Originally Posted January 1, 2025
And on this the 1st and 2nd days of January in the history of our beloved Corps:
In 1944, Army forces relieve the 21st Marines from positions on the perimeter.
And on this the 1st day of January in the history of our beloved Corps:
In 1801, the Marine Band plays for the first New Year’s reception held at the White House in Washington.
In 1804, the tradition of the Marine Band serenading the Commandant was established.
In 1832, Marines and sailors from the sloop Lexington go ashore in the Falklands to rescue three American commercial ships detained by the Argentinians in a dispute over ownership of the islands.
In 1864, one officer and 30 enlisted Marines, reinforced by sailors, land at Murrell’s Inlet, South Carolina, and destroy a Confederate schooner.
In 1900, the three battalions of Marines in the Philippines are reorganized into two battalions of four companies each designated as the 1st Regiment
In 1909, the Marine Officers School (for new Lieutenants) moves to the Navy base at Port Royal, South Carolina.
In 1918,..the 1st Marine Aviation Squadron departs Long Island for the Army flying field at Lake Charles, Louisiana.
In 1921, Squadron D is disbanded in Santo Domingo, and its personnel and aircraft are absorbed into the new 1st Air Squadron
In 1929, VO-10M returns to San Diego from China.
In 1909, the 7th Marines is reactivated at Guantanamo Bay to serve as the second infantry regiment in the 1st Marine Brigade.
In 1943, Marine Base Defense Air Group 41 (MBDAG-41) are organized at El Toro.
MBDAG-42 and VMF-422 are established at San Diego, MBDAG-43, VMF-216, and VMSB-235 are activated at El Centro.
MBDAG-44, VMF-225, and VMSB-236 are formed at Mojave.
VMSB-331 is organized at Cherry Point.
In 1944, Lieutenant General (later General) Alexander Vandegrift made Commandant of Marine Corps.
VMF-511 is organized at the Marine Corps airfield at Oak Grove, North Carolina.
VMSB-344 is commissioned at Cherry Point, North Carolina.
Army forces relieve the 21st Marines from positions on the perimeter during the battle of Bougainville.
In 1945, the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines (1/8) departs Tinian to rejoin the 2nd Marine Division on Saipan.
In 1946, the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (3/4) assumes all security duties at Yokosuka in place of the 4th Marines.
The 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines (2/4) sails for the United States and disbandment.
In 1947, the Marine detachment in the Philippines is redesignated Marine Barracks Sangley Point.
The Marine Corps reinstitutes the pre-World War II practice of paying extra money for marksmanship proficiency.
In 1948, Marine Corps Base San Diego is redesignated as Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
In 1951, VMF-212 and its carrier shift from the east coast of Korea to the west to help stem the Communist onslaught in that area.
In 1959, Following legislative authorization to add the pay grades of E-8 and E-9, the Marine Corps institutes major changes to its enlisted rank structure.
The reform is needed after the percentage of NCOs in the rank rises to 58 percent from its pre-World War II share of 25 percent.
To ensure no one is reduced in rank (such as a former E-3 corporal having to become a new E-3 lance corporal), a dual rank structure is allowed for a transitional period.
The new ranks are fully implemented by mid-1963.
The new structure is: Private, Private First Class, Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Gunnery Sergeant, First Sergeant or Master Sergeant, and Sergeant Major or Master Gunnery Sergeant.
The replacement of Technical Sergeant with Gunnery Sergeant revives a historic rank that had disappeared.
The ranks of Master Sergeant and Master Gunnery Sergeant are provided for technical specialists, while First Sergeant and Sergeant Major are reserved for leadership billets.
Marines from the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines (1/1) and the 1st Force Service Regiment provide assistance in putting out forest fires near Santa Monica, California.
The Marine Corps auxiliary airfield at Edenton, North Carolina, is deactivated.
Dictator Fulgencia Batista flees and Fidel Castro and his revolutionary forces take control of the government.
The United States puts Cuban territory off limits to its military personnel and perimeter security is heightened at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
In 1962, the Vietnamese Marine Corps is expanded to brigade strength and over 6,000 officers and men.
In 1972, reenlistment standards are raised to require a high school diploma or its equivalent.
Although I could not find a specific date, the events below also happened during the month of January in the history of our beloved Corps:
In 1870, a detachment of 63 Marines assists an expedition surveying a possible route for an interoceanic canal through Colombia.
In 1905, a Marine expeditionary force sails from Panama for service in politically troubled Santo Domingo,
In 1915, the Marine Corps establishes a field artillery school, its first, at Annapolis.
In 1918, the 11th Regiment is formed at Quantico as an artillery unit.
In 1919, at HQMC Major Alfred Cunningham is named the first head of the Aviation Section at Headquarters Marine Corps.
In 1934, Marines from the gunboat Tulsa (PG-22) land at Foochow to protect the consulate during a period of fighting between Chinese factions.
They remain ashore until Nationalist forces retake control of the city.
In 1937, Marine Fighting Squadron 4 (VF-4M)
In 1939, the General Board of the Navy approves a formal mission statement for Marine aviation:
“To be equipped, organized, and trained primarily for the support of the Fleet Marine Force in landing operations and in support of troop activities in the field”.
“Secondarily as replacements for carrier-based naval aircraft.”
In 1941, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Group deploys from San Diego to Hawaii.
In 1957, VMA-224 receives the Marine Corps’ first Douglas A-4 Skyhawks.
The small delta-wing attack planes prove to be nimble and rugged.
In 1961, in a change to the transplacement rotation system, infantry battalions joining the 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa must now swap designations with the unit they are replacing.
Although it solves the confusion inherent in a battalion serving with a different regiment (such as 1/5 under the 3rd Marines), it undercuts the traditional ties between personnel and an identified unit history.
In 1962, Detachment A, 1st radio company, FMF arrives in country (Vietnam) to reinforce an Army communications unit.
In 1981, the Norwegian and U.S. governments sign an agreement providing for the pre-positioning of supplies and equipment to outfit a MAB.
An equivalent of MPF, these stocks will be maintained in special caves and allow a MAB to carry out the Corps’ mission of reinforcing the Norwegian armed forces in the event of a Soviet attack.
In 1988, Secretary of the Navy Webb decrees that Naval Academy midshipmen will now have to complete Officer Candidate School at Quantico in order to qualify for a Marine commission.
In 1991, during OPERATION DESERT SHIELD, the 24th Marines (less 1/24) deploys from the States to Al Jubayl to assume the rear area security mission for I MEF.
Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Frater Infinitas!
Often Tested, Always Faithful, Brothers Forever!
-Richard W. Pettengill, Corporal USMC
And damn proud of it!