In 1940 the approach of war resulted in a significant enlargement of the Marine Base, San Diego facilities. Already crowded with base support, a recruit depot, and Fleet Marine Force units, the existing facilities would be stretched to their limit by the war's rapid requirement for an increase in new recruits. (See Appendix 3). The emergency expansion that had begun in 1939 resulted in several major construction projects. These included 27 warehouses, several new barracks and mess facilities, a post exchange, a neuropsychiatric building, dental and medical dispensary buildings, hundreds of 16-man capacity hut-tents for the recruit training depot, a new separate recruit training parade ground, a railroad, and several new roads. Later, additional construction included an addition to the Officer's mess facility, bachelor officer's quarters, various athletic and training units such as tennis and handball courts and a swimming pool, an am- phibian tractor shed, a communications school, a new administration building, and a new auditorium. The administration and auditorium buildings stood completed and ready for use in January and February of 1943(1).

Despite the expansion activity, the facilities of the Marine Corps Base could not adequately fulfill its dual capacity as a recruit depot and as a Fleet Marine Force base. Prevented from expansion to the north by a developed part of San Diego, on the east by the municipal airport, and on the west by the Naval Training Station, the base could obtain additional acreage for growth only by reclaiming tidelands of San Diego Bay. This process had reached its limit and necessary areas for training had to be found elsewhere.

A major part of recruit training concerns the art of weaponry or marksmanship training. Such training involves use of considerable isolated land for weapon firing. From the beginning of marine training in San Diego, it had been necessary to establish and maintain a rifle range on a small tract of land a few miles north of the main base. First called the Marine Rifle Range (Pueblo Lands), La Jolla, then officially commissioned as Camp Calvin B. Matthews in 1942, the range became the home for the Weapons Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Named for Lieutenant Colonel Calvin B. Matthews, a distinguished Marine marksman of the 1930 period, the rifle range remained an effective training facility until closed in 1964 to provide for expansion of San Diego. To show how the range grew during World War II, in 1942, 69,208 Marines fired over the course and in 1944, this figure rose to over 100,000. From its beginning in 1918 to its final shot, over one million shooters fired over 300 million rounds while undergoing weapons training(2).

As the war caused the Marine Base and its satellite unit to be expanded, so also did the conflict in growth result for the City of San Diego. When the war ended, San Diego's urban expansion continued and in the late 1950's negotiations began for the removal of Camp Matthews to provide for both city expansion and college construction(3). The University of California wanted to establish its San Diego campus on the site of the Marine Rifle Range. Bowing to civilian pressures, funds granted by Congress permitted construction of a new range for the Weapons Training Battalion in the Stuart Mesa area of Camp Pendleton. Plans and construction began in 1962 and 1963 respectively and the new facility, named Edson Range, became operational on 8 August 1964. Closing ceremonies occurred at Camp Matthews on 21 August 1964 and 46 years of Marine training at that portion of the San Diego Marine Base came to an end. Today, only a plaque on the campus of the University of California at San Diego marks the site(5).

The general layout of the new recruit depot rifle range proved to be more self-contained and compact than its predecessor. This improvement greatly assisted the marksmanship training personnel in the accomplishment of their task(6). Although physically located some thirty-five miles north of San Diego, Edson Range is a distinct and integral part of the Marine Base in San Diego.

Other training requirements for the San Diego Fleet Marine Force units resulted in the need to obtain more land. In 1934, in anticipation of the need, land in the Kearny Mesa section of San Diego had become the site of Marine artillery and machine gun training. Located approximately 10 miles north of San Diego city center, this region became known during World War II as Camp Holcomb after the then Commandant, Major-General Thomas Holcomb. Applied collectively to the many semi-permanent buildings constructed in the area, this name would be only temporary. By summer 1941, volunteers poured into the recruit training depot at the San Diego Base. To provide needed space for recruit training expansion, the Fleet Marine Force units moved from the San Diego Base to the camp in the Kearny Mesa area. The name of the camp then changed from Camp Holcomb to Camp Elliott(7). In September 1942, Camp Elliott became the home of the Fleet Marine Force Training Center, West Coast with the mission of training individual replacements for combat duty(8). In January 1942, with over 10,000 Marines in the San Diego area, the 2nd Marine Division, under the command of Major-General C. F. B. Price, assembled at Camp Elliott and assumed the responsibility for the conduct of the training there(9). Although thousands of Marines passed through Camp Elliott enroute to Pacific duty, even this area could not meet the expansion needs for the training of the overseas replacements.

