The 1st Tank Battalion was activated on November 1

The 1st Tank Battalion was activated on November 1, 1941 at Camp Lejeune, NC:, and was attached to the 1st Marine Division. At this time Headquarter.s and Service Company and Company B were organized. Company A had been in existence prior to this activation. This unit was orginally activated on August 1, 1940, as the 3d Tank Company. Its designation was changed to company A, 1st Tank Battalion, on May 1. I 941. Other companies of the Battalion were later activated in early 1942.After the outbreak of World War II, the Battalion embarked on an extensive training program to prepare itself for combat duty. This unit subsequently was ordered to the South Pacific and began movement to the area in the spring of 1942. Companies from the battalion eventually deployed to Samoa and New Zealand. The Guadalcanal campaign was the first combat operation for units of the battalion.. ()n August 7, 1942 Companies A and B took part in the I st Marine Division's landings on the Japanese held island.. Tanks from these two companies had their first major encounter with the enemy on August 21. The next month saw tanks from the Battalion supporting infantry units in the Battle of Bloody Ridge. The two companies continued to engage the enemy until the end of the year when the 1st Marine Division was relieved by Army forces. The Division was then moved to Australia in January, 1943 where units of 1st Tank Battalion were once again reunited.That fall the Battalion moved to New Guinea to begin preparations for the Cape Glouchester, New Britain operation. 1st Marine Division units including the 1st Tank Battalion, less Company B which remainned in New Guinea, subsequently made an amphibious assault on Cape Glouchester on the day after Christmas. Battalion tanks were immediately committed to the drive to expand the beach head but progress was impeded not only by the resistance of the Japanese but also by torrental rains and rough terrain. For the rest ofthe month and in early January, the Marines made heavy contact with the Japanese forces. Tanks from the Battalion were continually used to support the infantry in their attacks on the enemy. As a result, numerous casualties were inflicted on the Japanese by the 1st Tank Battalion.

Company B' which had been located on New Guinea, landed in the Arrow area of New Britain on January 12. 1944, to support Army forces there. Battalion unit s remained committed to the struggle for New Britain until spring. By the beginning of May, however, all elements of the 1st Tank . Battalion had withdrawn from both New Britain and New Guinea end relocated to Pavavu Island in the Russell islands.The assault and capture of Peleliu in the Palau Group was the next combat mission for the Battalion. On September 15, 1944, it participate in the initial landing on the island. During this campaign, the 1st Tank Battalion rendered conspicuous service in defeting the enemy. On the very first day of battle, the Battalion's tanks played an important part in beating back a determined Japanese counterattack, this time it was spearheaded by enemy tanks. In the encounter the 1st Tank Battalion destroyed over 20 Japanese armored vehicles. Bitter fighting for the Battalion continued for another two weeks. On October 2, the Battalion was withdrawn and redeployed to the Russells.The assault on Okinawa was the last campaign of the war for the 1st Tank Battalion. Beginning on April 1, 1945, the Battalion was actively engaged in wrestling control of the island fortress from the Japanese. The cessation of hostilities was followed by the deployment of the Battalion to North China in early October for occupation duty. While stationed in Tienisin the Battalion assissted and supported the program of repatriation of enemy military and civilian personnel, it also helped to protect American interests, lives and property as part of its garrison duties. In January 1947. the Battalion (minus Company B) was relieved of its responsibilities in China and ordered to Guam. Another transfer occurred four months later. This time the unit with the exception of Company A, returned to the United States. The Battalion arrived at Camp Pendleton , California on May 1, where it remained for the following three years.

Shortly after the Communist invasion of South Korea in June 1950 the Battalion was ordered to prepare to mount out for the Far East The first element of the Battalion to sail fur Korea was Company A, which left San Diego in July, arriving in the war zone on August 2. Upon arrival, it disembar ked at the Port of Pusan and immediately commenced operations against the enemy. The rest of the Battalion, in the meantime, also began moving to the beleaguered nation. The Battalions with Company A reattached, participated in the amphibious landing at Inchon that began on September 15. The 1st Tank Battalion remained locked in battle with both North Korean and Chinese Communist forces for three years. Following the signing of the Armistice in July 1951, the Battalion stayed in Korea and once again assumed the role of a garrison force. Redeployment finally came in 1955. Company C became the first unit in the Battalion to depart for Camp Pendleton in late Februaty. A few weeks later, the rest of the Battalion began relocating to its old base The duration of its stay there was ten years. While at Camp Pendleton, it was primarily occupied in training exercises and maneuvers.

