Camp Pendleton. On the Way to Vietnam

U. S.

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MARINE CORPS BASE

CAMP PENDLETON/ CALIFORNIA
( NAVAL WEAPONS

U. S.

STATION

IMPACT AREA DIVISION

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HORNO AREA

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TOOCEANSIDE

CAMP PENDLETON— ON

THE

WAY

TO

VIETNA published by Stewart Enterprises, a private firm of Oceanside, Calif., in no way connected with the D^artment of the Navy Corps. Opinions expressed by the publisher and writers herein are their own ond should not be considered an official expressionjby the Marine Corps, Photographs in this book are either official U.S. Marine Corps photographs or those oSa staff photographer of Stewart Enterprises.

This book

is

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CAMP PENDLETON US.

MARINE CORPS

m

i~f

Si

Hi

Some

call

it

"The Jumping Off Place"; others

names

it

provides facilities for the almost 50,000 Marines, de-

has been called describe

the past quarter-century

in

Camp Joseph in

H.

Pendleton,

the world.

Camp Pendleton was dedicated September in

the

honor of a colorful

25,

1942, by

was named Marine Corps general who earlier

late President Franklin

encouraged the Corps California he loved so much.

had

Since that September day

D.

to

Roosevelt.

establish

It

a

base

in

the

pendents and civilian workers who home.

in

1942, this sprawling 126,

Marine divisions and Fleet Marine Force units

in

call

command encompasses

Camp

Field Medical

and

It

was from here

Jima.

It

responsible for training Marines from the time they leave

Camp

Boot

until

they are on their way either to Vietnam,

another Fleet Marine Force unit, or some post or station

elsewhere

in

mess

halls

the Corps. hills,

ravines,

thousands who learned the ing ors,

for

barracks,

parade grounds,

and clubs echo the memories of art of

for Inchon, Korea,

that the 1st Division

and the 3rd Division for Japan.

It

was

from here that the 1st Division embarked for Vietnam

followed by elements of the 5th Division.

—

those

overseas. This book attempts to reflect the

rig-

the pride of today's Marines as they are trained and pre-

pared

in

the cause of National Defense. This

Pendleton ... on the way to Vietnam."

the

mounted out

all

war here before depart-

the sweat, the exhaustion, the devotion and, yes,

that the 4th Marine Division left for

was from here

Battalion

Service School. Together, these are

Far East.

the Marshall Islands and the 5th Marine Division for Iwo

Pendleton

the 2nd Infantry

Training Regiment, Schools Battalion, Staging

Pendleton

000-acre base has become one of the biggest and most complex military training sites in the Defense Department. It has trained literally hundreds of thousands of Marines and Navymen for combat in World War II, Korea and now Vietnam. Even between the wars, this giant base continued to grind out the replacements needed to fill the ranks of

Marine Force units. The base itself operates and

Fleet

Too, the base

Situated on the old Rancho Santa Margarita y las Flores one of the largest of the early Spanish land grants,

the

Marine Division, the 4th

"The War School" and "The Big Boondocks." neither these nor all the unrecorded

largest amphibious training base

—

for the 5th

Marine Division Headquarters (Nucleus) and many other

it

But

adequately

now home

is

It

"The West Coast Training Ground,"

tag

-fr

#

"fr

it

is

"Camp

m

4

&

4M

WELCOME TO

I.T.R.

The Parade ground at the recruit depot in San Diego is not yet gray enough to be a memory when the Marine finds himself aboard a bus... heading north along the coast for Camp Pendleton ," and the 2nd Infantry Training Regiment - "I.T.R. as Marines abbreviate before he

Even

it.

gets

a

chance to relish the

proud feeling of exchanging the name "Boot" for "Marine," he is unceremoniously dumped at the northern

end

a

in

the base amidst row after row

of

quonset huts

unlovely

of

and unlovelier tents

camp called San Onofre.

The camp

is

a

in

valley and the

new

arrival

looks up at the rugged beauty of the steep mounringing the

tains the

hours

he

camp

will

... blissfully

invest

on

unaware of

those demanding

slopes.

A

bright morning sun

ground

back "Stack

haze and the into

reality

those

sea

front!"

Welcome

to I.T.R.!

by

is

burning away a light

Marine trainee the

voice

bags and take

is

that a

jarred

bellows:

seat down

Camp Camp

Pendleton's 2nd Infantry Training Regiment and twin to the 1st Lejeune, N.C.,

the Corps.

Its

job

is

in

recently graduated recruits to take their place

in

is to train

the United States Marine Corps.

I.T.R.

I.T.R. at

responsible for one of the most important missions

It

aids and abets the transition from recruit to

Marine.

The age-old tradition that every Marine is first an infantryman is given birth life here. I.T.R. conducts individual combat training, advanced combat training, basic infantry training and combat familiarization. All newly arrived Marines are assigned to companies and commence the training

and

which will make them proficient in individual combat. Leathernecks who are to receive specialist training in

such fields as aviation, communi-

cation, artillery, tanks, etc., receive of

individual

this

training

two weeks

and are then given

leave before entering a technical school.