In March 1942, the Navy Department announced the purchase of the Rancho Santa Margarita Y Las Flores, located near Oceanside, California, approximately 35 miles north of San Diego. Construction of facilities began immediately and by September 1942 troops arrived to begin training upon the new 125,440 acre base. Named Camp Joseph H. Pendleton for the General whose dream brought the U. S. Marines in full force to Southern California, the new camp provided the area needed for tactical and amphibious training for combat units(10). Camp Pendleton did not become a part of the San Diego Marine Base but remained a separate command. Other like expansions, such as concentrated athletic and recreational facility at the Del Mar Race Track in Del Mar, California; and Camp Gillespie for Paramarine training in El Cajon, California, came under the control of the Fleet Marine Force Training Center, Camp Elliott and not the San Diego Marine Base(11).

Throughout World War II, advanced individual and unit combat training for Marines on the West Coast was conducted at the new installations supplemental to, and eventually separate from, the Marine Base, San Diego. Sea School training and recruit training, which had been shortened to seven weeks, continued to be conducted in San Diego for Marines in the western United States. The conduct of recruit training grew to paramount importance during the war years(12). Other training requlrements for the needs of force expansion for overseas combat units also came into being at San Diego to add to the already bulging seams of the overly loaded facility.

The requirements for specialized training in certain skills to quickly expand Marine forces for Pacific combat resulted in the establishment of several new training units at San Diego. The Signal School, which provided instruction on radio and field telephone skills, the First Sergeant's School, and the Motor Transport School, which conducted a mechanics and drivers course, came into operation at the Marine Base(13). Each of these new requirements led to major construction projects on the base These expanded the ultimate size of, and provided emphasis to, the development of the base. (See Appendix 4).

The training mission of the Marine Base, both for the recruit depot and the assorted other schools, would never shrink back to its prewar position. The preparation for Fleet Marine Force duty had been divorced from the base by its size and would remain separate as war needs decreased. Most of the installations that sprang up during the war would close and be declared excess property. Camp Elliott, for example, on 1 July 1946 became War Assets Administration Property for disposal and decommissioning(14). Portions of this training area, however, came under Navy control and, in 1974, was still used for occasional leadership tactical training courses conducted by commands at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, as the base is now called. Other facilities, such as Camp Pendleton became permanent establishments after World War II(15).

With the capitulation of Japan in August 1945, World War II ended and the pressures of increasing personnel strengths and training requirements slackened. The growth of the size of the Marine Corps during World War II placed worldwide force requirements upon it that caused an overall increase in its personnel strength(16). The training for Fleet Marine Force duty, a prewar Marine Base function, remained separate from the base proper as peace returned. Only recruit training and a few select skill schools remained at the San Diego Base. Many of the Pacific combat forces would be returned to civilian life. To provide for a smooth return of the Marines to the United States and their subsequent release from service, units had to be provided in southern California to accomplish the task. At the Marine Base, San Diego, the 1st Separation Company and the West Coast Reclassification and Redistribution Center handled individuals while at Camp Pendleton, units were processed for demobilization. The Reclassification and Redistribution Center had been established on 1 July 1944 at the direction of the Commandant of the Marine Corps. In September 1946, the 1st Separatlon Company became a part of the Reclassification and Redistribution Center and with that realignment of units,all separation activities lessened(17). The consolidated operation ceased upon the disbandment of the center on 6 June 1947(18).

