainer" that allowedstudents to study the intricacies of amphibiousoperations with mockups of beaches, model ships,and aircraft that portrayed the entire sequence ofship-to-shore operations.

A year latei in 1953, the Marine Corps SchoolsTraining Battalion of World War II vintage wasreorganized and retitled Schools DemonstrationTroops. This unique organization was structuredlike a reinforced battalion of infantry completewith artillery, tanks, engineers, amphibian trac-tors, and trucks, and continued the mission of sup-porting Quantico's schools, testing and evaluatingequipment and techniques, and training artilleryofficers.

The overhaul and repair facility building thathad been built shortly after the outbreak of WorldWar II became the Aviation Technical School in1.946. The school had provided advanced instruc-tion in aviation-related technical subjects and hadgraduated about 160 students annually except dur-ing the Korean war years when this number wasalmost doubled.49 In 1953 the building underwenta drastic facelifting to become Larson Gymnasiumand a new home for Quantico's varsity basketballand boxing teams, as well as for intramural sports.The new gym boasted a boxing training gym, avarsity team locker and shower room, conferencerooms, a ping-pong and billiards room, and otherfacilities.

A year and a half after the end of the Aviation

Technical School, the 42 students and staff of theCommunication Officers School finally settleddown to their studies in a new $300,000 buildingnot far from Ellis Hall.°

Since the school's birth in mid-1944, it hadprovided specialized training for officers betweenThe Basic School and the Junior Course. Thecommunications syllabus had been 4-5 monthslong with classrooms in "G" Barracks. This newmodern facility allowed larger classes and an in-crease in course length to nine months to incor-porate much of the Junior Course curriculum andmore on the growing field of military communi-cations itself. The new syllabus advanced theschool to the level of the Junior Course, andstudents ranged in rank from first lieutenantthrough major.

As the Korean war was winding down, Quan-tico's attention was turned once again to studyand development.

In late 1952 the Marine Corps and Navy be-gan publishing a wide variety of doctrinal publi-cations under the titles of Landing Force Manualsand Landing Force Bulletins. These covered thespectrum of Marine Corps activities, includinghelicopter operations, employment of supportingarms and coordination with Navy agencies, am-phibious operations of the future, and even howto operate in an atomic war. This last publicationwas the first of its kind in the Armed Forces. '

Numerous study boards were convened eitherat Quantico or in Washington, D.C., in the mid-dle 195Os to develop proposals for changes in theCorps' organization and methods of operationthat would better prepare it for duty in an atomicenvironment. The whole gamut of Marine activi-ties—from aviation to administration—cameunder review.

Quantico was called upon in 1955 to host theannual Secretary of Defense Conference for highlevel military and civilian defense officials toallow them to become better acquainted withwhat was going on in Washington, D.C., and inthe other Services.

The Fleet Marine Force Organization and Com-position Board, more commonly called the Hoga-boom Board after Major General Robert E.Hogaboom who chaired it, met at Quantico inJune l956 to consider substantial changes in thecomposition, functions, and equipment of the FleetMarine Force. Although the board's main job wasto figure out how to carry out an amphibiousoperation under the threat of atomic war, manychanges that came out of the board's work werestill evident in the Marine Corps of the 1970s.5


Two.hundred years of Quantico construction are revealed in this picture of the area south of the Chopawamsic Creek.The eighteenth century Dipple plantation house stands in the development test area, upper left. The old seaplane hangarsnear the pier are a contrast to the larger Marine Corps Aviation Technical School hangar that has since been convertedto Larson Gymnasium. The Brown Field No. 2 hangars on the right now house the aviation collection of the Marine CorpsMuseums Branch. (USMC Photo 526143).

On the development scene, Quantico's research-ers started work in 1954 on the challenge ofdevising a portable airfield for jet aircraft thatcould be transported ashore and quickly erected.Out of this effort came the Short Airfield forTactical Support (SATS) that was first tested atBeaufort, South Carolina, in 1958. Later testswere conducted in 1960 and 1961, first on Tai-wan and then in the Caribbean. The system wasset up at Quantico's Air Station in 1962 forfurther testing, and when the Marines landed inVietnam, in 1965 a SATS was established at ChuLai.

Work on a bulk fuel system began at Quanticoin 1950. This was to be a complex of rubber-likebladders, flexible pipes, and pumps into which

fuel from amphibious ships could be piped,stored, and then distributed to Marine aviationand ground units. The first system was fieldtested in 1955 in the Caribbean, and it, too, foundits way to Vietnam later.53

Lightweight protective body armor was a

Quantico developmental project that can becredited with saving many Marine lives in Koreaand later conflicts.

