U.S. Marine Corps

3rd Marine Division

The 3rd Marine Division - the "Fighting Third" - has been the tip of the spear in the Pacific since Bougainville. From the jungles of the Solomons to the volcanic ash of Iwo Jima to the rice paddies of Vietnam, the division has always been where the fighting is worst. Based at Camp Courtney, Okinawa, the 3rd Marine Division remains America's forward-deployed force in the Pacific - still standing watch where it fought eighty years ago.

THE FIGHTING THIRD Est. 1942

3RD MARINE DIVISION

EST. SEPTEMBER 16, 1942

3RD MARINE DIVISION

The Fighting Third - Camp Courtney, Okinawa

The 3rd Marine Division was activated at Camp Elliott, San Diego on September 16, 1942 - nine months after Pearl Harbor and the same month the 1st Marine Division was fighting for its life on Guadalcanal. The division's insignia features a caltrap - a medieval weapon with four spikes designed so that one point always faces upward. Step on a caltrap and it goes through your foot. The metaphor is not subtle. The 3rd Marine Division is the only active-duty Marine division permanently stationed overseas, holding the line in the Western Pacific from Okinawa. Eighty years forward-deployed. Still watching the horizon. Read more

DIVISION STRUCTURE - THE REGIMENTS

3RD MARINE REGIMENT

3RD MARINE REGIMENT

The Professionals

NORTHERN POCKET

The 3rd Marines fought at Bougainville, Guam, and were thrown into the final bloody reduction of the northern pocket at Iwo Jima. In Vietnam, the regiment operated along the DMZ in some of the heaviest fighting of the war. The regiment was reorganized in 2022 as the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, the first unit in the Marine Corps' force redesign for great power competition in the Pacific. Read more

4TH MARINE REGIMENT

The China Marines

SURRENDERED 1942

The 4th Marines served in China through the 1920s and 30s - the legendary "China Marines." The regiment was stationed at Corregidor when the Philippines fell in 1942. Rather than let their colors be captured, Marines burned the regimental flag. The regiment was reconstituted in 1944, assigned to the 6th Marine Division for Okinawa, then later joined the 3rd Marine Division. Every Marine who serves with the 4th Marines knows the story of the burned colors - and what it means to carry them again. Read more

9TH MARINE REGIMENT

9TH MARINE REGIMENT

The Striking Ninth

The 9th Marines fought on Guam and Iwo Jima in World War II, then became one of the most heavily engaged regiments in Vietnam. The Striking Ninth operated along the DMZ, at Con Thien, and across I Corps in sustained heavy combat. The regiment's Vietnam service was marked by some of the war's fiercest fighting in Quang Tri Province. Read more

12TH MARINE REGIMENT

12TH MARINE REGIMENT

Division Artillery - The Ryukyu Regiment

ROCKET ARTILLERY

The 12th Marines have provided artillery fire support for the 3rd Marine Division across every campaign since Bougainville. Based on Okinawa alongside the division, the regiment maintains readiness for Pacific contingencies with M777 howitzers and HIMARS rocket systems. Reorganized in 2022 as the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment as part of Force Design 2030. Read more

WORLD WAR II - THE PACIFIC 1943 - 1945

NOVEMBER 1, 1943

First Combat - The Solomon Islands

MARINES REGIMENT

Bougainville was the 3rd Marine Division's baptism of fire. The division landed at Empress Augusta Bay on November 1, 1943, fighting through thick jungle against entrenched Japanese defenders. The objective was not to take the entire island - it was to establish an airstrip close enough to neutralize the massive Japanese base at Rabaul. Marines hacked through jungle, built a perimeter, and held it against repeated Japanese counterattacks while Seabees carved an airfield out of the swamp. The 3rd Marines and 9th Marines learned to fight in terrain so dense you could walk past an enemy position at ten feet and never see it. Read more

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MARIANA ISLANDS

JULY 21 - AUGUST 10, 1944

GUAM - LIBERATION

Taking Back American Soil

JAPANESE GARRISON

U.S. TERRITORY SINCE

Guam was personal. It was American territory - taken by Japan on December 10, 1941, just hours after Pearl Harbor. For two and a half years, the Chamorro people endured Japanese occupation, forced labor, and atrocities. On July 21, 1944, the 3rd Marine Division landed at Asan Beach and the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade hit Agat. The Japanese had fortified every ridge and cave on the island. The fighting was brutal - cliffs, caves, and banzai charges. But Guam was different from other Pacific islands. When Marines broke through the Japanese lines, Chamorro civilians came out of hiding, some waving American flags they had kept hidden for years. The 3rd Marine Division did not just take an island. It liberated American citizens. Read more

