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    Marine Corps Reserve Officers Assn
    Marine Corps Reserve Officers Assn
    Marine Corps Reserve Officers Assn
    Ebook314 pages3 hours

    Marine Corps Reserve Officers Assn

    By Turner Publishing

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    About this ebook

    A history, as well as biographies, photos, anecdotes, past Presidents.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTurner Publishing Company
    Release dateApr 2, 2000
    ISBN9781681624853
    Marine Corps Reserve Officers Assn

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      Book preview

      Marine Corps Reserve Officers Assn - Turner Publishing

      (Courtesy of Col. J.J. Compbell)

      Camp Legeune, NC. Supply Bn, Norfolk, VA, in field during 2 week active duty. From left: Maj. Charles Jenkins; Maj. Hugh L. Dougherty, Jr.; General (unknown); Lt. Col. Walter Galiford; Officer (unknown). Mid 1970s. (Courtesy of H.L. Dougherty.)

      Copyright © 2000 Marine Corps Reserve Officers’ Association

      Publishing Rights: Turner Publishing Company

      This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced without the

      written consent of MCROA and the publisher.

      Turner Publishing Company Staff:

      Randy Baumgardner, Editor

      Shelley R. Davidson, Designer

      Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 98-89381

      ISBN: 978-1-63026-964-7

      Additional copies may be purchased directly

      from the publisher. Limited Edition.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

      HISTORY

      ENDNOTES

      AUTHOR’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      PAST NATIONAL PRESIDENTS

      SPECIAL STORIES

      BIOGRAPHIES

      INDEX

      INTRODUCTION

      The Marine Corps Reserve Officers’ Association is pleased to participate with the Turner Publishing Company in the publication of this book about our history. We wish to thank all of those members who submitted their biographies and photographs and then waited patiently for it to be published.

      As MCROA enters the 21st century, it does so with the same philosophy and objectives that were created by its founding father’s 74 years ago:

      Our philosophy is: "to at all times retain an independent voice as to when and how to best assist the Marine Corps."

      Our objectives have always been: to foster the advancement of the professional and technical skills of reserve officers; to promote the interest of reserve officers in the United States Marine Corps and the interest of the United States Marine Corps in reserve officers; to represent and assist individual members; and, at all times to promote the interests of the United States Marine Corps in the broadest and most liberal manner to the end that it may best advance the welfare of and serve to preserve the security of the United States.

      Our slogan is: There will always be a United States as long as there is a United States Marine Corps, and there will always be a United States Marine Corps as long as there is a United States Marine Corps Reserve and, there will always be a United States Marine Corps Reserve as long as there is a United States Marine Corps Reserve Officers Association.

      We would like to thank the following individuals who helped gather information, experiences and photographs, and assisted in the administrative tasks that resulted in this book becoming a reality.

      • Ms. Yana Ginsberg, Center of Naval Analysis and former writer for the Navy Times, and

      • GySgt Tom Green, USMC (Ret), MCROA’s executive assistant for the last 10 years

      PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

      For over 70 years Marine Corps Reserve Officers Association (MCROA) has been a faithful servant of her country, the US Marine Corps and reserve officers of the Corps, in times of both war and peace. As a proud father of a a Marine and publisher of over 500 military historical titles, it give me great pleasure to present this tribute to your legacy.

      Several of your number were especially helpful in making this book a reality: S/Sgt. Tom Greene, MCROAs executive assistant, was the driving force behind this effort and provided exceptional assistance and information during the publishing process; and Col. Joseph Vowell and Col. George Hofmann, both past executive directors, helped in the advance coordination and promotion of this work. I must also thank Miss Yana Ginburg for her outstanding efforts in the research and documentation of MCROA’s extensive history.

      Finally, I would like to thank all members of MCROA—our nation and her defense are stronger because of your dedication and sacrifice. May you and your family enjoy reading this history of MCROA.

      Dave Turner, President

      Turner Publishing Company

      HISTORY

      1st Marine Corps District Reserve Conference, New Yorker Hotel, 1965. (Courtesy of Col. J.J. Campbell)

      INTRODUCTION—73 YEARS OF

      SERVICE TO THE CORPS

      Minutes before the sun rose over the sweeping desert landscape that stretches between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait the Marines of Bravo Company, 4th Tank Battalion heard an unwelcome but all too familiar sound—enemy tanks. Only weeks before these Marines had been called up from their civilian lives to leave their homes and jobs and serve. By the end of that February day the Marines of Bravo Company, a unit out of Yakima, Washington, had obliterated 34 out of 35 enemy tanks without suffering a single casualty.

      The skill and courage of these Marines would become one of the most famous stories of Marine performance in the Gulf War.