The Basic School headquarters left BrownField in early 1955 and moved to Camp Upshurin the Guadalcanal Area where it could be closerto its training activities. With this move, thetraining of women officers, Naval Reserve OfficerTraining Corps candidates, and Platoon LeadersClass candidates was no longer a Basic School


Camp Upshur was established in 1942, and at one time housed The Basic School. It is current/-v used during thesummer months as a training camp for Platoon Leaders Classes. (Quant.ico Photo 012—3523—63—67).

On 8 March 1958, The Basic School students left the old facilitiesat Camp Barrett. (USMC Photo A553912).

responsibility. A newly formed unit, Training andTest Regiment, took over the training activitiesThe Basic School left behind at Brown Field.

At Camp Upshur, The Basic School course grewstep-by-step to 32 weeks long with a correspond.ing increase in the scope and depth of instruction.Not long after this move, ground was broken atCamp Barrett, also in the Guadalcanal Area, forthe first permanent buildings to be constructedexclusively for The Basic School. The WomanTraining Detachment, which was no longer underThe Basic School, was made part of HeadquartersBattalion of the base and training of women came

at Camp Upshur and headed for the new school

under the Marine Corps Schools operations of-ficer. At about the same time, the CommunicationOfficers School added a basic four-week course fornew lieutenants just out of Basic School. The planwas for these officers to receive basic schooling incommunications, work in the Fleet Marine Forcefor several years, and then return to Quanticofor the more advanced course.

After years of use, the old post chapel wastorn down in early 1956. Since World War Ia variety of buildings and lawns had been usedas places of worship, all being inadequate in oneway or another. WiIe a new chapel was being


built, the first at Quantico to be constructed fromthe ground up as a church, religious services wereheld in an old rifle range messhall.

The new Quantico chapel was finished in lateSeptember 1957, and was dedicated as the U.S.Marine Corps Memorial Chapel on 10 Novemberthat year in memory of all Marines and theirNavy comrades who died in the service of theircountry.

Not long after the dedication, it was decidedthat unique windows would be installed in thechapel to portray the Corps' history. The Com-mandant of the Corps, General David M. Shoup,approved the establishment of a Chapel WindowFund in April 1960, and through Corps.wide pub.licity voluntary contributions from Marines, Ma-rine Corps organizations, and friends of the Corpspoured in to finance the project.

Each of the chapel's 18 windows is etched glasswith a religious motif depicting a scene fromMarine Corps history. The first four windowswere dedicated on the Corps' 186th anniversaryin 1961. Another unique feature of the chapel isthat remnants of deck planking salvaged fromeight of the battleships and cruisers which sup.ported Marine amphibious operations in WorldWar II have been used to make communion cupholders on the church's communion rail.54

At the same time the chapel was finished, inSeptember 1957, Quantico became the host forthe annual Marine Corps Squad Competition.This prestigious event drew the top infantrysquads from all the Corps' infantry regiments

and pitted them against one another in a rigorouscompetition that covered all the physical, mental,and military skills imaginable. The winning squadbecame the Corps' top small infantry unit—ap-propriately nicknamed the "Super Squad." Onlythe Vietnam war years prompted a temporarysuspension of this competition which helped fosterperfection in the basic skills for which Marineshave always been famous.

The same month the squad competition started,HMX—1 got an assignment that soon became oneof its most important missions. President Eisen.hower, while vacationing in Newport, RhodeIsland, had an urgent need to return to the WhiteHouse. Part of the journey was on board aUH—34D helicopter from Quantico, piloted byMajor Virgil D. Olson.

