5th Marine Regiment
The 5th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the most highly decorated regiment in the Marine Corps and falls under the command of the 1st Marine Division and the I Marine Expeditionary Force.
Organization
The Regiment comprises four infantry battalions and one headquarters company:- Headquarters Company 5th Marines
- 1st Battalion, 5th Marines
- 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines
- 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines
- 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines –
History
World War I
The unit was activated on 8 June 1917, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the 5th Regiment of Marines. They immediately deployed to France, arriving on 26 June, and were assigned to the 1st Infantry Division of the United States Army. Later that year, in October, they were reassigned to 4th Brigade of Marines under the 2nd Infantry Division.In spring 1918, the regiment, commanded by Colonel Wendell C. Neville, a Medal of Honor recipient, was involved in the fierce battle of Belleau Wood and was given the nickname Devil Dogs.
The Fifth subsequently participated in the offensive campaigns at Aisne, Battle of Saint-Mihiel and in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. They also participated in the defensive campaigns at Toulon-Troyon, Château-Thierry, Marbache and Limey. From 1918 until 1919 the regiment participated in the occupation of the German Rhineland. In August 1919 it relocated back to Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. It was inactivated on 13 August 1919.
The regiment's actions in France earned them the right to wear the Fourragère, one of only two in the Marine Corps. The award was a result of being the only regiments in the American Expeditionary Force to receive three Croix de Guerre citations: two in the order of the army and one in the order of the corps—Fourragère and Croix de Guerre with two Palms and Gilt Star. The Fourragère became part of the uniform of the unit, and all members of the organization are authorized to wear the decoration on the left shoulder of the uniform while members of the organization.
Three Marines of the regiment were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the war. Sergeant Louis Cukela, Gunnery Sergeant Ernest A. Janson, and Sergeant Matej Kocak each received two Medals of Honor for a single action, making them three of only nineteen double recipients of the medal. In addition, two U.S. Navy officers attached the 5th Marines received the Medal of Honor: Lieutenant Commander Alexander Gordon Lyle of the Navy Dental Corps and Lieutenant Orlando H. Petty of the Medical Corps.
Inter-war years
Unit was reactivated on 8 July 1920. Elements of the regiment participated in mail guard duty in the eastern United States from November 1921 through May 1922 and once again from October 1926 through February 1927.They then deployed to Nicaragua from January 1927. They continuously fought Nicaraguan rebels until they were again inactivated on 11 April 1930.
5th Marines was reactivated for the last time on 1 September 1934, at Quantico, Virginia and were assigned to the 1st Marine Brigade. In 1940 they were deployed to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba and reassigned to the 1st Marine Division in February 1941. They were garrisoned at New River, North Carolina.
World War II
After the outbreak of war, the 5th Marines deployed to Wellington, New Zealand in June 1942. During World War II they fought on Guadalcanal, New Britain, Eastern New Guinea, Peleliu and Okinawa. Immediately following the war in September 1945 they deployed to Tianjin, China and participated in the occupation of North China until May 1947. They were redeployed to Guam in May 1947 and reassigned to the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade. In 1949 they were relocated to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.Korean War and early 1950s
On 5 August 1950, 5th Marines were deployed to the Pusan Perimeter as part of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade. From there, they participated in the Inchon Landing, Battle of Chosin Reservoir and fighting on the East-Central Front and Western Front until the end of hostilities. Immediately after the war, they participated in the defense of the Korean Demilitarized Zone from July 1953 until February 1955. The regiment returned to Camp Pendleton in March 1955.Vietnam War
On 5 March 1966, 5th Marines deployed to the Republic of Vietnam. They remained in Vietnam for the next five years, fighting at Rung Sat, Chu Lai, Hue, Phu Loc, Que Son Valley, An Hoa, Tam Kỳ and Da Nang. The 5th Marines finally left Vietnam in April 1971. In 2003, former 5th Marine sniper–turned–Vietnam War author, John J. Culbertson, documented in 13 Cent Killers: The 5th Marine Snipers in Vietnam, the stories of 5th Marine Regiment marksmen who, as the publisher describes, "fought with bolt rifles and bounties on their heads during the fiercest combat of the war, from 1967 through the Tet battle for Hue in early 1968."Post-war years through 1990s
Elements of the regiments participated in Operation New Arrivals, the relocation of Vietnamese refugees to Camp Pendleton, California, from July through December 1975. Their next major action was Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm from August 1990 through April 1991. Combat operations in Southwest Asia were quickly followed by Operation Sea Angel in Bangladesh in May–June 1991.December 1992 BLT 2/9 assigned to the 15TH MEU landed in Somalia and conducted combat operations.Global war on terrorism
On 5 February 2003, 5th Marines deployed to Kuwait with its 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions as part of the force that would be part of the invasion of Iraq. They were supported by elements of the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Tank Battalion, various firing batteries of the 11th Marines, 2nd and 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalions, Company B from the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, and Combat Service Support Company 115. These attachments brought regimental strength up to more than 6,000 personnel on any given day. This was the largest the regiment had been in its history.On 21 March, the regiment became the first unit to cross into Iraq as it moved to seize the Rumayllah oil fields. For the drive north, RCT-5 advanced up a four-lane highway before swinging east toward the Tigris River until the 1st Marine Division reunited to push into the red zone that encompassed Baghdad and its suburbs. After all objectives had been secured, the Marines occupied assigned security sectors and conducted follow-on combat operations. During much of the attack north, the regiment led the 1st Marine Division in the deepest attack in Marine Corps history. The regiment suffered 12 killed and 126 seriously wounded in 33 days of combat.
