A VISION OF THE USMC ADVANCED BASE FORCE

A VISION OF THE USMC ADVANCED BASE FORCE

JOHN S. NAYLOR

5 NOVEMBER, 2025

Updated 27 May, 2026


The fleet has sailed from here, in search of decisive battle in enemy waters. The craggy island’s anchorage bustles as small craft move from shore to ship delivering supplies and repair material to the tenders. Further out, two colliers swing at anchor, awaiting the fleet’s return. 

Ashore, the sounds of Marines and sailors working compete with the constant rush of the trade winds blowing across the baking hills. Seabirds at the trash dump keen; the sound of ships’ bells and boats’ whistles travel over the water. The canvas walls of maintenance shops rustle in the constant wind. Inside the shops machinists fabricate repair parts for damaged plants and condensers. Across the company road a Marine work detail expands the latrine trench behind the bivouac tents; others stack supplies near the supply tents at the new wharf. Corpsmen and litter bearers transfer the sick and wounded from the canvas hospital to the hospital ship’s launch. 

These Marines are members of the Advanced Base Brigade. They wear khaki uniforms, with canvas leggings and felt olive field covers. Some are stripped to waist, or their white tee shirts, in the tropical heat. Two regiments are ashore. The first, the “fixed” regiment of the ABF[1] provide overwatch for the fleet’s maintenance and logistics facilities. They man 4.7-inch naval guns mounted in revetments dotting the ridgeline. Others tend to the 3-inch field guns positioned to either side of the entrance to the harbor. The gunners have dug their pieces into the coral slopes and affixed them to thick timber platforms that have also been manhandled up the hillside. Canvas tarps pitched over the guns provide a little shade for the gun crews but do little obscure the Marines from spying eyes. Ammunition carriers dig ready magazines into the hillside, and filling sandbags, improving their trenches and pathways.


Signalmen string comm wire or keep a watch on the ships at anchor; flags and semaphore will keep the landing force CO in touch with the fleet’s radios. Each of the guns, the command post, and searchlight positions are all wired into the main switchboard. In a separate tent communicators work on their wireless telegraph set. They’ve received special training in setting up special antenna to communicate with the mainland, or even the fleet, when atmospheric conditions will allow. The search lights will be manned from dusk till dawn, covering the approaches to the harbor, and the submarine minefield. Gunners in the machine gun positions above the surf-line clear brush to allow for interlocking fields of fire protecting the fixed regiment from the possibility of an enemy counterattack. 

In a position commanding a view of the entire harbor, the submarine mine specialists have established control stations where they can initiate remote detonation of naval mines; communications electricians check and double-check circuits to make sure the mines remain viable—should a circuit need maintenance, or a mine slips its mooring, the Marines have small boats and grapples on the beach to correct the malfunction. The engineers remain constantly busy, improving the defense and its concealment, and preparing secondary positions and trenches. 

Absorbing this tableau from above is a solitary Marine aviator, flying a frail biplane made of hickory, linen, and wire, powered by a 75-horsepower V-8 engine driving a pusher prop. The frail craft is buffeted by the trade winds and updrafts from the warm coral hills. The pilot of the fragile craft searches the horizon for the profile of a warship, keeping an eye on the waters below for any dark shape that could be a submarine. Should he spot anything, he’ll return to the rough airstrip near the beach, where he’ll land, or drop a weighted message for the communications Marines. His plane is unarmed; its sole mission is to provide eyes for the landing force. 


Meanwhile, Marines of the “mobile” regiment patrol the perimeter of the defense, and the hillsides of the island further out. They man lookouts, make sketch maps, practice small unit drills, maintain position camouflage, and fill sandbags to reinforce their existing defenses. At any time, they could be ordered to strike camp and board ships of the fleet. 

All Marines of the ABF, in both the fixed and mobile regiments, report to the landing force commander, a brigade commander and Colonel, who in turn reports to the fleet admiral. The two regiments number about 2,400 Marines and Corpsmen, and have been specially selected and trained in the specialties required to support the mission. The fixed regiment is based at League Island, the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and they are the training cadre of the Advanced Base School. In time, the school will be seen as a key to the development of American amphibious doctrine in the first decades of the 20th century. And though their mission is defined as the construction and defense of a logistics base for the fleet, these Marines are enabling an offensive naval operation. Control of the seas, and the ability to defeat the enemy fleet, requires advanced bases where the fleet can rearm, resupply, refuel, and tend to their wounded.


Fin.


 


[1] Per Marines Magazine, April 1917, p.54. Marine Corps Order No.10 (Series 1917) March 1915. “Advanced Base” (not Advance Base) is approved official form. Article 6354(4) Naval Instructions. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Amphibious Deception in the Gulf War

Image
Amphibious Deception in the Gulf War John S. Naylor – February 18, 2026 ——— Remember when the Marines stormed the beaches as Kuwait City in February of 1991 to kick off Operation Desert Storm?  Neither do I.  For good cause. On December 1, 1990, the 7,500 Marines and sailors of 5 th  Marine Expeditionary Brigade (5 th  MEB)  [1]  boarded the ships of Amphibious Group Three (PHIBGRU-3) and departed Southern California bound for the Persian Gulf. This task force numbered thirteen ships, the largest assembly of amphibious shipping mustered since the Korean War. After nearly two decades’ recovery from American involvement in Vietnam, the service was once again tasked with its raison d’être, amphibious operations. [2] USS MOUNT VERNON LSD-39 Already afloat in the Gulf were 13 th  MEU(SOC) [3]  aboard Amphibious Squadron 4, diverted from a WestPac cruise, and the east coast 4 th  MEB [4] , aboard the ships of Amphibious Group 2. On the ground in Sa...
Read more

"AM READY." - The Advanced Base Brigade, Woodrow Wilson, and Vera Cruz

Image
"AM READY." THE ADVANCED BASE BRIGADE, WOODROW WILSON, AND VERA CRUZ John S. Naylor – February 15, 2026 INTRODUCTION The U.S. landing and occupation of the Mexican port of Vera Cruz [2]  in April 1914 is often lumped in as one of the “small wars” or “banana wars” framed by U.S. foreign policy in Latin America in the 20 th  century. This fails to account for a fundamental difference in the intervention; Woodrow Wilson was not looking to protect "American interests" — businesses and investments in Mexico — as much as he was looking to impose his views in regards to freedom and democracy, on a country already embroiled in a civil war. The landing is often overlooked because it was a minor military operation in comparison to the size and gravity of the Great War. While directionally accurate, this description fails to consider how it demonstrated a fundamental change in the capabilities of U.S. naval power, and as such was a milestone in the history of the Marine Corps....
Read more