Author: Major James B. Wellons USMC Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing ISBN: 1786250896 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 267
Book Description
This work comprises an effort to answer the question of how an airman can be qualified to be a Joint Force Commander, using the biographical example of General Roy S. Geiger, USMC. Geiger was the fifth designated Marine Aviator, earning his wings in June of 1917. He then served as a squadron commander in the First Marine Aviation Force in World War I (WW I), where he flew combat sorties and earned his first Navy Cross. In the interwar years, he served in multiple command billets, acted as head of Marine Aviation, and performed with distinction as a student at the Army Command and General Staff School and the Army and Navy War Colleges. During World War II, Geiger commanded the First Marine Aircraft Wing and the CACTUS Air Force in the dark days of the Guadalcanal Campaign in 1942, where at age fifty-seven he again flew in combat, earning his second Navy Cross. He went on to serve as an Amphibious Corps Commander in the Pacific Theater, where he led campaigns at Bougainville, Guam, and Peleliu. Finally, he distinguished himself in the battle of Okinawa as the only Marine ever to command a field Army, the Tenth Army. After World War II, Lieutenant General Geiger continued to shape the Marine Corps in command of Fleet Marine Forces, Pacific until his premature death in 1947. The study is a chronological account of the life of Roy Geiger, with a focus on his leadership traits, extensive professional military education, remarkable joint relationships, and innovation, all of which contributed to his success as a Joint Force Commander. The author argues that Geiger was the most influential Marine aviator and among the most successful operational commanders in the history of the United States Marine Corps. Roy Geiger was the prototype for a Joint Force Commander.
Author: Eugene W. Rawlins Publisher: CreateSpace ISBN: 9781500102852 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 122
Book Description
During the early stages of helicopter development, when helicopters were able to lift just slightly more than their own weight, the military services were eagerly seeking to obtain a variety of larger, more useful helicopters. The youthful helicopter industry expressed optimism, although at times unrealistic, in its ability to meet the military requirements. The development of the helicopter program within the Marine Corps was sparked by the foresight and imagination of the officers of the period. While early helicopters provided stepping stones for an orderly progression of the program, the slowness of the technical advances and the periods of financial austerity after World War II and Korea prevented the Marine Corps from developing the vertical envelopment concept as rapidly as desired. The program gained interest and momentum, however, as a result of the success of helicopters in Korea. As Lieutenant General Gerald C. Thomas stated: "Indeed, the helicopter gave clear evidence, from its first tactical employment, that a major advance in combat was at hand." This history, which traces the development of helicopters in the Marine Corps from 1946 to 1962, offers a tribute to the creative vision and planning of a handful of Marine officers who conceived of the vertical assault concept in amphibious operations at a time when suitable aircraft to make it work did not exist. The story of the subsequent struggle to procure and develop those aircraft, to refine a doctrine for their employment, and to familiarize the Marine Corps with their use is an interesting and vital part of modern Marine Corps history. The documentary basis for this monograph was primarily the official records of the Marine Corps and Navy Department, but considerable use was made of interviews and correspondence with key individuals involved in all phases of helicopter development.
Author: Cyril J. O'Brien Publisher: DigiCat ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 173
Book Description
DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Liberation: Marines in the Recapture of Guam" by Cyril J. O'Brien. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.
Author: Stephen Taaffe Publisher: Naval Institute Press ISBN: 1682477096 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 213
Book Description
The Marine Corps covered itself in glory in World War II with victories over the Japanese in hard-fought battles such as Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Iwo Jima. While these battles are well known, those who led the Marines into them have remained obscure until now. In Commanding the Pacific: Marine Corps Generals in World War II, Stephen R. Taaffe analyzes the fifteen high-level Marine generals who led the Corps' six combat divisions and two corps in the conflict. He concludes that these leaders played an indispensable and unheralded role in organizing, training, and leading their men to victory. Taaffe insists there was nothing inevitable about the Marine Corps' success in World War II. The small pre-war size of the Corps meant that its commandant had to draw his combat leaders from a small pool of officers who often lacked the education of their Army and Navy counterparts. Indeed, there were fewer than one hundred Marine officers with the necessary rank, background, character, and skills for its high-level combat assignments. Moreover, the Army and Navy froze the Marines out of high-level strategic decisions and frequently impinged on Marine prerogatives. There were no Marines in the Joint Chiefs of Staff or at the head of the Pacific War's geographic theaters, so the Marines usually had little influence over the island targets selected for them. In addition to bureaucratic obstacles, constricted geography and vicious Japanese opposition limited opportunities for Marine generals to earn the kind of renown that Army and Navy commanders achieved elsewhere. In most of its battles on small Pacific War islands, Marine generals had neither the option nor inclination to engage in sophisticated tactics, but they instead relied in direct frontal assaults that resulted in heavy casualties. Such losses against targets of often questionable strategic value sometimes called into question the Marine Corps' doctrine, mission, and the quality of its combat generals. Despite these difficulties, Marine combat commanders repeatedly overcame challenges and fulfilled their missions. Their ability to do so does credit to the Corps and demonstrates that these generals deserve more attention from historians than they have so far received.
