US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

1941 Deueiopments for Amphibious War 223
MANDERS CMA MINOR AMPHIBIOUS OPERATIONS WILL CON-
VENIENTLY BE ARRANGED BY LOCAL COMMANDERS WITH
THE FORCES NORMALLY ASSIGNED CMA AND MAJOR AM-
PHIBIOUS OPERATIONS WILL BE EXECUTED BY THE COM-
MANDER AMPHIBIOUS FORCE WITH TASK FORCES ADAPTED
TO THE PURPOSE AND PLACED AT HIS DISPOSAL X DECISIONS
AS TO THE TIMES FOR THE FORMATION AND DISSOLUTION OF
AMPHIBIOUS TASK ORGANIZATIONS AND THE SCOPE OF THE
TASK WILL VARY WITH PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES AND
SHOULD REMAIN AT THE DISCRETION OF COMSOPAC.
R. K. TURNER
And yet it has not been infrequent for this scribe to hear a First Division
Marine who was on Guadalcanal in 1942 start off a comment on Admiral
Turner by saying “That S.O.B. Turner, always interfering with the Marines.”
He WM not interfering with them. He was performing an assigned com-
mand fumtion.
DOCTRINE 1941
Amphibious Doctrine is a statement of the working principles of amphibious
warfare. Just what our amphibious doctrine was when we entered World
War II on 7 December 1941 is not always agreed upon, although in the War
Instruction and in Landing Operations Doctritie of that period are two clear
bench marks.”
In the 1934 edition of War ltistructions, United StateJ Navy, the subject
“amphibious warfare” was not even listed in the index. In the actual textual
matter, it was only indirectly referred to as one of the eight main tasks of
the Navy in war in the following words:
Escort of and cooperation with Expeditionary Forces in the seizure and
defense of advanced bases and the invasion of enemy territory.4’
In 1939, when ~oint Action of tbe Army and the Nauy was changed to deal
in greater detail with Joint Operations, the Navy was assigned the following
task which soon appeared in a change to the War Instructions.
To seize, establish, and defend until relieved by Army forces, advanced naval
bases, and to conduct such limited auxiliary land operations as are essential
to the prosecution of the NavaI Campaign.ls
4’ W~r Itrftrzctiom, Utri/ed State$ Ndvy, 1934 ( FTP 143) with changes to December 1941;
Landing Operations Doctrine, 1938 ( FTP 167) with change No. 1.
“ Ibid., 1934, Ch. III, para, 310e,
“ Ibid., 1934, Change No, 6a, RPM No. 1121 of 14 Sep. 1939.