This was the first time a President had flownin a Marine Corps helicopter, and with the dis.covery of this fast and reliable means of trans-port, helicopter support of the President, VicePresident, Cabinet members, and other dignitariesbecame a permanent role for HMX—1. Travels insupport of the President would take Quanticoaviators to Europe, the Azores, Hawaii, andthroughout the United States in the next fewyears.55

Three HMX—1 helicopters took part in a dra-matic helicopter rescue of the 45-man crew of theLiberian tanker, A/rican Queen, in December1959, after the ship ran aground and broke intwo 10 miles off Ocean City, Maryland. The shipwas carrying crude oil and was almost at the end

HMX—l's "white topped" helicopters became familiar sighs around the Washington, D. C., area when the squadronassumed the mission of providing transportation for the President of the United States. President Eisenhower first traveledin a Marine Corps helicopter in September 1957. (Quantico Photo 012—0747—1—74).


of a 2,100-mile trip from Colombia to New Jerseywhen it hit an unmarked shoal during a heavystorm. Crew members were taken off the shipfive at a time using sling harnesses. Only twohours had elapsed since the wrecked tanker hadbeen sighted and all crew members were safelyashore.5°

Back at The Basic School, two new permanentbuildings had been completed at Camp Barrett,12 miles from the main base. Described as auniversity campus amidst a cluster of quonsethuts and Butler buildings, the new home of TheBasic School was becoming a reality.

Heywood Hall at Camp Barrett boasted fourhuge, modern classrooms and supporting educa-tional facilities and offices at a cost of $849,000and totaling 60,000 square feet. The other newbuilding, O'Bannon Hall, cost over $2 millionand had 450 rooms for live-in lieutenants, a din-ing hall for 1,000 people, plus lounges, a snackbar, game room, and reference library. TheBasic School completed its move from Upshurto Barrett in early 1958. At the time, the coursewas about 26 weeks long and graduated about1,500 lieutenants and 150 warrant officers an-nually. This was not the end, however, of theexpansion of The Basic School at Camp Barrett.Rarner Hall—a swimming pooi and gymnasium—was opened in August 1963. An additional wingto O'Bannon Hall was added later, and permanentenlisted quarters and an exchange-cafeteria build-ing were built.

On the other side of the highway a LandingForce War Games Group was added to the Land-

ing Force Development Center in August 1960and given the missions of coming up with a tech-nology for war gaming landing force &perationsand conducting war games of Marine Corps oper-ations.

Liversedge Hall, Quantico's first modern,I:ermanent bachelor officers quarters for otherthan students, opened that same year with 90male and female tenants. After two years of con-struction at a Cost of $1,250,000, the new facilityreplaced a number of old and cramped buildingsaround the base that had been used as officersquarters for many years. The BOQ was appro-priately named for Brigadier General HarryBluett Liversedge, holder of two Navy Crossesand one of the few bachelor officers in the Corpsto attain the rank of brigadier generaL59

Also in early 1960 the Training and Test Regi-ment started an annual warrant officer candidatecourse. The six-week session kicked off with 250candidates. Previously, warrant officers had re-ceived their bars through the work of a selectionboard only. Training and Test Regiment underLieutenant Colonel Louis H. Wilson gave theaspiring warrant officers instruction in map read-ing, Marine Corps history, physical conditioning,leadership, drill, weapons, tactics, and law, amongother things. Successful candidates then went onto a 10-week course at The Basic School wherethey studied the organization and mission of theFleet Marine Force, amphibious warfare, stafffunctioning, Marine Corps operations, and Corpspolicies.

Formal dedication ceremonies marked the

Liversedge Hall, the Bachelor Officers' Quarters constructed in 1959, is named for Brigadier General Harry B. Liver.sedge, Commanding Officer, 28th Marines at the time that unit raised the U. S. flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.He was a bachelor officer. (Quantico Photo 012—0244-—9—77).

WORLD WAR TWO AND BEYONJ) 93

opening of the new Marine Corps Museum on12 September 1960. With the opening of thisactivity in the refurbished old post headquartersbuilding, the Corps finally had an official his-torical showplace to display its memorabilia anddocument its history and traditions from the timeof the Revolution. 60

Interest in a museum for the whole Corps datedback to October 1940 when the Corps acquired avast collection of weapons from the San FranciscoWorld's Fair. Since then a couple of rooms hadbeen used at Quantico for the display of MarineCorps trophies and some other relatively minoritems and, although called a "museum," it in factfell far short of being one. It wasn't until 1958that a serious effort was undertaken to establisha formal museum in every sense of the word.Q uantico was to remain the home of this activityuntil the opening of the Marine Corps HistoricalCenter in the Washington, D.C., Navy Yard in1977.