Author: E.R. Johnson Publisher: McFarland ISBN: 078648585X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 353
Book Description
Within six months of the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy had checked the Japanese military advance in the Pacific to the extent that the United States could return to its original "Defeat Germany First" strategy. That the Navy was able to accomplish this feat with only six fleet aircraft carriers and little more than 1,000 combat aircraft was not sheer luck but the culmination of more than two decades of determined preparation. This thorough study, with detailed drawings and photographs, explains and illustrates the trial and error process which went into developing the aircraft, airships and ships of the interwar period. The critical factors that shaped Naval Aviation after World War I--naval treaties, fleet tactics, government programs, leadership and organization, as well as the emergence of Marine Corps and Coast Guard aviation--are discussed in depth.
Author: David Napoliello Publisher: Global Collective Publishers ISBN: 195783109X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 473
Book Description
"The book is a wonderment of research with its 37 pages of notes and 29 pages of bibliography. Napoliello supports his secondary sources with interviews with Army aviators who flew in Vietnam and with current-day members of Native American tribes." — The VVA Veteran On Warriors’ Wings traces the evolution of the Army policy to give names to major end items of equipment and specifically Native American tribal, warrior chiefs, and item to helicopters. Twelve Army helicopters saw combat in Vietnam, with eleven bearing Native American names. For each, David Napoliello’s work includes an examination of what capabilities were needed, its performance requirements, and the production of the fleet. Napoliello continues with a discussion on how the aircraft was used during its entire period of service in-country as opposed to a twelve-month snapshot of the experiences of a single aviator or a specific aviation unit. The capstone of each chapter is the story of the Native American tribe or warrior chief and how that history commends it for the naming of that particular helicopter. David also devotes a chapter to the experiences and memories of Native American veterans who served as pilots or crew members of those eleven aircraft. These are insightful, first-person accounts of their tours of duty in Vietnam and duties in aviation units while stationed there. Over two hundred Native Americans perished in Vietnam, nineteen of whom died while participating in aerial operations. The details of that final mission and loss are included in here, along with a listing of the other fallen warriors. On Warriors’ Wings concludes with a summary of the new Native American named helicopters that came after Vietnam and the progress the US military has made with regards to national recognition of Indigenous veterans. On Warriors’ Wings includes extensive illustrations and archival images of Native American veterans.
Author: Gregg Adams Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN: 1472861159 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 81
Book Description
Fully illustrated, this book assesses the US Marines and Japanese troops fighting in three bloody battles of World War II in the Pacific. In June 1944, the United States military launched an offensive against the Japanese forces holding the Mariana Islands and Palau. The US Marine Corps played a vital role in this campaign alongside Army and Navy forces, while their Japanese opponents mounted a desperate defense of their conquests amid the harsh island terrain. This book assesses both sides' doctrine, tactics, weapons, and battlefield effectiveness in three battles of this stage of the Pacific War. Landing on Saipan on June 15, the Marines established a beachhead as the Japanese defenders strove to fight to the last man. On July 21, US Marine Corps and Army forces landed on Guam. Only on August 10 was Guam declared secure by the Americans, and even then resistance continued. US forces landed on Tinian on July 24 and wrested the island from its conquerors. Alongside Army troops, the US Marine Corps also targeted the island of Peleliu. Predicted to last four days, the US assault on Peleliu lasted more than two months as the defenders inflicted appalling US casualties. Featuring all-new artwork and mapping alongside archive photographs, this study assesses the tactics and technology employed by the Marines and their Japanese opponents in these bloody battles, as the Pacific War moved toward its grim climax.
Author: Major James B. Wellons USMC
Author: Eugene W. Rawlins
Author: Cyril J. O'Brien
Author: Stephen Taaffe
Author: Edward C. Johnson
Author: Joseph H. Alexander
Author: E.R. Johnson
Author: David Napoliello
Author: Gregg Adams
Author: