US Special Warfare Units in the Pacific Theater 1941-45: "Scouts, Raiders, Rangers and Reconnaissance Units" (Battle Orders)

The bitter fighting in the Pacific Theater required new forms of warfare, and the gathering of detailed intelligence information on the remote and varied islands and their determined defenders. As a result, new scout, raider and reconnaissance units were formed‹the pioneers of today's special forces. Some units were small, while others comprised thousands of men. All contributed significantly to the war effort. This book examines a wide range of PTO special-warfare units, including the Alaskan and Alamo scouts, 5217th/1st Recon Battalion, Marine Amphibious Recon and Raider units, Amphibious Scouts, and 6th Ranger Battalion. Cover......Page 1 Title Page......Page 2 Contents......Page 3 Introduction......Page 4 Doctrine and training......Page 7 Unit organization......Page 11 Tactics......Page 13 Weapons and equipment......Page 16 Command, control, communications, and intelligence......Page 20 Scout units......Page 25 Raider units......Page 46 6th Ranger Battalion......Page 80 Lessons learned......Page 89 Chronology......Page 90 Bibliography......Page 92 Abbreviations and linear measurements......Page 93 Index......Page 95 Imprint......Page 97 For the most part, doctrine for these units was what today would be called "emerging doctrine."