Marines who are to become infantrymen as a primary assignment are given an additional two

weeks

individual

of

training

beginning

before

their specialty schools in basic infantry training. It

is

this

at

school that a Marine infantryman

learns those skills which qualify him as rifleman,

machine

mortarman,

gunner,

assault

anti-tank

man, reconnaissance man or scout sniper.

The schedule he

is

eyes at

rigorous yet not beyond his

is

ability to endure.

(If

he goes to sleep the moment

allowed to do so until

least

— and

doesn't open his

the last note of reveille, there

chance he

a

will

And though

of sleep each night!)

is

at

rack up eight hours the training

is

tough, so are the Marines.

He doesn't

live

in

luxury.

There

is

constant

exertion, the quonset huts are inconvenient, the

view

is

of portable trailers

ities ... strung

in

a

housing toilet facil-

line at the

end of the tent

rows. If

in

there

is

one comforting thought to the Marine

this transitional stage,

first; all

it

is this:

"I

am

the others went this same route."

not the

RANGE 2()71 DEMOLITION RANGE f

ALLOWABLE WEAPONS

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CHARGES

m DEMONSTRATIONS AND TRAINING

I GAS CHAMBER

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RANGE 203 ALLOWABLE WEAPONS 3.5 ROCKETS,

JLAAW AND M-79

The

busy,

seemingly endless days at I.T.R. a close and the leather-tough

come to young men leave finally

for

home, their

first

such visit

as a Marine. Friends and relations are quick to

notice the changes wrought

in

a

few short months.

And the leave ends too quickly. Soon the men are heading for a new experience: some to post and stations around the world, others to Staging Battalion for the finishing touches for

ryM*

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Vietnam,

still

Schools Battalion

others

... for

to

in

Camp

preparation

Pendleton's

more training.

^r^tV^

SCHOOLS BATTALION Contrary to an opinion held by many Americans, the

Corps does need and use skills other than

those of the infantryman. Marines must eat, communicate,

be transported, and use the services

and equipment peculiar to the modern battlefield. In

short, the

Corps requires men skilled

in

every

trade and specialty within andwithout the special arts of war.

Schools Battalion, headquartered just off the beach at Camp Del Mar, operates and supervises the biggest campus in the Marine Corps. Schools for personnel administration, tracked courses, and Vietnamese language...

vehicle all

these are near the battalion headquarters. Motor transport school

Rio, near the historic

-field

artillery,

is

at

Camp Vado

Del

Ranch House. Other schools

food services, bulk fuel han-

communications — dot corner of the huge base.

dling,

the

southwestern

Whichever the school, chances are most of the instructors have recently returned from

Vietnam

and their desire to pass on their skills and experiences is matched by the desire nam-bound students to learn .

of the Viet-

TRACKED VEHICLE SCHOOL

MOTOR TRANSPORT SCHOOL

FIELD ARTILLERY

SCHOOL

FOOD SERViy SO

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STAGING BATALLION Marines arrive at every hour, every day. Sea bags on their shoulders, they come from the world's

duty stations, from graduating classes Schools Battalion, from I.T.R., from the Fleet Marine Force. All are going to the same place: at

Vietnam!

They must

pass through Staging Battalion Pacific." Each Marine, upon assigned to a unit and he begins im-

- "Gateway arrival,

is

mediately

first

to

the

prepare for the

to

(T-days) that

lie

15

training

days

ahead.

checked and so are record books, identification cards and dogtags. Shots. A final physical and dental check. Big buses take the men to Camp Las Pulgas, where they undergo extensive training in the Clothing

is

ML PERSONNEL REPORTING TO STAGIN 3N REPORT TO BLDG

1412

2

location and disarming of mines and booby traps .

.

along theVietnam Trail. AVietnamese village, in every detail, serves as a classroom

.

complete for

days

spent

in

culture of Vietnam

learning

- and how

the

traditions

to find

and

and identify

the enemies of Vietnam!

A

special

weapons

familiarization

course on

includes minute training

in

infantry

the firing

and maintenance of a Marine's best friend, the

M- 16

rifle

.

.

.

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The

training

days,

however

demanding,

are

neither unceasing nor unending. There are hours

here and there when time belongs to the man and

he

is

free to pursue his whims, whether shopping

on the base or playing at being civilian city.

Too, there

comes

a time

are ended and embarkation ule.

is

in

the

when the T-days

next on the sched-

And then the Marine remembers the lines,

the hurry-up-and-wait, the muscle-bruising exertion

of

training.

Trained,

he

is.

Finest

in

the

world, as a matter of fact.

titiftti

ON THE WAY TO VIETNAM! Published by Stewart Enterprises, Oceanside. California 92054

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