The Woman Officer Training Program under-went some substantial changes in 1962. Effectivewith the 16th reporting class, the Woman OfficerTraining Course became the Woman Officer Can-didate Course and the Woman Officer Indoctrina.tion Course was changed to become the WomanOfficer Basic Course. These title changes, whichwere accompanied by equally important curri-culum changes, more closely paralleled the titlesof the corresponding male schools, and more ac-curately reflected the true purposes and functionsof the courses. One of the other changes was thatthe old system of two summer training periodsfor candidates was streamlined to one nine-weekperiod.6'

Within a short distance of the candidate train-ing area, the Landing Force Development Centerand the Air Station set up one of the Corps' latestinnovations, the Short Airfield for Tactical Sup-j)ort, in late 1962. Set up alongside Turner Field,the system consisted of aircraft catapults and ar-resting wires much like the facilities of an air-craft carrier deck but which could be installed onland. The device permitted high performance jetsto land and take off from a small piece of realestate such as Marines might be required use ina combat environment. The first Quantico landingon the SATS was in November 1962, a DouglasA4D—2.6'

The agency which had pioneered the develop-ment of the new tactical airfield underwent somesubstantial reorganization in March 1963. Thir-teen years after the Tactics and Techniques Boardhad been partnered with the Equipment Board

to form the Landing Force Development Center,the two agencies were dissolved to form the Ma-rine Corps Development Center.

Along with a headquarters and the usual ad-ministrative and services sections, the new De-velopment Center had functional divisions dealingwith plans and operations to coordinate theactivities of the other divisions; ground opera-tions concerned with combat operations, psycho.logical warfare, and counterinsurgency; airdefense and air support of combat operations;artillery and naval gunfire support; missiles andchemical, nuclear, and biological weapons;ground and amphibian vehicles; supporting serv-ices and facilities; communications and electron-ics; and war gaming to test the effectiveness ofnew weapons, equipment, tactics, and techniquesshort of actual combat.

This substantial reorganization was a logicalstep in streamlining the important functions ofthe center and improving management to makethe center's work far more efficient. Also in 1963Schools Demonstration Troops took on a secondtitle as the 2d Battalion, 22d Marines, and servedas a ready force for the East Coast as well as atraining unit for Marine Corps Reserves. Theunit's primary mission of supporting MarineCorps Schools, training artillery officers, andtesting weapons and tactics remained essentiallyunchanged, however.61

Quantico's Training and Test Regiment, theunit responsible for training officer candidates ofthe various officer procurement programs, becamethe Officer Candidates School on 1 June 1963.65

The following year a couple of more importantname changes came about. After decades of be-ing called the "Junior School" and the "SeniorSchool," Quantico's two most prestigious schoolswere renamed the Amphibious Warfare Schooland the Command and Staff College, respectively,on 1 August 196466

The two schools had been called the "FieldOfficers Course" and "Company Officers Course"when they were first organized after World War I.By the early 1930s they had become the "Sen-ior Officers Course" and "Junior Officers Course."In the years after World War II when the schoolswere reopened they became the "Senior School"and "Junior SchooL" To add to the confusion innames, some correspondence of the post-WorldWar II period refers to the schools as the "Am-phibious Warfare School, Junior and SeniorCourse," while still other reports grouped theschools as the "Command and Staff College."


In the l95Os college students line up for their first formation as members 0/ the Marine Corps' Platoon Leaders Classshortly a/ter arriving at the Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, for the first of two annual six week summer training periodsleading to Marine commissions as second lieutenants. (USMC Photo A 314518).

Nevertheless, the name change in 1964 clearedup the matter once and for all.

These two new school titles more accurately re-flected the professional nature, the level of in-struction, and functions of the schools. Commandand Staff College provided professional educationfor officers of the rank of major and lieutenantcolonel, and its syllabus was tailored to preparethese mid-career officers for command at the regi-mental and aircraft group level, and for staff dutyat the division, aircraft wing, and higher FleetMarine Force levels. The Amphibious WarfareSchool provided captains and junior majors pro-fessional education in preparation for commandat the battalion and air squadron level and staffduty at the regimental and aircraft group level.

Not long after the schools assumed their newtitles, Marines landed in force in the Republic ofVietnam in 1965 and Quantico again geared upfor its usual wartime role of providing highlyqualified officers to lead Marines in combat.

There were no drastic changes at Quantico asthe Corps' enlisted strength was increased from

about 193,000 to 223,000, and the number of of-ficers was raised by 3,000. Since the World War IIexperience of curtailing officers training abovethe basic level, Quantico had developed a suffi-ciently flexible education system to continue itsprimary missions without great disruption. Theexisting system was merely expanded to pick upthe increased load, and adjusted to incorporatethe educational and developmental lessons com-ing out of this new conflict.

