V Amphibious Corps

V Amphibious Corps
Active	25 August 1943 – 15 February 1946
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Marine Corps
Type	Marine Air-Ground Task Force
Role	Expeditionary combat force
Part of	Inactive
Engagements	World War II * Battle of Tarawa * Battle of Makin * Battle of Kwajalein * Battle of Eniwetok * Battle of Saipan * Battle of Tinian * Battle of Iwo Jima

The V Amphibious Corps (VAC) was a formation of the United States Marine Corps which was composed of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions in World War II. The three divisions were the amphibious landing force for the United States Fifth Fleet and were notably involved in the battles for Tarawa, Saipan, and Iwo Jima, during the war. The V Amphibious Corps was commanded by General Holland 'Howlin Mad' Smith followed by General Harry Schmidt.

History

The V Amphibious Corps (formerly Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet; ACPF) was formed on 25 August 1943 at Camp Elliot, California. In September 1943, it moved to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Structure

The structure of a United States Marine Corps' amphibious corps by 1945, was broken down into four major subordinate commands with each of them having numerous sub-elements:

• The first major element of the Corps was three reinforced Marine infantry divisions.
• The second was the Corps artillery, which was composed of a field artillery group made of three battalions of 155mm howitzers, three battalions of 155mm guns, and an Antiaircraft Artillery Group made of three antiaircraft artillery battalions.
• The third was the Amphibian Tractor Group, which was made up of four amphibian tractor battalions and an armored amphibian tractor battalion.
• The fourth was the Corps Troops, which was composed of a headquarters and service battalion, administrative command, signal battalion, medical battalion, motor transport battalion, engineer battalion, reconnaissance battalion, and military police battalion.

Subordinate units

The US Marine Corps and US Army commands that served under the V Amphibious Corps in World War II include:

Marine Corps

• 2nd Marine Division
• 3rd Marine Division
• 4th Marine Division
• 5th Marine Division
• 22nd Marine Regiment
• Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion [formerly "Company"]

Army

• XXIV Corps Artillery
• 7th Infantry Division
• 27th Infantry Division
• 32nd Infantry Division

Marine Corps commanders

• General Holland M. Smith: 25 August 1943 – 11 July 1944
• General Harry Schmidt: 12 July 1944 – 15 February, 1946 (Deactivation)

Unit awards

• Presidential Unit Citation: V Amphibious Corps, (Reinforced), Assault Troops, 19-28 February 1945, Iwo Jima
• Navy Unit Commendation: V Amphibious Corps, (Reinforced), Support Troops, 19-28 February 1945, Iwo Jima.

See also

• Marine Air-Ground Task Force
• History of the United States Marine Corps
• Organization of the United States Marine Corps

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.