V Amphibious Corps

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=V Amphibious Corps


caption=III MEF Insignia
dates=August 25, 1943 - February 15, 1946
country=United States
allegiance=
branch=USMC
type=Marine Air-Ground Task Force
role= Expeditionary combat force
size=
command_structure=Inactive
current_commander=
garrison=
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
nickname=
patron=
motto=
colors=
identification_symbol=
march=
mascot=
battles=World War II
*Battle of Tarawa
* Battle of Makin
* Battle of Kwajalein
* Battle of Eniwetok
* Battle of Saipan
* Battle of Tinian
* Battle of Iwo Jima
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=
decorations=
battle_honours=The V Amphibious Corps (VAC) was a formation of the United States Marine Corps and was composed of the Third, Fourth and Fifth Marine Divisions during World War II. They were the amphibious landing force for the United States Fifth Fleet and were notably involved in the battles for Tarawa and Saipan in 1944 and the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. During the course of the war, V Corps was initially commanded by General Holland 'Howlin Mad' Smith and later by General Harry Schmidt.

Structure

By 1945, the structure of a United States Marine Corps' amphibious corps was broken down into four major subordinate commands with each of them having numerous sub-elements. The first major element of the Corps was three reinforced Marine infantry divisions. The next was the Corps artillery which was composed of a field artillery group made of three battalions of 155mm howitzers and three battalions of 155mm guns and an Antiaircraft Artillery Group made of three antiaircraft artillery battalions. The next major command was Amphibian Tractor Group which was made up of four amphibian tractor battalions and an armored amphibian tractor battalion. The final command was known as the Corps Troops and was composed of a headquarters and service battalion, administrative command, signal battalion, medical battalion, motor transport battalion, engineer battalion, reconnaissance battalion and military police battalion. [Rottman "USMC WWII OOB", p.102.]

Major subordinate units

During World War II the following major commands served under VAC: [Rottman "USMC WWII OOB", p. 111.]

History

V Corps was formed on August 25, 1943 at Camp Elliott, California from the previous "Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet (ACPF)". In September 1943, they moved to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

See also

* Marine Air-Ground Task Force
* History of the United States Marine Corps
* Organization of the United States Marine Corps

Notes

References

:Marine Corps

*cite paper|accessdate=2007-05-13
url=http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/arens/chap2.htm
title=Chapter 2: V Amphibious Corps
work=V [Marine] Amphibious Corps Planning for Operation Olympic and the Role of Intelligence in Support of Planning
first=Major Mark P., USMCR |last= Arens
publisher=Marine Corps Staff and Command College
date=1995
quote=Written in fulfillment of a requirement for the Marine Corps Staff and Command College.

*cite book
title=U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle - Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939 - 1945.
author=Rottman, Gordon L.
date=2002
publisher=Greenwood Press
id=ISBN 0-313-31906-5

Further reading

*cite book
quote=This three division Marine force was the largest ever committed to a single battle in the history of the Corps. It would bear the title V Amphibious Corps or VAC.
page=227
author=Drez, Ronald J. and Stephen E. Ambrose
title=Twenty-Five Yards of War: The Extraordinary Courage of Ordinary Men in World War II
year=2003
publisher=Hyperion
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zYPXU-JygsUC&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0

*cite book
author=Rottman, Gordon L. and Mike Chappell
title=US Marine Corps 1941-45
publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=1995
isbn=1855324970
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=gDdDFmAQGQ0C&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0