As the 1st Marine Division prepared to embark for the Far East, the Corps ordered its first 80 M46s, essentially M26 tanks fitted with the Continental 12-cylinder engine coupled to a modern cross-drive transmission. Further purchases of the M46 gave way in October 1951 to the Armys new production M47 series, the M46 hull married to the T42 turret. M47s would equip the new 3d Tk Bn, deploying to Japan in 1953 with its parent division, as well as the rebuilt 2d Tk Bn. The M47s also outfitted the training pools of the two reserve battalions (now designated 1st and 2d Tk Bn, USMCR). In addition, the Corps formed two force tank battalions, the 7th and 8th on the west and east coast, respectively. All tank school training converted to the M47 in October, 1952, despite the retention of the M46 in the 1st Marine Division for the rest of its service in Korea. The M47 introduced an improved 90mm cannon and the first rangefinder to the Corps, but otherwise had little effect, for the M48 series replaced it in short order. The 3d Tk Bn kept it the longest (1959), owing to its isolation in the Western Pacific, whence that battalion began its tradition of withering at the extreme limits of the limited Marine Corps logistic support chain. The unique story of the heavy tank in the postwar Marine Corps suffered a much more confusing course of events. The last of the T41-43 family of light, medium and heavy tanks developed from 1946 by the Army, the sole postwar heavy tank to reach production owed much of its existence to the Marine Corps. The USMC Armor Policy Board of 1949 and the Marine Corps Equipment Board of 1950 had recommended that all force (corps level) tank battalions be heavy. This concept was reversed by the Basic Organization Structure Board of 1952, which held that the Corps had no need for a heavy tank, but that the Corps would still accept the T43 in production. In a curious act of double-speak, the commandant decided that the heavy tanks would go to the 8th Tk Bn, but that the force battalions would eventually receive the M48. [In the end, 8th Tk Bn operated mostly mediums].

The modernization of the tank fleet to diesel engines marked final decisions on the organization and fielding of tank units. The 421 medium M48A1 tanks would enter the M48A3 overhaul program in December 62 at the rate of 25 per month, and the M67A1 to M67A2 at five per month. The 218 M103 heavies would cycle through beginning in August, 1963 at the rate of 25 per month. The Ontos would refit to M50A1 at the same time as the M103 upgrades. While the three amtrac and three antitank battalions remained unchanged from the mid-1950s through the Vietnam War, a final cutback in tank strength occurred as the vehicles received their final modernization. The last force battalions disappeared, and the heavy tanks made up the third companies in the 1st and 2d Tk Bns. The USMCR battalions were designated 4th and 8th on the west and east coast, respectively, with the 8th and C/4th Tk Bn retaining the rest of the heavy tanks. A force tank company remained on paper, with the same "destroyer tank" mission of 1949, to be activated from the reserves when necessary. The tank battalions thus fielded 53 medium or heavy tanks, nine flame tanks and four retrievers.

The expansion of the American involvement in the war in Vietnam In early 1965 was the determining factorin the next relocation of the Battalion to the Far East. The 1st Tank Battalion did not move directly to Southeast Asia, but was first ordered to Okinawa. The bulk of the Battalion remained on the island bastion from September 1965 the following March. Late that month. most of its elements were deployer to the Republic of Vietnam. All of the Battalion 's components were reunited in Vietnam during May. Upon entry into the war torn country, the Battalion was directed to support 1st Maine Division units in operations against Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces. The 1st Tank Battalion remained an active combat force in Vietnam until Ma rch 1970. Beginning in the previous Sumner, the United States had initiated a program of withdrawing ranging from Indochina while deescalating its war efforts as part of this phased reduction in troop strength the 1st Tank Battalion was redeployed to Camp Pendleton in early spring 1970. The Battalion, after its return to the United States' embarked upon a retaining program of maintaining its combat readiness so that it could effectively respond to any future emergency .When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990 1st Tank Batlallon deployed to Saudia Arabia as part of I Marine Expeditionary Force. On September 7, the Battalion was fully equipped with M60A 1 tanks from Maritime Preposition Squadrcn 3 and was deployed from Al Jubil, Saudia Arabia as the armored backbone of the multinational force which established the "Desert Shield". On September 13. Company D arrived in Saudi Arabia by amphibious ships from Okinawa where it had been on unit deployment. During the next five months the Battalion provided armor units to all of the mechanized forces established by I MEF. Besides the continuing mission of maintaining the defense of Saudi Arabia, intensive training was conducted for the pendmg offensive to liberate Kuwait On February 24, 1st lank Battalion spearheaded the assault of Task Force "Papa Bear" into Kuwait. Company A wan supporting Task Force Ripper. By February 27, 1st Tank Battalion had reached the Kuwait International Airport and all Iraqi forces in Zone were either destroyed or captured. The cease-fire was established on February 28. By April 1991, the Battalion had made its last return to Las Flores, Camp Pendleton.