From October 2004 to March 2005 the regimental headquarters staff, led by Colonel Stuart Navarre, was deployed to Iraq in order to take over the role of the Iraqi Security Forces training directorate in support of 1st Marine Division at Camp Blue Diamond. Because the regiment wasn't deployed as a regimental combat team the headquarters staff took on the responsibility of working with the Al Anbar Iraqi National Guard and the Iraqi Police in Ramadi.
Fallujah Deployment, 2006–2007
In February 2006, the regiment deployed as Regimental Combat Team 5 to the Al Anbar Province, Iraq and assumed control of the greater Fallujah area from the 8th Marine Regiment. They conducted combat operations, which included the training and advising of Iraqi forces in conjunction with military transition teams and police transition teams. RCT-5 was camped in Camp Fallujah under the command of I Marine Expeditionary Force until January 2007 when they were relieved in place by the 6th Marine Regiment, the first time in 94 years that the two regiments have been together on the battlefield.As of December 2007, the 5th Marine Regiment had lost 221 members during combat operations in Iraq. This includes members of the regiment and of other battalions that served under 5th Marines.
In early December 2007, 5th Marines dedicated a memorial for the 221 men killed in Iraq. The names include those of seven Army soldiers attached to the regiment. A group of Orange County residents formed a group called the 5th Marine Regiment Memorial fund in early 2007 and raised more than $72,000 to pay for the memorial. Modeled after barriers in Iraq to help prevent car and truck bombings, the memorial carries an inscription at the top reading "Fallen and Never Forgotten," and one at the bottom reading "Freedom Fighter Fallen Warrior."
Al Asad Deployment, 2008–2009
In late December 2007 and early January 2008, the regiment deployed again as Regimental Combat Team 5 to the Al Anbar Province, Iraq and assumed control of the greater Al Asad area and western portion of the province from the 2nd Marine Regiment. They conducted combat operations, which included the training and advising of Iraqi forces, and along with RCT-1 and Multi National Forces-West, oversaw Anbar's pacification and eventual transfer to provincial Iraqi control. RCT-5 also participated in the initial stage of the retrograde of thousands of pieces of equipment out of Iraq. RCT-5 was in Camp Ripper, Al Asad, under the command of I Marine Expeditionary Force and led by Colonel Patrick J. Malay. In January 2009, RCT-5 was relieved in place by the 8th Marine Regiment. Throughout the deployment, RCT-5 lost one Marine and one Soldier who served in units under the regiment while conducting combat operations.In early 2009, 5th Marines was designated as a contingency force due to back-to-back 13 month deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The regiment continued to participate in exercises and contingency deployments with the 1st Marine Division and prepared forces for deployment.
Afghanistan Deployment, 2011–2012
In August 2011, 5th Marines deployed as Regimental Combat Team 5, for the first time to Helmand province, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. They conducted a Relief-In-Place with the 1st Marine Regiment and under the command of Colonel Roger Turner, assumed control of their area of operations of Marjah, Garmsir and Nawa districts. RCT-5 was based out of Camp Dwyer. Their focus was on developing local defense forces in Garmsir and Nawa, mentoring and expanding the police force across southern Helmand, providing further training to the Afghan National Army and supporting the retrograde of thousands of pieces of equipment out of Afghanistan. In early July 2012, RCT-5 conducted a RIP with RCT-6. RCT-5 returned to Camp Pendleton, California, in early August 2012.In August 2012, LtCol Jason Bohm was selected to be the next regimental commander.