5th Battalion 14th Marines

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 5th Battalion 14th Marines


caption= 5/14 Insignia
dates= N/A
country= United States
allegiance=
branch= USMC
type= Artillery
role= Provide fires in support of 4th Marine Division
size=
command_structure= 14th Marine Regiment
4th Marine Division
current_commander=
garrison=Seal Beach, California
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
nickname=
patron=
motto=
colors=
march=
mascot=
battles= World War II
* Battle of Kwajalein
* Battle of Saipan
* Battle of Iwo Jima
Operation Iraqi Freedom
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=

5th Battalion 14th Marines (5/14) is a reserve artillery battalion of the United States Marine Corps, comprising three firing batteries and a headquarters battery. The battalion is based in Seal Beach, California and its primary weapon system is the M198 howitzer with a maximum effective range of 30km. They fall under the command of the 14th Marine Regiment and the 4th Marine Division.

Mission

5th Battalion, 14th Marines is prepared, upon activation, to provide artillery fires "on time, on target", in the execution of the artillery battalion's tactical mission to provide direct support to a maneuver element or general and reinforcing fires to a senior artillery organization. 5th Battalion, 14th Marines will augment and reinforce active Marine forces, as directed, in time of war, national emergency or contingency operations.

Current units

* Headquarters Battery — Seal Beach, California
* Battery N — Pico Rivera, California
* Battery O — Seal Beach, California
* Battery P — Spokane, Washington
* Battery Q — Aurora, Colorado

History

World War II

5th Battalion, 14th Marines was created on March 1, 1944 when the 4th Marine Division returned to Camp Maui, Territory of Hawaii, following its first action at the Battle of Kwajalein. The new unit was made up of a headquarters battery plus three firing batteries armed with four M2A1 105mm howitzers each. This was a short lived activation because the battalion was redesignated the 4th 105mm Howitzer Battalion, V Amphibious Corps (VAC) on April 16, just six weeks later. This was purely an administrative move since the battalion was attached to the 14th Marine Regiment for upcoming "Operation Forager", the invasion of the Marianas. Throughout Operation Forager, the battalion continued to be referred to as "5/14" in after action reports, and at least one official history uses that terminology as well. [Carl W. Hoffman, "Saipan, The Beginning of the End" (Nashville: Battery Press, 1988), p. 82]

The battalion landed on Saipan on June 15, 1944, and was almost wiped out by Japanese fire early the next morning. 10 of 12 of the battalion's howitzers were knocked out of action. Due to extraordinary efforts by service and ordnance personnel, all guns were back in action that afternoon. Although designated a general support element, 5/14 was often used for direct support during the drive north and often fired in support of the 2nd Marine Division and the Army's 27th Infantry Division as well.

Once Saipan was secured, the battalion joined four other Marine 105mm battalions in Groupment A, XXIV Corps Artillery, a temporary task organization created to bombard nearby Tinian. The 105s could range the northern half of Tinian so were used for preliminary fires and then supported the landing by the 4th Marine Division. Once the White Beaches had been taken, the Marine 105s loaded into landing ships then sailed for Tinian Town located about halfway down the island. The 4th 105mm Howitzer Battalion came ashore on July 27 to support the 2nd and 4th Marine Division's final attacks.Upon returning to Maui, the battalion was rearmed and renamed the 4th 155mm Howitzer Battalion, VAC and fought using that designation at the Battle of Iwo Jima then returned to Maui to prepare for the invasion of Japan. The abrupt end of the war in the Pacific resulted in the deactivation of the 4th 155mm Howitzer Battalion in November 1945. [Ronald J. Brown, "A Brief History of the 14th Marines" (Washington, DC: Hist&MusDiv, HQMC, 1999), p. 20 & 24.]

Modern Era

1980s&1990s

The 5/14 was reactivated as part of the new "Total Force" doctrine adopted following the Vietnam War. From then on, reserve units were to become mirror images of their active duty counter parts. As a result, the 14th Marines were reorganized to include three direct support battalions armed with 105mm and 155mm towed howizters while two general support battalions were armed with self-propelled heavy cannon. The 3rd Field Artillery Group headquarters located in San Francisco was redesignated HQ, 5/14 on September 1, 1979. The firing batteries were: Battery N, armed with M110 Sp 8-inch howitzers, at El Paso; Battery O, also armed with 8-inch SP howitzers, at Oklahoma City; and Battery N, armed with M107 SP 175mm Guns, at Denver. The other general support battalion (4/14) was armed with M109 155mm SP howitzers. [Brown, "Hist14thMar", p. 72 & 76] In 1983, Battery P was rearmed with 8-inch howitzers after the 175mm guns were dropped. Two years later the 14th Marines was once again reorganized. This time the 1st and 5th Battalion headquarters batteries swapped designations, so the 5th Battalion was now located at Los Angeles rather than San Francisco; the firing batteries remained as before.

No units of the 5th battalion were activated for service during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. 5th Battalion, 14th Marines was originally located in downtown Los Angeles at Chavez Ravine. In 1994 the Northridge earthquake damaged the battalion's facility there and caused the unit to move to the Long Beach Naval Station. When the Naval Station was closed as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure Program the battalion headquarters moved into temporary facilities aboard the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, California. The battalion occupied the current site on the Weapons Station, the Sergeant Foster Reserve Training Center, during October 2000.

Global War On terrorism

5th Battalion, 14th Marines was deployed to Iraq as a provisional military police battalion from 2005 through 2006. The battalion was augmented with Marines from various units throughout the Marine Corps and the United States to form 5th Provisional Military Police Battalion, 14th Marines. The units included an active duty MP company from Camp Pendleton, a TOW Platoon from 25th Marines, Marines from 4th Force Reconnaissance and Battery C, 1st Batallion, 14th Marines. During its first deployment after September 11 and its first combat-zone deployment since World War II, the battalion operated 5 detention facilities, guarded Camp Fallujah and the surrounding area, conducted convoy security and conducted law enforcement operations.

See also

* List of United States Marine Corps battalions
* Organization of the United States Marine Corps

Notes

References

:Marine Corps

;Web
* [http://www.mfr.usmc.mil/4thmardiv/14thmar/5thBn/ 5/14's official website]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usmc/5-14.htm globalsecurity.org page]