Expeditionary
Pacific Defense Buildup
In the years between the world wars, Marine planners came to believe that a future war with Japan was likely and that it would be fought across the islands of the Pacific.
To get ready, the Marine Corps slowly built up a presence on small but important islands and atolls scattered across the ocean. A government study late in the 1930s named several of these outposts as key positions that needed defending. Marines acted on this plan by sending defense battalions and smaller detachments to garrison these places. They set up units at Pearl Harbor, Midway, Wake, Johnston, Palmyra, and Samoa, and they grew their divisions and air wings at home. These garrisons gave the Marines a foothold in the Pacific and set the stage for the hard island fighting that would follow once the war began.
Engagements in this conflict (1)
Record no. 549