On June 2, 1992, 1st Tank Battalion relocated to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, 29 Palms,. After establishing its new home in the former site of 3d Tank Battalion the Battalion rapidly postured itself for world wide deployment and combat readiness. In January 1993, with a platoon- sized detachment, 1st Tank Battalion supported Operation "Restore Hope Hope", in Somalia. The Battalions detachment returned to 29 Palms in April 1993. Today, the Battalion continues to maintain its rich traditions of military excellence. and putting "steel on target"!

1st TANK BATTALION
1st MARINE DIVISION

LINEAGE
1941 - 1949
Activated 1 November 1941 at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina as the 1st Tank Battalion and assigned to the Ist Marine Division. Deployed during July 1942 to Wellington, New Zealand.
Participated in the following World War II Campaigns: GUADALCANAL, NEW GUINEA, NEW BRITAIN, PELELIU and OKINAWA. Redeployed during October 1945 to Tientsin, China. Participated in Occupation of North China. October 1945 - January 1947. Relocated during May 1947 to Camp Pendleton, California.

1950 - 1964
Deployed July-August 1950 to Pusan, Korea. Participated in the Korean War, operating from:
PUSAN PERIMETER, INCHON SEOUL, CHOSINRESERVOIR, EAST-CENTRAL and WESTERN FRONT. Participated in the Defence of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, August 1953-March 1955. Relocated during August 1955 to Camp Pendleton, California.

1965- 1979
Deployed during August 1965 to Camp Hansen, Okinawa. Redeployed to CHU LAI, REPUBLIC of VIETNAM.Participated in Vietnam War, March 1966 - March 1970, operating from CHU LAI, DA HANG. Relocated March 1970 to Camp Pendleton, California and reassigned to 5th Marine Amphibious Brigade. Reassigned during April 1971 to the I st Marine Division.

1980 - PRESENT
August 1990, assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force and deployed to Saudi Arabia, and took part in: DESERT SHIELD / DESERT STORM. Relocated April 1991 to Camp Pendleton, California. June 1992 relocated to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California.

HONORS
1st TANK BATTALION
1st MARINE DIVISION
PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION STREAMER withone SILVER and two BRONZE STARS

WORLD WAR II
1942 - 1945
SOLOMON ISLANDS- 1942, PELELIU and NGESEBUS- 1944, OKINAWA- 1945
AMERICAN DEFENCE SERVICE STREAMER
ASIATIC-PACIFIC CAMPAIGN STREAMER WITH ONE SILVER and one BRONZE STAR
WORLD WAR 11 VICTORY STREAMER
NAW OCCUPATION SERVICE STREAMER with ASIA CLASP
CHINA SERVICE STREAMER
NATIONAL DEFENCE SERVICE STREAMER with one BRONZE STAR

KOREA
1950 - 1953
Two PUC's during 1950 and one in 1951KOREAN SERVICE STREAMER with two SILVER STARS
ARMY DISTINGUISH UNIT CITATION, B and C COMPANIES 1952- 1953
MERITORIOUS UNIT COMMENDATION STREAMER
KOREAN PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION STREAMER

VIETNAM
1966 - 1968
One PUC awarded 1966, and two in 1967 - 1968
NAVY UNIT COMMENDATION Streamer
VIETNAM SERVICE STREAMER with two SILVER STARS
VIETNAM CROSS of GALLANTRY with PALM
VIETNAM MERITORIOUS UNIT CITATION CIVIL ACTION STREAMER
SOUTHWEST ASIA SERVICE STREAMER with two BRONZE STARS