As a result of expansion brought about by World War II, the conduct of recruit training in San Diego became of paramount importance. Throughout the war years, the principal activity of the base, recruit training overshadowed all other functions. Since Fleet Marine Force units no longer called the San Diego base their home, the recruit training detachment remained the principal tenant. Official recognition of this fact occurred on 1 January 1948. Effective that date, the Marine Base, Naval Operating Base, San Diego officially became the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego(19) With this redesignation, for the first time, the Marine Base was removed from the command influence of the Naval District Commander. The base now came directly under the Commandant of the Marine Corps for all matters and responded to the Naval District Commander only in areas of mutual interest for coordination. Before major base units had been known as the Camp Matthews Rifle Range, Base Troops and Recruit Training Detachment, these designations now became Weapons Training Battalion, Headquarters and Service Battalion, and 1st Recruit Training Battalion(20). Redesignation of the East Coast Recruit Depot at the Marine Barracks, Parris Island, South Carolina, had occurred in December 1946. With the change at San Diego, the two coasts gained a symmetry in Marine Corps organization they did not have before.

In 1948 the armed forces, greatly reduced in numbers of volunteers, found that the required force level strengths could not be maintained. As a result, the return of the Selective Service System and a mandatory military service requirement, had its effect upon the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. In 1948, a 2nd Recruit Training Battalion had to be formed to handle the increased influx caused by the return to the draft . In May, this amounted to 1,500 new recruits(21). This level of input remained fairly constant until 25 June 1950 when the Korean War erupted in Asia. After only a short pause for peace, Marines again prepared for battle in the Orient.

The Korean War placed an urgent need for combat troops upon the defense establishment. To meet those needs, President Harry S. Truman ordered the mobilization of Reserves in 1950. The Marine Reserves descended upon both the Recruit Depot and Camp Pendleton, to prepare for quick deployment to the battle zone. While this provided the initial troop levels needed for manning a full strength Marine division for immediate combat duty, the personnel pipeline needed to maintain such a force in Korea could not be provided by Reserves alone. To fill this requirement, expansion of recruit input began and the Recruit Depot once again found itself called upon to do yeoman service in an emergency. Short of training units and facilities, the recruit training battalion expanded from three to eight with the new 4th Battalion forming on 26 January 1951 and the last, the 8th Battalion, activated on 18 January 1952(22). Each Battalion had, at least on paper, 25 platoons of 75 recruits each. To house, feed, and train that many recruits, additional major construction had to be requested and did receive Congressional approval(23). (See Appendix 5).

The Korean War came to an end in September, 1953 and the need for increased numbers of recruits slowly came to a halt. No longer required, the 2nd through 8th Recruit Training Battalions deactivated by January 1954 and their missions assumed by the 1st Recruit Training Battalion. This solitary designation did not last, however, for on 6 April 1956, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, the "Ribbon Creek Incident"(24) caused a drastic reassessment of control policy for all recruit training. That accidental drowning of six recruits while in the conduct of an unauthorized night training march led to the establishment of Recruit Training Commands at each of the Recruit Depots. Effective 11 May 1956, this provided that all recruit training came directly under the Commandant of the Marine Corps(25) and not the Commanding Generals of the Recruit Depots.

. . .This direct supervision will continue until it is certain that any and every practice which may have arisen at Parris Island or San Diego, which involves or suggests hazing, mass punishmnent... has been absolutely eliminated...(26)

After each war, the level of personnel strengths is always reduced. The aftermath of the Korean War proved to be the same as that of other wars and after 1953, troop strength decreased. In 1960, reductions in officer levels resulted in modifications of assignments for high ranking officers and eliminated several important billets. Amongst the early departees, the assignment of General officers to closely monitor the conduct of recruit training came to an end. Effective 2 January 1960, the Recruit Training Commands became Recruit Training Regiments with the command billets downgraded from Brigadier-General to Colonel. This new command, "RTR", received the mission of scheduling, coordination, supervision, and inspection of recruit training(29). To accomplish the task, three battalions of three companies each came under RTR command. The companies each had three series commanded by Lieutenants who supervised the training of four platoons, each with 75 recruits. This organization proved practical and efficient and has remained unchanged since established.