Officer Candidates School and The Basic Schoolboth substantially increased the number of stud-ents handled and The Basic School course wasreduced from 26 weeks to 21, while the workweek lengthened through Saturday to pick up thenecessary hours of training.

On the distaff side, the Woman Marine Detach-ment became the Woman Officers School in April1965. The reorganization put the women Marineson a par with their male counterparts in that theynow had a formal school organized in regularschool fashion under a headquarters with anacademics section and appropriate staff. The


change better enabled the women's training pro.gram to accomplish its aims and to raise thestandards of education for women officers. Thecandidate course was nine weeks long and in-cluded among many other things an eight-hourbeauty care session covering hair care and styling,manicuring, nail and skin care, make.up, andpoise based on the instruction given stewardessesfor major airlines.GT

The Woman Officers School also ran the Corps'only noncommissioned officer leadership coursefor women, and a seven-week basic course fornewly commissioned women lieutenants.

Quantico's Schools Demonstration Troops drop.ped its mission of training artillery officers dur-ing the opening days of the Vietnam conflictand assumed another highly important assign.ment as an organization designed to combat civildisturbances. Training in this new job began im-mediately and the unit was alerted on numerousoccasions for service in Washington, D.C.

Troops of this unit helped out with anotherimportant task about a year later. One of themore unique additions to Quantico during the

Schools Demonstration Troops at the Southeast AsiaVillage, completed in August 1966. (Quantico Photo 6—

2378—70).

Vietnam years was the construction of the South.east Asian Village near Camp Barrett. Completedin August 1966 by Basic School and Schools De-rnonstration Troops personnel, "Xa Viet Thang,"Village of Vietnamese Victory, authentically re-produced a small Asian village to provide in-valuable training to those who would findthemselves in the real thing before long.68

A year later Quantico got the first M—16 riflesfor testing, and in record time got this new wea-pon, highly suited for the jungles of SoutheastAsia, into the hands of the Marines who neededit most.

Also in 1967 the Physical Fitness Academycame into being at Quantico. The establishmentof the academy stemmed from a Departmentof Defense conclusion that members of the U.S.Armed Forces were behind their foreign counter-parts in physical fitness. The academy was to bethe Armed Forces school for training officers andenlisted men and women to be physical fitnessexperts and instructors. The school was not sim-ply a big gymnasium with a rigorous programof calesthenics. It was these things, but moreimportantly it taught physiology, nutrition, hand-to-hand combat, and the how-and-why of develop-ing sound, scientific physical conditioning1)rogramS.

Marine Corps Schools Quantico dropped its 20-year-old title on 1 January 1968, to become theMarine Corps Development and Education Com-mand. Consisting of the Education Center, theDevelopment Center, and Marine Corps Base—which included the Marine Corps Air Station—thecommand's new title better reflected the dualmission of education and development. The newcommand's motto, "Semper Progredi," or "Al-ways Forward," was based on John A. Lejeune'sown personal motto of almost five decades be-fore. It put into words the Quantico philosophythat had guided the base's efforts since its found-ing.69 Physically, the new title altered little asQuantico Marines continued to provide the rightanswers to the right questions.

The joy of the New Year was marred in January1968, when a Marine transport from Quantico'sAir Station crashed into a mountain in Nevadakilling all 19 on board, including 12 members ofthe Amphibious Warfare Presentation Team.7°

The Amphibious Warfare Presentation Teamwas a traveling group of amphibious warfare ex-perts who gave an oral and visual presentation tomilitary organizations of all Services, militaryschools, and selected civic groups around the na-tion. Their presentation was designed to keep


important groups abreast of current landing forcedoctrine, capabilities, and developments. Theteam was an important and valuable techniquefor "spreading the word" about the Corps and theimportant work taking place at Quantico. All theCorps mourned the loss of this important group.

When riots broke out in Washington, D.C., inApril 1968 following the assassination of MartinLuther King, Jr., two well-trained companies ofMarines from Schools Demonstration Troopswent there to assist in maintaining order.

Another tragedy in 1968 involved the relativelynew Physical Fitness Academy, nine academystudents were drowned after their canoe capsizedin the Potomac River while on a training exercise.

Finally, in October 1968, the grand institutionthat had served thousands of Marine officers overthe years and had became famous throughout the

Corps for its hospitality and atmosphere—WailerHall—was closed and later torn down because ofstructural failures. The Commissioned OfficersMess moved from its traditional Wailer Hall loca-tion to Harry Lee Hail further up on "RisingHill."

