Marine Corps Close Air Support Development from Guadalcanal to Okinawa

Marine Corps aviation experienced a challenging start as many believed it was merely a novelty with little legitimate military application. Innovative Marine aviators developed the basic tenets of dive bombing and close air support in Haiti and Nicaragua, and the Marine Corps continued as the only service to work on these issues seriously prior to World War II. Guadalcanal was the first major Marine Corps operation in the Pacific Theater with extremely rudimentary close air support. As Marines island-hopped across the Pacific, each subsequent operation presented lessons learned for the next, and the most important development involved air liaison parties directly controlling close air support strikes at the ground commander's request. The Philippines and Okinawa campaigns highlighted the success of this concept in support of both Marine and Army units. Marine Corps close air support's development in the Pacific Theater of World War II relied upon the air liaison party concept of control. This crucial innovation paved the way for future close air support tactics and doctrine and proved essential for Marine Corps aviation's relevance and longevity.