The 18th Marine Regiment was a composite

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

subordinate to the

2nd Marine Division The 2nd Marine Division (2nd MARDIV) is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF). The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Caroli ...

. It was disbanded during the war, with the 1st and 2nd battalions remaining in the Division.

Subordinate units

The regiment was a composite of three different types of battalionsBattle Orders - US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1943-44, Gordon L Rottman, Osprey Publishing, p. 13''

/ref> and a headquarters and service company: * 1st Battalion, A, B, & C Companies 2nd Engineer Battalion now

2nd Combat Engineer Battalion 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion is a combat engineer battalion of the United States Marine Corps . They are based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and fall under the command of the 2nd Marine Division and the II Marine Exped ...

* 2nd Battalion, D, E, & F Companies 2nd Pioneer Battalion * 3rd Battalion, G, H, & I Companies 18th Naval Construction Battalion now Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 18 or NMCB 18

History

World War II

18th Marines was activated on 8 September 1942 and participated in actions at

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

and

Tinian Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the ...

. It was inactivated on 16 August 1944. On Tinian there were two small beaches on the North end where an assault landing could be made with low coral ledges. The rest of the island had coral cliffs up to 15 feet in height at the waters edge negating any assault plans. However, the Marine Corps asked the Seabees if they could come up with an idea to get over the coral. Commodore Paul J. Halloran (CEC) CB theater commander provided drawings of a conceptual landing ramp for the 18th and 121st CBs to fabricate. They mounted steel beams salvaged from Saipan's abandoned sugar mill on LVT-2s to create a portable assault ramps. If they worked they would allow the Marines to outflank Tinian's prepared defenses. The Marine Generals was skeptical and ordered that the ramps be put through a 100 vehicle use tests. The Seabee creation was named a Doodlebug. It worked exactly as the Marines had hoped.The Doodlebug, Naval History and Heritage Command, U.S. Navy Seabee Museum webpage, Port Hueneme, Ca

/ref>

Commanders

*Colonel Elmer E. Hall: 8 September 1942 *Colonel Ewart S. Laue: 31 August - 3 October 1943; 24–29 February 1944; 7–9 April 1944; 22–24 April 1944 *Colonel Cyril W. Martyr: 4 October 1943 - 23 February 1944; 1 March - 6 April 1944; 25 June - 15 August 1944 *LtCol Russell Lloyd: 10-14, 19-21, 25–30 April 1944; 1–11 May 1944; 1–24 June 1944

Unit awards

United States Navy Presidential Unit Citation ribbon

Presidential Unit Citation with blue enamel star : – Tarawa *1st Battalion **Company A PUC 20-24Nov43 SU 2d MarDiv (REIN)NAVMC 2922 of 7 May 2012, DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS, 2008 ELLIOT ROAD, QUANTICO, VIRGINIA 22134-503

/ref> **Company B PUC 7Aug-9Dec42 SU 1st MarDiv **PUC 20-24Nov43 SU 2d MarDiv (REIN) **Company C PUC 20-24Nov43 SU 2d MarDiv (REIN) *2d Battalion **Company D PUC 7Aug-9Dec42 SU 1st MarDiv **PUC 20-24Nov43 SU 2d MarDiv (REIN) **Company E PUC 20-24Nov43 SU 2d MarDiv (REIN) **Company F PUC 20-24Nov43 SU 2d MarDiv (REIN)

References

External links

*http://www.tarawaontheweb.org/leather.htm *http://www.ibiblio.net/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/USMC-M-Saipan-IV.html *http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Tinian/USMC-M-Tinian-IV.html *http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Tarawa/USMC-M-Tarawa-H.html *https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Tarawa/index.html#index *http://www.seabeecook.com/history/NMCB_18.htm {{2ndMarDiv Eng18 Eng18 United States Marine Corps in World War II Military units and formations established in 1942 1942 establishments in the United States