United States Marine Corps 1st Marine Division (The Old Breed)

U. S. MARINE CORPS 1ST MARINE DIVISION (THE OLD BREED) -  The 1st Marine Division is a Marine infantry division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.  It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF).  It is the oldest and largest active duty division in the United States Marine Corps, representing a combat-ready force of more than 19,000 men and women.  It is one of three active duty divisions in the Marine Corps today and is a multi-role, expeditionary ground combat force.  It is nicknamed "The Old Breed".  Originally termed a battle blaze, the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 1st Marine Division was designed by Lt. Col Merrill Twining, Division D-3 in February 1943 while the division was stationed in Victoria, Australia.   The blue diamond with the Southern Cross is similar to the Flag of Victoria.  The red numeral one in the middle denotes the division's first action on Guadalcanal.

The 1st Marine Division was activated aboard the USS Texas on February 1, 1941.   The division's units were scattered over the Pacific with the support elements and the 1st Marine Regiment transported en route to New Zealand on three ships, the USATs Ericsson, Barnett and Elliott from  Naval Reserve Air Base Oakland to New Zealand,  and later were landed on the island of Guadalcanal, part of the Solomon Islands, on August 7, 1942.  Following the Guadalcanal Campaign, the division's Marines were sent to Melbourne, Australia for rest and refit.   It was during this time that the division took the traditional Australian folk song "Waltzing Matilda" as its battle hymn.  To this day, 1st Division Marines still ship out to this song being played.

Following the surrender of Japan, the division was sent to Northern China as the lead combat element of the III Amphibious Corps with the primary mission of repatriating more than 650,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians still resident in that part of China.  They landed at Taku on September 30, 1945 and would be based in Hopeh Province in the cities of Tientsin and Peiping, and also on the Shandong Peninsula, with the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party raging around them.  Most Marines in the division would be charged with guarding supply trains, bridges and depots to keep food and coal moving into the cities.  During this time they increasingly fought skirmishes with soldiers from the People's Liberation Army who saw the railways and other infrastructure as attractive targets to ambush, raid, and harass.  The last elements of the division finally left China on September 1, 1947.

The division would be assembled on the battle field and would participate in the amphibious assault at Inchon during the Korean War under the orders of General MacArthur.   "The Old Breed" was the unit chosen to lead the Inchon landing on September 15, 1950.  At Inchon, the division faced one of its most daunting challenges, deploying so hurriedly it still lacked its third infantry regiment and ordered to execute an amphibious assault in a city the size of Omaha, Nebraska under the worst tidal conditions they had ever faced.  After the landing they moved north and after heavy fighting in Seoul they liberated the city.  During the Korean War the division suffered combat casualties of 4,004 dead and 25,864 wounded.

March 1966 saw 1st Marine Division Headquarters established at Chu Lai as they participated in the Vietnam war.   By June, the entire Division was in South Vietnam, its zone of operation—the southern two provinces of I Corps—Quang Tin and Quang Ngai.   Between March and October 1966 to May 1967, the division conducted 44 named operations.  During the 1968 Tet Offensive, the division was involved in fierce fighting with both Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army elements. I t was successful in beating back enemy assaults in its operation areas, most particularly in the City of Hue. The division received its 7th Presidential Unit Citation for service from March 29, 1966 to September 15, 1967, and an 8th one for the period September 16, 1967 to October 31, 1968.  After six hard years of combat, and after suffering 7,012 men killed in action, the 1st Marine Division returned home to Camp Pendleton in 1971.

In 1990, the 1st Marine Division formed the nucleus of the massive force sent to the Middle East in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. During Operation Desert Shield, the division supported I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) in the defense of Saudi Arabia from the Iraqi threat.

The 1st Marine Division, then under the command of Major General James Mattis, was one of the two major U.S. land forces that participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as the land component of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.  Battalions from the 1st Marine Division have been regularly deployed to Afghanistan since 2008.  The division headquarters and staff were sent forward in March 2010 to take command of all Marine forces in the Helmand Province operating in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.  This will be a year-long deployment for the division.