History of ground based air defense in the United States Marine Corps information
155 mm Long Tom gun "Scorpion" of the 4th Marine Defense Battalion at Barakoma Airfield on Vella Lavella in the South Pacific.
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The History of ground based air defense in the United States Marine Corps dates back to the early 1930s with the establishment of the Advanced Base Force. World War II would be the high-water mark for air defense units when 20+ defense/anti-aircraft battalions were formed with many seeing significant action throughout the Pacific Theater. Following the war, the Marine Corps divested itself of most of its air defense capability at a time when the service was facing deep personnel cuts and fighting for its institutional survival. Beginning in the early 1950s the Marine Corps aligned itself with the Navy and their development of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). The Marine Corps retained both flak weapons and SAMs throughout the 1950s until the fielding of the MIM-23 Hawk Missile System in 1960. The HAWK Missile was employed by Light Antiaircraft Missile (LAAM) battalions and remained a mainstay of Marine Corps ground based air defense for the next four decades.
Beginning in the mid-1950s the Marine Corps also teamed up with the United States Army to develop a Man-portable air-defense system (MANPAD) for more expeditionary operations. This led to the development and fielding of the FIM-43 Redeye in the mid-1960s and its successor, the FIM-92 Stinger. MANPAD systems were originally utilized by Forward Area Air Defense (FAAD) units until the Low Altitude Air Defense (LAAD) battalions were formed in the early 1980s. Following the Cold War, the Marine Corps divested itself of its medium air defense capability with the deactivation of the HAWK Missile battalions. Since the late 1990s the Marine Corps has retained a small air defense capability with its LAAD Battalions which utilize the Stinger Missile. With the recent proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles and Cruise missiles on the battlefield it appears that air defense in the Marine Corps is set to grow again as leadership explores Directed-energy weapons, electronic warfare and other new technologies to counter emerging threats.
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