      In November 1990, President George Bush called up 200,000 troops to reinforce the US Central Command as the United States prepared for a confrontation with Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Reservists from all branches of service were called. Among them were 80 units of the Selected Marine Corps Reserve. It has become conventional wisdom that without the Reserve the nation’s military could not have gone to war, much less been so spectacularly successful. During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm over 31,000 Marine Corps reservists were mobilized and more than 13,000 were deployed to the war.¹

      When the United States first made the decision to commit forces to cut short Saddam Hussein’s ambitions, Marine Corps leadership did not want to call out the Reserves for at least 60 days. It was a long-standing Marine Corps policy to be able to deploy and sustain a force for nearly two months before calling in reinforcements. However, by the fall of 1990 the Corps was already fully committed and there was little choice but to activate Reserve units to join the fight.

      By the end of the war General Colin Powell would state that We could not have gone to war without them [the Reserves], and they were to perform superbly.

      Eight decades ago it would have been almost impossible to foresee Marine Corps reservists capable of coming together in some coherent fashion, much less being able to successfully fight alongside their active duty brethren on a dusty desert battlefield in the Middle East. But one man believed that the Reserve in particular and the Marine Corps in general would be a fighting force of distinction as long as Marines received the right training, equipment and support.

      Seventy-three years ago, a young Marine realized that battlefield glory alone would not secure the Corps’ place among the nation’s service branches. The nation’s leadership and citizens would have to be reminded of the value Marines provided to the national defense not only during war, but during peacetime as well. That man, the formidable Melvin J. Maas, would turn that belief into an organization that has fought and argued on behalf of all Marines for more than seventy years.

      Over the last seven decades the focus of MCROA has shifted from legislation to chapter longevity. During each successive decade MCROA has sought to help Marine Corps Reservists and the whole Marine Corps. Whether in front of a congressional committee discussing key pieces of legislation, or at work behind the scenes in the halls of Headquarters Marine Corps, MCROA has always aimed at being an advocate that was in the right place at the right time.

      During the 20s, MCROA, as well as the Marine Corps Reserve, was in its infancy. These early years would be spent building the neophyte organizations.

      In the 30s, MCROA would join with the Corps to help define its mission and argue for the Corps’ value to the nation’s overall defense structure.

      As World War II broke out across Europe, eventually reaching US shores in 1941, MCROA would put the Corps and the call to duty ahead of its own development. However, the post war years would keep the members of MCROA so busy that it would seem like its activities had hardly been suspended during the war effort.

      In the late 40s and 50s MCROA would enter its golden age of political activism. As the Corps once again battled for its survival, MCROA’s influence and voice would prove invaluable not only to the Reserve Forces but to the Corps as a whole.

      A change in focus was in store starting with the 60s. MCROA’s political activism would diminish as the association turned its gaze inward and started to emphasize professional development for its membership, the growth and strengthening of the organization, and community outreach. It would also be a decade of disappointment, as for the first time in American history the Reserves would not be called up as a fighting force for a major US war.

      In the aftermath of Vietnam, MCROA and the Reserves would have to battle a tarnished image. The decade would witness a growing rift between the military and the American public. Tensions also flared within the military as drugs, race-relations and a proposed end of the draft made the decade a bumpy one indeed. Additionally, topics such as recruitment, training and equipment–although perennial issues–would gain importance as defense budgets shrank and the Reserves were increasingly perceived as underused, weekend warriors.

      During the 80s, equity would be MCROA’s goal. Although defense spending would climb to an all time high in the nation’s history, the Reserves faced equipment and funding shortages that would not be remedied for another decade.

      Many, including MCROA, saw the Reserve contribution to the Gulf War effort as a vindication for the many battles for funding, integrated training and modern equipment. Based on reservists’ performance and further downsizing of the military, members of USMCR have become increasingly sought after to perform missions, usually on extended active duty. Although the operational tempo of Marine reservists has meant fewer are able to actively participate in MCROA, the association can take credit for the place the Marine Corps has come to hold in the overall Corps.

      THE 1920S—IN THE BEGINNING

      ²

      It is important to understand the context within which MCROA came into being. To begin with, no Marine Corps Reserve existed officially until President Wilson affixed his signature to the Act of 29 August 1916. Prior to this, however, the first Marine Corps Reserve unit in our nation’s history actually was formed without legislative authority in November 1914, when the Massachusetts Naval Militia formed the 1st Marine Company.

      Unofficially, there was always a Marine Corps component imbedded within the state controlled Naval Militias in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The road to a federal reserve program began in 1900 when it became clear that state run militias could not properly provide for a second line of defense in case of a national emergency. The problem was getting control of the Naval Reserve away from the states. It was a political battle and the Navy finally created a Division of Naval Militia Affairs in the Navy Department in 1914. The following year the Navy issued a follow-on order specifically creating a Marine Corps Branch within the naval militia.