On a more positive note Quantico establishedthe Computer Sciences School in 1968 in responseto a rapidly developing technology that was find.ing an important role in the Corps. The schoollater became an interservice school with stud-ents and instructors from other Services.

Unlike 1968, 1969 was a relatively uneventfulyear at Quantico. A new Reception Center wasopened, and Quantico's Ordnance School earnedsome distinction by designing and building a"mechanical knee" for Vietnam wounded at theNaval Hospital. A July flood in western Virginia

Chopawamsic Creek area, a portion of which now houses the Marine Corps Staff Noncommissioned Officers' Academy.SNCO club is in the upper right. (Quantico Photo 012—3523—17—76).


brought Quantico Marines into action with men,equipment, and aircraft to aid in search, rescue,resupply, and medical evacuation tasks.

While flood rescue operations were going on,four Marines from Quantico went to Cape Ken-nedy, Florida, to take part in the nation's spaceprogram. These Marines operated the groundstation of the communications link that connectedApollo 11 astronauts with earth during the launchand capsule recovery!'

The Marine Corps' first Staff NoncommissionedOfficers' Academy was opened at Quantico inmid-February 1971. Designed to "strengthen thebackbone of the Corps," the six-week course hada capacity of 192 students and covered basic drill,oral communication, physical conditioning, tech-niques of military instruction, effective writing,ceremonies, and leadership. Students came fromall Marine commands and the Marine Corps Re-serve. Later, women and noncommissioned offi-cers from other Services as well as selectedcivilians were among the students. By September1972, the Extension School had a correspondencecourse paralleling the academy's syllabus.72

May 1971 found Schools Demonstration Troopsback in its civil disturbance role as it was de-ployed to Washington, D.C., again. This time,antiwar groups had threatened the city's orderand the safety of government buildings.73

As the Vietnam conflict wound to a close andMarine units returned to the United States,Quantico again became host to a Fleet MarineForce organization, Marine Medium Helicopter

Squadron 263, in May 1971.' The increasing sizeand weight of jet aircraft had for the most partruled out the use of Quantico's relatively shortrunways. HMX—1 was still at Quantico, but theburden of its other missions, the availability ofhelicopter units returning from Vietnam, and thevalue of the helicopter so aptly demonstrated inVietnam, dictated the assignment of anotherhelicopter squadron to Quantico.

With 40 officers and 200 enlisted Marines,Medium Helicopter Squadron 263 with its CH—46"Sea Knight" helicopters provided advanced train-ing for both aviators and support personnel andthe necessary support to Quantico's officer train-ing schools. The squadron remained a valuablemember of the Quantico family until 1974 whenit returned to its parent unit, the 2d Marine Air-craft Wing.

More than 28 years of service ended in January1972 as Schools Demonstration Troops retiredits Colors to the strains of "Auld Lang Syne."Since 1943 the unit and its predecessors hadprovided yeoman support to Quantico's schools,taken part in a myriad of special drills and cere-monies, aided in maintaining order during civildisturbances, helped test and evaluate weapons andequipment, trained artillery officers, and per-formed a wealth of other important tasks asmight be handed off to Quantico's only infantry-type organization. For its dedicated service, theMeritorious Unit Commendation was awarded.Postwar personnel reductions coupled with aneed for maintaining Fleet Marine Force combat

The new FBi complex in the Guadalcanal Area is a multi-million dollar facility occupied in May 1972. (Quantico Photo012—3523—30—76) -


units in top readiness prompted the deactivation.The unit's missions were divided up among otherQuantico organizations.75

HMX—1 did not serve in Vietnam, but per-formed an equally important mission at Quanticoduring the war years. As in the Korean war,HMX—i made significant contributions to the suc-cess of the Marine Corps operations in Vietnam.The helicopter had proved itself to be one of themost valuable instruments in Southeast Asia, andfor this HMX—1 can take much of the credit.

Among other things, HMX—1 pioneered a newarmament kit for use on the UH—34 "Stinger,"the only Marine gunship in Vietnam until intro-duction of the UH—1E "Huey." The squadronalso was involved in the development of new gunmounts, armored seats, and fixed M—60 machineguns.76

These important tasks were accomplished atthe same time the squadron continued its sup-port of Quantico's schools, performed lifesavingoperations on behalf of civilian communities. andprovided transportation for the President andother Washington, D.C., dignitaries.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's academymoved to a new multi-million dollar building inQuantico's Guadalcanal Area in May 1972 fromits 30-year location on Barnett Avenue. The oldacademy building was given back to the base.