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VOLCANO ISLANDS

FEBRUARY - MARCH 1945

The 3rd Division in Reserve, Then Hell

MARINES REGIMENT

The 3rd Marine Division was the floating reserve at Iwo Jima - which meant watching the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions get torn apart on the beach while waiting to be committed. The 21st Marines went ashore on D+1 when it became clear the assault divisions could not advance alone. The 3rd Marine Division fought through the center of the island - the Motoyama Plateau - where Japanese General Kuribayashi had concentrated his deepest defenses. Tunnels, bunkers, and spider holes connected by miles of underground passages. Every yard was bought with blood. The division's 3rd Marines were held back until the final phase, thrown into the meat grinder of the northern pocket where the last Japanese defenders fought to annihilation. Iwo Jima cost 6,821 Americans killed - more Marines died taking eight square miles of volcanic rock than in any other battle in Marine Corps history. Read more

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VIETNAM 1965 - 1969

DA NANG - I CORPS

First Ground Combat Troops in Vietnam

AREA OF OPERATIONS

AIR BASE SECURITY

BOOTS ON GROUND

On March 8, 1965, BLT 3/9 from the 3rd Marine Division waded ashore at Da Nang - the first American ground combat troops committed to Vietnam. They were greeted by Vietnamese girls with flower garlands and a sign reading "Welcome to the Gallant Marines." The greeting would not last. What started as airfield security became full-scale counterinsurgency across I Corps - the five northern provinces of South Vietnam. The 3rd Marine Division would spend four years fighting in some of the most contested terrain in the war. Read more

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SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 1967

The Hill of Angels

MARINES REGIMENT

1,000+ ROUNDS/DAY

DIVISION STRENGTH

Con Thien was a Marine outpost on the DMZ that became one of the most shelled positions in Vietnam. The hilltop - Marines called it the "Hill of Angels" with bitter irony - absorbed over 1,000 rounds of NVA artillery per day during the worst of the siege in September 1967. Marines from the 9th Marines and other 3rd Marine Division units held the position because it overlooked enemy infiltration routes from North Vietnam. Living in bunkers under constant bombardment, the Marines endured conditions that veterans compared to World War I trench warfare. Mud, incoming, and the daily lottery of whether a round had your name on it. Read more

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JANUARY 21 - APRIL 8, 1968

77 Days Under Siege

DAYS UNDER SIEGE

MARINES REGIMENT

NVA SURROUNDING

MARINES DEFENDING

Khe Sanh was the battle that consumed America's attention during the Tet Offensive. The combat base sat in the northwestern corner of South Vietnam near the Laotian border, blocking NVA infiltration routes. In January 1968, two NVA divisions - roughly 20,000 troops - surrounded the base defended by the 26th Marines and attached units from the 3rd Marine Division. For 77 days, Khe Sanh endured daily artillery bombardment, ground probes, and the constant threat of being overrun. President Johnson had a terrain model of Khe Sanh built in the White House Situation Room - he was determined it would not become another Dien Bien Phu. Massive B-52 strikes and tactical air support kept the NVA at bay. The siege was lifted on April 8 when the 1st Cavalry Division broke through. The Marines held Khe Sanh. Then the command abandoned it three months later. Read more

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GWOT & FORWARD PRESENCE 2001 - PRESENT

MULTIPLE DEPLOYMENTS

IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN

RCT-3 and Task Force Leatherneck

Elements of the 3rd Marine Division deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan during the Global War on Terror. RCT-3, built around 3rd Marines, operated in Al Anbar Province during some of the bloodiest periods of the Iraq War. Division units also deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan as part of Task Force Leatherneck. Between deployments, the division maintained its primary mission - forward presence in the Western Pacific from Okinawa, training with allied forces across the Indo-Pacific and standing ready for contingency operations. The 3rd Marine Division has been America's Pacific insurance policy since 1945. Read more

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3

WARS FOUGHT

80+

YEARS FORWARD DEPLOYED

77

DAYS - KHE SANH SIEGE

Fidelity

DIVISION MOTTO