      On 6 April 1917, when World War I was declared, the Reserve was composed of three officers and 33 enlisted men. At the close of World War I, it consisted of 276 officers and 5,968 enlisted men. During the course of the war, all who entered the Marine Corps for the duration were reserves but were on definite term enlistments or appointments which expired at the end of the war, and little effort was made to encourage re-enrollments. At the conclusion of World War I these men either became members of the regular establishment or returned to civilian life.

      During the 1920s one of the great political movements in this country was an effort to achieve disarmament and a reduction of armed forces. This brought about an even more pronounced withdrawal by the then War and Navy departments from any legislative efforts, which might have affected the maintenance of our rapidly diminishing regular establishments. Nevertheless, the Naval Reserve Act of 1925 was passed and became effective on 1 July 1925, authorizing the creation of a Marine Corps Reserve and providing for the first time for drill and annual training duty pay.

      At the same time a young man named Melvin Maas gathered a group of young officers in Washington DC to discuss the state of the Reserve and its future. Maas had served as an enlisted man in World War I and had received his commission as a first lieutenant during the same time that the Naval Reserve Act of 1925 was passed. Knowing first hand the training inadequacies of the Reserve and recognizing the need for a strong and thriving Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve, the group of young officers planted the seeds of what eventually would grow into the Marine Corps Reserve Officers Association.

      It was decided that MCROA would focus on building a strong Reserve component by being an advocate of the Marine Corps—voicing its views before the Congress of the United States and in the halls of the Navy and War Departments and at the White House. Maas and his group of officers recognized from the beginning that a strong reserve could only exist through a strong regular establishment, which made it a primary objective of MCROA to support fully the regular as well as the reserve components to the fullest extent possible. Their philosophy became the opening words of the MCROA charter:

      To foster the advancement of the professional and technical skills of reserve officers; to promote the interest of reserve officers in the United States Marine Corps and the interest of the United States Marine Corps in reserve officers; to represent and assist individual members; and, at all times to promote the interests of the United States Marine Corps in the broadest and most liberal manner to the end that it may best advance the welfare of and serve to preserve the security of the United States.

      And so, on 10 November 1926, the 151st birthday of the Marine Corps, the Marine Corps Reserve Officers Association was officially born.

      In 1926, the few reserve units that existed operated on an austerity basis. There was no formal training program in place and hardly any funds available to the newly formed Reserve component for training, site rentals, equipment or uniforms. The Reserve did the best it could, using rent-free facilities when they could be obtained to conduct training. Condemned buildings, Naval Militia armories, old barracks and the like were used as initial training sites. Funds for clothing and equipment were so limited that only a portion of the Reserve units could be supplied, the remainder being furnished only partial uniforms. There were no provisions for promotion, retirement or other benefits, which most Marine reservists have come to accept as givens of their reserve service.

      In 1926, Melvin Maas was also elected to Congress as a representative from Minnesota. This event had a profound impact on the relationship MCROA would have with the Marine Corps and Congress. Because of Maas’ position and his leadership, the association gained an entree into both the halls of the Capitol and at Headquarters Marine Corps that later enabled MCROA to accomplish a great deal in the 40s and 50s.

      From the outset the organization made its views known to the Commandant of the Marine Corps concerning the creation of a training program and the establishment of a promotion system consistent with the running mate system. The association also urged that there be reserve representation on the Marine Corps Policy Board, which had been established in 1925 but consisted only of active duty senior officers.

      By 1928, Maas, as president of MCROA, was allowed to sit in on the Marine Corps Reserve Policy Board meetings. Eventually, reserve officers would come to serve on the board as voting members, rotating membership every two years. For many years there was a close relationship between the policy board and MCROA, since many of the officers who served on the board were also MCROA members. The relationship allowed issues to trickle up from SMCR units to the attention of local MCROA chapters, to the national headquarters and eventually to the policy board, where they then could be discussed and either passed on or turned into policy recommendations.

      In 1929, MCROA would be successful in accomplishing a second objective. That year the first Marine Corps Reserve officer training camp was held at Quantico, Virginia. The two-week camp was a no pay affair, but according to reports published in the Marine Corps Gazette, the training was useful and the turnout good.

      THE 1930S—FLIGHT AND FIGHT

      In the decades leading up to World War II, the Reserves and MCROA were so intertwined that it was almost impossible to draw a line between the two. In fact, the early history of the reserves was in essence the early history of MCROA. This was especially true during the 30s when both groups were rapidly developing.

      At the start of the decade however, it seemed that the Marine Corps’ development would be stunted.

      In 1930 President Hoover, as a cost-cutting measure, proposed merging

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