The course for FBI Special Agents had in-creased to 15 demanding weeks, and includedfirearms training and physical training in Quan.tico's forested training areas. The academy alsoheld an 11-week course for law enforcement of-ficers from around the nation. About 8,000 stu-dents of all types went through the academy eachyear.

During mid-1972 the Intelligence; Command,Control, and Communications; and Organization,Doctrine, Tactics, and Techniques Divisions of theDevelopment Center moved into the former FBIAcademy.

Hurricane Agnes cut a path of devastationalong the East Coast in mid-1972 and called outQuantico Marines who rushed to the aid of theircivilian neighbors. Marines with trucks, blankets,and medical supplies aided civilian authorities inPrince William and Stafford Counties, and theCity of Fredericksburg. Quantico helicoptersaided in rescuing many stranded victims. Oneoperation saved an entire troop of 26 Boy Scoutsfrom the Rappahannock River. Civilians forcedfrom their homes and rescued by Marines werebrought to Quantico where they were giventemporary lodging, food, and medical aid. Emer-

gency services were provided on board the basefor Marines living in the civilian communitieswho were forced from their homes, and heli-copters spent days on search and rescue missionslooking for people in danger"

Quantico left-the arena of big-time varsity foot-ball in the autumn of 1972 due to budget cuts.The "Quantico Marines" football team had beenreborn not long after the end of World War II,and again made a healthy showing. Although theteam never quite enjoyed the publicity and emo-tional support it once did under Smedley Butler,it was a valuable public relations vehicle and didmuch to aid Marine Corps officer procurement,and put the Marine Corps and Quantico "on themap."

In the post-Vietnam summer of 1973 the Physi-cal Fitness Academy also closed down because ofbudget problems. The Amphibious WarfareSchool and the Communication Officers Schoolcourses went from six to nine months long. Theextra time allowed the schools to present a moredetailed and comprehensive course of instructionto better prepare Marine officers for the morecomplex demands of a postwar wbrld and in-creasing technological requirements.

On 26 November 1973 the former FBI Acad-emy building was named "Hochmuth Hall" inhonor of the late Major General Bruno A. Hoch-niuth who had been killed in Vietnam. Fourmonths later, the Director of the DevelopmentCenter made Hochmuth Hall his headquarters.

Also during 1973, small parcels of the Guadal-canal Area bordering U.S. Highway 1 and Inter-state Highway 95 were transferred to PrinceWilliam and Stafford Counties as recreation landunder the President's Legacy of Parks Program.Julie Nixon Eisenhower came to Quantico toofficiate at the transfer ceremony.

In April 1974 the Development Center formedan Operational Test and Evaluation Activity withthe task of examining products being developedfor the operating forces. The first effort of thisnew component was to manage Marine Corpsparticipation in the operational evaluation of theLilA—i amphibious ship, the USS Tarawa, andher four sister ships.

In November 1974 some 300 enlisted Marinesmoved into new living quarters culminating thefirst step of a $6,250,000 renovation project thatwould completely refurbish four of Quantico'sstately old mainside barracks built in the late1920s, providing two- and three-man rooms forapproximately 1,200 personnel. The last barracksrenovation was completed in August 1976.


May 1975 saw what may have been the lastrunning of the Marine Corps Relays, for 19 yearsone of the largest track meets for collegiate andclub teams on the East Coast. The 1976 renewalwas canceled because it was thought world-classathletes would be reluctant to run on a cindertrack during an Olympic year. Plans to install anall-weather track at Butler Stadium were latershelved because of the cost.

The Veterans Administration announced inJanuary that it had selected a 624-acre tract atQuantico as the site of a new National Cemeterythat would provide burial space for 300,000 per-sons. The site, which borders U. S. Route 1 andVirginia State Route 619, was no longer neededfor training purposes.

Also in January, a new stable was opened atQ uantico replacing one that was destroyed by firein 1972.

Officer Candidates School graduated its lastWarrant Officer Screening Course in late Febru-ary 1976. The course had been shortened to fourweeks from seven, to be followed by a 10-weekcourse at The Basic School. Beginning in 1977,warrant officers were commissioned before re-porting to The Basic School for an expandedcourse.

April 1976 was marked by the opening of anew $1.8 million enlisted dining facility at main-side with all the modern features needed to satisfyup to 2,000 hungry Marines at each meal.

