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Establishing The Advanced Base Force

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The United States Marine Corps is known as the premiere expeditionary force in readiness.  This modern concept was rooted in the Advanced Base Force of the early 1900s, which has since evolved into the modern Fleet Marine Force.  It is a direct reflection of the evolution in Marine Expeditionary Warfare and the close relationship between the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.

By the early 1900s, the United States gained territory throughout the Pacific Basin, Central America, and the Caribbean.  It also had maritime interests around the world.  Naval theorist Alfred Thayer Mahan, a noted proponent of sea power, contended that it was vital that the United States have advance fleet bases if the modern steam Navy - dependent on coal - was to operate at remote distances far from home.  The United States needed an expeditionary military force capable of reacting to threats and also to project military power to defend its interests.

In 1908, the Marine Corps totaled 267 officers and 9,100 enlisted Marines; nearly one-third of all Marines served in detachments aboard naval vessels.  The Navy sought to remove Marines from this duty and pressured President Theodore Roosevelt to act. On 12 November 1908, with the guidance of Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) Major General George F. Elliott, the President issued Executive Order 969, which defined the duties of the Marines.  Executive Order 969 removed Marines from a majority of shipboard duties, and tasked them with developing permanent expeditionary forces for mobile defense of naval bases, and with garrisoning the Panama Canal.

In response to these newly defined roles, CMC Major General William P. Biddle ordered the formation of the 1st Advanced Base Regiment on 19 June 1913 (later to become the 2nd Marine Regiment).  The 2nd Advanced Base Regiment was formed on 27 November 1913 (later to become the 1st Marine Regiment). The 1st Advanced Base Brigade (predecessor to the 1st Marine Division) was created on 23 December 1913.  The formal structure of the Advanced Base Force was established by CMC Major General John A. Lejeune on 3 March 1921 with Marine Corps Order No. 7 (Series 1921).