Other major training requirements developed during the Korean War that had major and lasting effects upon the continuing development of the San Diego base. In January 1950, the largest of the Marine Corps formal schools moved from Camp Pendleton to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Originally known as the Signal Schools Battalion, the school had been training Marine communicators since World War II. As the Marine Corps changed its training needs to fit the current requirements, the name of the school became the Communication-Electronics Schools Battalion. The redesignation became effective on 1 October 1953. The three main schools within the battalion; named the electronics, operatioanal communications, and communications material schools, contained a total of 18 courses involving radar and radio. By 1970, the battalion consisted of those schools, an amateur radio station, and an electronics repair shop(30).

As the years passed, and with the training requirements increased due to the Vietnam War in 1965, expansion of the schools and their facilities created a space problem at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Early in 1961, the student and staff population had been 1,343; in 1962, 2,071. This load nearly doubled during the years of the Vietnam War. To handle such a student load, classes had to be enlarged, new courses and equipment added, and nighttime double sessions initiated(31). Suitable buildings for classrooms and storage had to provide physical security measures as well as space for instruction. Complicating the entire training problem, communications from Lindbergh Field and its low flying aircraft interfered with school radio frequencies. These problems clearly indicated that the Marine Corps Recruit Depot could not continue as the primary location for the Communication-Electronics Schools Battalion. Headquarters, Marine Corps made the decision to move the battalion to the Marine Corps Base, Twenty-Nine Palms, California(32).

Specially designed facilities had been constructed to receive the C&E Battalion at the Marine Base at Twenty-Nine Palms. The move began in 1966 with the initial phase involving three of the several schools' instructors, students, and equipment: Electronics and Marine Tactical Data Systems Maintenance Schools, Tactical Air Control and Defense Systems School. Approximately 12 percent of the battalion made up the first phase and completed the move by 1967. Phase two of the move awaited completion of additional facilities at Twenty-Nine Palms. In January 1971, the necessary buildings stood ready and the second phase began This move consisted of 2,000 personnel and supporting equipment(33). On 1 February 1971, the Headquarters, Communication-Electronics School Battalion moved to Twenty-Nine Palms and activaled in its new location. At the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Sub-Unit Two activated as a tenant command on 1 February(34). At such time as adequate facilities are constructed and available at Twenty-Nine Palms, Sub-Unit Two who will be disbanded and rejoin its parent organization.

Major construction at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot had been at a standstill since 1960. In 1966, when the buildup for the Vietnam War rose to its highest point, recruit strengths overflowed the existing billeting spaces available. As a result, the large tent cantonment area that had risen for the last two ma jor wars, again came into being on the sand at the depot. The wall type tents would each hold ten men, and had a center walkway, an oil stove, and electricity. Recruit labor built over 100 of the tents in early 1966(35). Of these, 82 actually housed recruits while the remainder contained supplies then stored in quonset huts. Once emptied, the quonset huts then filled with recruits. During the Korean War, in 1951, 600 huts had been constructed within the recruit training area to handle the recruit overflow. As in 1951, these alone proved insufficient to house the recruit load in 1966. In February 1966 alone, the recruit level reached 13,600 and once again the need for tents occurred.

The constant overflow conditions that occurred whenever emergency conditions increased the recruit training load caused Marine facilities planners to seek a better solution. The admittedly poor billeting conditions in the quonset huts demanded change. This need led to one of the last major base construction projects, a project that in 1974 has not been totally completed. Plans called for the construction of five new permanent recruit barracks. Each would be three stories high, H-shaped and de- signed to house 900 recruits. Construction began in 1967 and opening ceremonies for the first two barracks took place on 16 August 1968(37). Work on the last three barracks did not begin immediately due to other essential needs.

As the new recruit barracks rose, other requirements became clear. Along with the new housing rose the need for new messing facilities to feed the recruits. To solve the problem, groundbreaking on building 569, the new Recruit Training Regiment Messhall occurred on 20 August 1968. Built at the cost of 1.5 million dollars, the new dining facility opened for recruit use in December 1969. Designed to accommodate 4,000 hungry recruits, the new facility provided the latest in culinary methodology for use in preparing nutritional meals(38). With the completion of this last major construction project, the Decades of Turmoil ended after spawning events that had provided major contributions to the San Diego Marine Bases' development.