The Combat Assault Battalion was a mechanized battalion of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

and subordinate element of the 3rd Marine Division and the

III Marine Expeditionary Force III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) is a formation of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force of the United States Marine Corps. It is forward-deployed and able to rapidly conduct operations across the spectrum from humanitarian assistance and ...

. The unit was last based at Camp Schwab,

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Mission

To conduct Amphibious Assault, Light Armored Reconnaissance and Combat Engineer operations across the Range of Military Operations (ROMO) in the Pacific Area of Responsibility (AOR) in support of MAGTF expeditionary operations.

Subordinate units

* Headquarters and Services Company * Combat Engineer Company * Light Armored Reconnaissance Company * Assault Amphibian Vehicle Company

History

World War II

The 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion was activated February 16, 1942 at New River,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

as part of the

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine (military), Marine Division (military), division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine E ...

. The battalion relocated in May 1942 to

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington is Capital of New Zealand, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the List of cities in New Zealand, third-largest city ...

and participated in the following World War II campaigns: *

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

* Finschhafen *

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

Peleliu Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II. ...

The battalion was decommissioned on November 17, 1945 at

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by O ...

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. Less than a year later that battalion was reactivated on May 1, 1946 at MCB Camp Pendleton

Korean War

The battalion participated in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

from the Pusan Perimeter in operations from Inchon to Seoul, Chosin Reservoir, East to Central Front, and the Western Front. Following the war they participated in the defense of the

Korean Demilitarized Zone The Korean Demilitarized Zone () is a heavily militarized strip of land running across the Korea, Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in half. It wa ...

from August 1953 to March 1955. They were relocated during March 1955 to Camp McGill, Japan.

Vietnam War

The battalion was reassigned March 16, 1965 to the 3d Marine Division and relocated to Camp Hansen,

. Company A was deployed to

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

on 7 May 1965 and was attached to the 4th Marine Regiment at Chu Lai Base Area. Company B deployed to South Vietnam on 8 July and was attached to the 9th Marine Regiment at Danang. On 16 July 1965 the remainder of the battalion loaded aboard for deployment to South Vietnam, offloading at Red Beach Base Area on 21 July 1965. The battalion engaged in combat operations from July 1965 through July 1969. In April 1967 the battalion was moved to

Cửa Việt Base Cửa Việt Base (also known as Cửa Việt Combat Base, Cửa Việt Naval Support Activity, Camp Kistler or simply Cửa Việt) is a former U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base north of Quả ...

and under the name Operation Napoleon together with the

1st Battalion, 3rd Marines The 3d Littoral Combat Team (formerly 1st Battalion, 3d Marines) is an infantry unit in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii. Nicknamed the "Lava Dogs", the unit consists of approximately 800 Marines and sailors a ...

was tasked with keeping waterways around the base open. Operation Napoleon/Saline concluded on 9 December 1968. They relocated during July 1969 to Camp Schwab, Okinawa. On April 1, 1976 the battalion was re-designated as the 1st Tracked Vehicle Battalion with two companies of M60A1 (RISE Passive) Tanks and two companies of AAV-7's as well as 1 Company TOW.

1980s and 1990s

On November 10, 1988 the battalion was redesignated as the 1st Armored Assault Battalion. On September 30, 1992 it was redesignated as the Combat Support Group and finally became Combat Assault Battalion on October 5, 1994.

Deactivation

Combat Assault Battalion was deactivated October 12, 2018 with the Battalion assets divided between the rest of the 3d Marine Division. Most of the Battalion's assets including AAVs and

LAV-25 The LAV-25 (Light Armored Vehicle) is a member of the LAV II family. It is an eight-wheeled amphibious armored reconnaissance vehicle built by General Dynamics Land Systems and used by the United States Marine Corps and the United States Army. ...

mechanized vehicles were transferred to 4th Marine Regiment. The Battalion's Combat Engineer Company was reallocated to other Marine units, including 3rd Marine Regiment and 1st Combat Engineer Battalion.

Unit awards

A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the appropriate ribbon of the awarded unit citation. The Battalion's flag is decorated with the appropriate streamers. Combat Assault Battalion, and those units for which it carries lineage and honors, was awarded the following:

Notes

External links

CAB's official site

Combat Assault Battalion Facebook page
{{3rdMarDiv Armor battalions of the United States Marine Corps Inactive units of the United States Marine Corps Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 2018