1st Reconnaissance Battalion

The 1st Reconnaissance Battalion (abbreviated as 1st Recon Bn) is a reconnaissance battalion in the United States Marine Corps. It is a stand-alone battalion with no parent regiment. Instead, it falls directly under the command of the 1st Marine Division. 1st Recon Bn is located at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California.

The unit was founded in 1937 as the 1st Tank Company of the 1st Marine Brigade and went through several name changes before it became the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in 1958. The battalion was deactivated on June 12, 1992, before being restored as the Reconnaissance Company of the 1st Marine Division's Headquarters and Service Battalion on October 1, 1993. The 1st Recon Battalion was reactivated on July 5, 2000, as part of Marine Corps Commandant General James L. Jones' mission to revitalize Marine Corps reconnaissance.

The mission of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion is to provide task-organized forces in order to conduct amphibious reconnaissance, ground reconnaissance, battlespace shaping operations, raids, and specialized insertion and extraction.

1st Reconnaissance Battalion currently consists of five companies. The companies (except for headquarters and service company) each consist of two platoons. The standard breakdown of the four subsequent companies consists of a reconnaissance and surveillance platoon and a VBSS platoon. Platoons are further divided into three reconnaissance teams, a jump team, dive team and mobility team. A reconnaissance team consists of 6 to 8 Reconnaissance Marines and Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman (SARC). While ideal and established doctrine, this organizational structure can be modified by battalion or company commanding officers as they see fit.

It was activated on 1 March 1937 as the 1st Tank Company, 1st Marine Brigade. In early 1940 the company was deployed to the Caribbean aboard USS Wyoming before returning to Quantico, Virginia. In November 1940 it was sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

When the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions were created in 1941, each had a Scout Company of seven officers and 132 NCOs and enlisted men divided into a headquarters unit and three platoons. The unit had M3 Scout Cars and a motorcycle platoon. The 1st Tank Company of the former 1st Marine Brigade was re-designated as the Scout Company, 1st Marine Division Special Troops.

In 1941, Lieutenant Colonel William "Wild Bill" Whaling (not to be confused with OSS Director William J. Donovan), the executive officer of 5th Marine Regiment visualized and perceived the use for specialized missions encompassing reconnaissance at the division-level, which would be conducted above the normal infantry battalion-level in scouting and patrolling. He recommended to General Alexander Vandegrift the need of a special "Scout and Sniper unit" for the 1st Marine Division's operations on Guadalcanal. Upon approval, by February 1, each of the three companies were created for each regiment.

Forming the southern of the Bismarck Sea and the Bismarck Archipelago, the island of New Britain was focused for seizure by General MacArthur as it would mean control of the Vitiaz and Dampier Straits. Planning began and decision was made to first seize Arawe Peninsula, an island, a town, a plantation and the Japanese occupation forces situated on the southern coast, sixty miles south across island from Cape Gloucester. Cape Gloucester was tasked for seizure by Major General William H. Rupertus, the landing force commander of the northern elements.