Quantico celebrated the United States' Bicen.tennial in grand style on 4 July 1976 when anoverflow Butler Stadium crowd estimated in ex-cess of 8,000 was thrilled by a spectacular twi-light ceremony featuring the massed RegimentalBands and the Pipes and Drums of the ScottishDivision and the Buglers of The Royal GreenJackets. They were part of The Scottish Tattoo,sent to the United States at the command of HerMajesty, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, toparticipate in the American Bicentennial. TheBritish troops were billeted at Quantico duringtheir stay in the United States.

Earlier, Quantico had been designated as aBicentennial Command for many special projectsundertaken in support of the country's 200th Anni-versary. For over a year the Official BicentennialFlag was flown under the National Colors on thecommand flag pole.

On 10 August 1976, the Marine Corps Base titlewas dropped as an activity designation at Quan-tico. Formed as a support organization to theMarine Corps Development :and Education Com-

mand in 1967, realignments had diluted its func-tions over the years until only the title remained.

The Marine Corps Air Station, Quantico—dis-tinguished as being the oldest and smallest in theMarine Corps—was downgraded to air facilitystatus on 15 November 1976. The Station Oper-ations and Engineering Squadron was deactivatedand its personnel and propeller-driven aircraft re-assigned, leaving Marine Helicopter SquadronOne as Quantico's sole flying squadron.

The national news media began to descend onQuantico in January 1977 to cover a major changein the training program at The Basic School, theintroduction of women lieutenants to the sametraining as men. Previously, women officers par-ticipated in a separate 12-week program that in-cluded some of the classroom training given malesbut did not include major field exercises ormarksmanship training.

Women officers with grease-painted faces, firingweapons, and attacking in combat town becamecommonplace in newspapers and on televisionacross the nation. There were some sore musclesfor a time, but the women were successful in whatwas a pilot program that became a permanent fix-ture at The Basic School and ended the separatetraining courses for male and female lieutenants.

To accommodate the combined training, theformer 26-week Basic Officer Course for maleswas shortened to 21 weeks by eliminating some ofthe detailed infantry training. This training—andsome new subjects—-was included in a new In-fantry Officer Course for all Basic Course grad-uates assigned to the infantry. As in the past, thelieutenants assigned to combat support, combatservice support, and aviation left Quantico aftercompletion of the Basic Course to attend variousschools to prepare them for duty in their occupa-tional fields.

In October 1977 a headquarters realignmentresulted in the formation of a Security Battalionthat brought the diverse law enforcement, fireprotection, and game warden activities under thesame umbrella. Department heads became as-sistant chiefs of staff, some activities merged andothers shifted, all to make for a smoother runningcommand.

The last vestige of sex-segregated training atQuantico ended in October 1977 when male andfemale classes were combined at Officer Candi-dates School. Women candidates had been attend-ing eight-week classes, compared to 10 for themen, but had not been subjected to the strenuous


physical conditioning needed to prepare them forthe tougher training they were to face later atThe Basic School. The overnight field exercises,running of the obstacle and confidence courses,trait runs, and expanded time drilling on theparade deck took care of that problem.

On 26 January 1978 a near tragedy hit Quan-tico when a tornado devastated a section of theMidway Island housing area, leveling multiplefamily dwellings, snapping off trees, and smashingautomobiles. Miraculously there were no deathsor serious injuries among the sleeping residents,but 28 duplex buildings were destroyed in thecomplex housing lower enhsteds.

Quantico can look back on six decades ofprogress and contribution. The pace of change

may have slowed somewhat after World War II,hut the significance of what was done did notdiminish. Instead, postwar years were character-ized by a solidifying of Quantico's many im-portant missions and an organizational structurethat was both flexible and efficient, permitting themissions to be fulfilled despite changing demandson the Corps. Still, Quantico's postwar years werefull of significant advances in equipment develop.ment, doctrine, and education.

The question, "where has Quantico been," hasbeen answered in the woods of France, the islandsof the Caribbean, the beaches of the Pacific, themountains of Korea, and the jungles of Vietnam.A question remaining is, "where is Quantico to-day?"

Documents

Quantico: Crossroads of the Marine Corps PCN 19000307200 4...76 QUANTICO: CROSSROADS OF THE MARINE CORPS QUANTICO RESERVATION 1975 Potomac River 1. Mainside 2. Midway Island Dwellings