4th Landing Support Battalion (4th LSB) was a Military Landing Support battalion of the United States Marine Corps Reserve. The unit was based out of New Orleans, Louisiana, and fell under the command of the 4th Marine Logistics Group (4th MLG). The Battalion has been decommissioned.

Mission

The LSB provides the command, control, administration, and operational personnel required to form a nucleus for task-organized support of landing support operations during either surface or helicopter amphibious and subsequent operations ashore.

Table of organization - 4th Landing Support Battalion

* Headquarters and Service Company (Fort Lewis, Washington) * Landing Support Company Alpha (Springfield, Oregon) * Landing Support Company Bravo (Lathrop, California) * Landing Support Company Charlie (Sacramento, California) * Landing Support Equipment (LSE) Company (Vienna, Ohio)

History

The unit was first formed in Seattle, Washington in 1924 as the ''11th Infantry Company'', United States Marine Corps Reserve. In 1931, the unit was re-designated as the ''11th Infantry Battalion'', United States Marine Corps Reserve Organized. With the outbreak of worldwide hostilities in 1940 the battalion was mobilized and joined the

1st Battalion, 6th Marines The 1st Battalion, 6th Marines (1/6) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. It consists of approximately 1,100 marines and sailors. They fall under the command of the 6th Marine Regiment ...

for duty in Iceland. On 24 August 1943 the Battalion was re-designated and activated as the ''2nd Battalion,

20th Marines 20th Marine Regiment was a Composite Engineer Regiment of the United States Marine Corps that fought during World War II.U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle Fleet Marine Force Ground Units, Rottman p. 220''/ref> Subordinate units T ...

'', (Engineers),

4th Marine Division The 4th Marine Division is a reserve division in the United States Marine Corps. It was raised in 1943 for service during World War II, and subsequently fought in the Pacific against the Japanese. Deactivated after the war, the division was re-fo ...

. 28 February 1944 saw the battalion in action at Kwajalein and Majuro Atoll in the Marianas Islands. As 1943 progressed the unit participated in the assault and capture of both

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. For its actions, the Battalion was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. The Battalion was again re-designated on 1 September 1944 as the ''4th Pioneer Battalion'', 4th Marine Division and assigned to the 25th Regimental Combat Team as shore party for the assault on

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

. There the Battalion was awarded the

Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend any Navy or Marine Co ...

. A Co, B Co, and C Co. were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation individually for being attached to Assault Battalions. On 31 March 1945, the 4th Pioneer Battalion re-deployed to San Diego, California. The Battalion was awarded the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Streamer with four bronze stars and the World War II Victory Streamer for service throughout World WarII. IWO JIMA In 1944 when the 4th Marine Division was preparing for the assault on Iwo Jima it had a single Pioneer Battalion, the 4th, which was assigned to the 25th RCT. 1/25 was to be the left assault Battalion on blue beach 1 and Baker Co. was assigned to them. 3/25 was to be the right assault Battalion on blue beach 2 and Charlie Co. was assigned to them. Dog Co. 133 Naval Construction Battalion was tasked to the 4th Pioneers as their reserve. The 133rd CB was chosen to be the shore party for the 23rd RCT on yellow beaches to fill the billet of deactivated 3rd Battalion

. Able Co. 4th Pioneers was split and attached to A & B Companies 133rd CB on beaches yellow 1 and yellow 2. 1/23 was the left assault Battalion on yellow 1 with A Co. 133, 2/23 was the right assault battalion on yellow 2. H-Hour was 0900 and the first shore parties were on the beach before 0930. For the next 18 days the Pioneers and Seabees worked together on yellow and blue beaches until they were relieved by the Army garrison shore party on D+18. The battalion remained in San Diego until 31 October 1945 when it was deactivated. On 7 August 1945 the ''4th Shore Party Battalion'' was reactivated in Seattle, Washington, and stationed at 7500 Sand Point Way, NE aboard the Naval Support Activity. During the next 31 years the battalion saw many small detachments deploy worldwide to include service in Korea and the Republic of Vietnam. On 17 December 1978, the unit remained in place in Seattle, Washington. In 1990, the 4th Shore Party Battalion was again called for service in Operations Desert Shield/Storm, and was awarded the

Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

. In October 1993, the battalion grew in size as the Landing Support Equipment Company at Vienna, Ohio, was re-designated and assigned to the battalion. The 4th Landing Support Battalion moved to

Fort Lewis Fort Lewis may refer to: *Fort Lewis (Colorado), a former United States Army post (1878–1891) in the U.S. State of Colorado **Fort Lewis College, a college in the Durango, Colorado, United States **Fort Lewis Skyhawks, athletic teams of Fort Lewi ...

, Washington in January 1995. The Naval and Marine Corps Training Center was officially dedicated during a ceremony on 3 March 1995. In February 2003 many of the reserve units making up 4th Landing Support Battalion were called into active duty to support the start of Operation Iraq Freedom. Many went over to Iraq to augment other Marine units as combat replacement troops, while many stayed at Camp Pendleton forming the temporary Combat Service Support Company 147 (CSSC-147). CSSC-147 worked with other Marine units and branches of the military throughout Southern California in shipping supplies over to Iraq throughout most of 2003. On 7 September 2013, 4th Landing Support Battalion conducted its official de-activation ceremony at the Battalion headquarters on Joint Base Lewis McCord WA. That same day, Combat Logistics Battalion 23 officially uncased its colors for the first time. The newest CLB in the Marine Corps, CLB-23 is organized to echo its active duty counterparts within the USMC. Combat Logistics Battalion 23 (CLB-23) is headquartered at Fort Lewis, Washington

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 awarded unit citation. Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces have different categories: i.e. Service, Campaign, Unit, and Valor. The 4th LSB has been presented with the following awards:

References

;Web * http://www.marforres.marines.mil/MajorSubordinateCommands/4thMarineLogisticsGroup/CombatLogisticsRegiment4/CombatLogisticsBattalion23.aspx 23rd CLB command website https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234003/http://www.mcu.usmc.mil/historydivision/Lineage%20and%20Honors/Combat%20Service%20Support%20Units/4TH%20LANDING%20SUPPORT%20BATTALION.pdf 4th LSB Lineage 21 May 2010 signed by Gen James T. Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps 4th Landing Support Battalion Facebook pag

Annex HOW to the 4th Marine Division's Operations Report for the 25th RCT on Iwo Jima {{US Marine Corps navbox 4th Marine Logistics Group 4thLSB

Mission

Table of organization - 4th Landing Support Battalion

History

Unit awards

See also

References