United States amphibious operations The United States has a long history in amphibious warfare from the landings in the Bahamas during the American Revolutionary War , to some of the more massive examples of World War II in the European Theater of Operation on Normandy , and in Africa and Italy , as well as the constant island warfare of the Pacific Theater of Operations . Throughout much of its history , the United States prepared its troops in both the United States Marines and the United States Army to fight land from sea into the center of battle . History . The United States ’ first role in amphibious warfare was inaugurated when the Continental Marines made their first amphibious landing on the beaches of the Bahamas during the Battle of Nassau on 2 March 1776 . Even during the Civil War , the United States Navy ’ s ships brought ashore soldiers , sailors , and Marines to capture coastal forts . General Robert E . Lee , the Confederate Army commander , declared : The victory over Spain in the Spanish - American War had greatly enabled the expansion of the United States . By the time the Treaty of Paris was ratified in 1898 the United States had annexed the Philippines in the western Pacific to influence foreign relations in China and Korea ; primarily through the presence of the Asiatic Squadron . The McKinley Administration included Guam and the Hawaiian Islands to the south Pacific insular area s of Samoa . Also , Congress approved the Foraker Act in the annexation of Puerto Rico for the defense and protection of the newly independent Cuba from any possible foreign attack . The government also negotiated with Nicaragua and Colombia for the right to build an isthmian canal through Panama . Due to the new , vast expansion of territory , the Navy began to assume strategic duties unimagined before 1898 . In 1900 , the " General Board of the Navy " was established to foresee and make recommendations on naval policy , assuming the tasks of the nation ' s naval expeditionary and strategic challenges . Around this time , the General Board developed some potential war plans for possible events that may be measured if such attacks were to be aimed for the continental east coast , the Antilles of the Caribbean , or the Panama Canal . The most dangerous , likely foe that the United States Navy faced was the British Royal Navy , and had been implemented into War Plan RED , however , relations had improved and both already committed to a growing rapprochement . It instead agreed that the next likely foe would be the Germany ' s Imperial Navy , a burgeoning force of warships that were at the disposal of Emperor Wilhelm II . In response to possible German naval invasion of the Caribbean or attacks on the east coast , the United States devised War Plan BLACK . To also include Germany having purchased Spain ' s remaining central Pacific island colonies , and the Mariana Islands and the Caroline Islands , and its establishment of a naval base in China in 1900 . And after the Russo - Japanese War , victorious Imperial Japan had serious plans of expanding its influence south and in the west Pacific . The United States Navy solely relied on the islands for refueling stations for the coal - powered navy ships ; the lifeline to the naval bases in the Philippines and Guam . If such an attack was initiated by the Japanese , a system of Pacific naval bases were needed to be built , in order to put War Plan ORANGE into effect . The sum of it all , the Navy ' s war planning after 1900 assumed that maritime attacks on the United States and its interests were possible in both the Pacific and the Caribbean , and given the thousands of miles the fleet would have to steam to provide security to the outermost bases of Guam , the Philippines , or of the similar . The General Board was convinced that it would require Marine expeditionary battalions that were capable in the hastily development of advanced bases , and it could not depend on the small and overextended United States Army to defend the bases in short , limited order . Advanced Base Force . Expeditionary battalions < BR > On the outset of the Spanish - American War , the Marines stormed the beaches of Cuba and captured Guantanamo Bay while the United States Army successfully landed at Santiago . It was First Lieutenant Dion Williams , who raised the United States Flag at Manila Bay in 1898 . Lt . Williams later epitomized the " modernized " doctrine of amphibious operations , focusing on seizure , preparation , and defense of advance bases , which also adopted the concept of amphibious reconnaissance . The Marine Corps had begun to come to the realization of utilizing methods of seizing and defending objectives on shore . The Marine Corps Commandant , Brigadier General William P . Biddle sent orders to Earl H . Ellis , a Marine Officer , to the Advance Force Base , which in later years was re - established as the Fleet Marine Force in regards to his report and thesis he had written at the Navy War College concerning the setting up of advanced bases . The Advanced Base School was created in conjunction for the Advanced Base Force in New London , Connecticut in 1910 . Fleet Marine Force . By the 1930s , the Fleet Marine Force , which consists of the United States Navy and Marine Corps was developed . During this period , they began to modernize amphibious warfare that fabricated into the seminal " Tentative Landing Operations Manual " which was implemented in 1935 . The doctrine set forth the organization , theory and practice of landing operations by establishing new troop organization and the development of amphibious landing crafts and tractors . Also , they emphasized the use of aerial and naval support in beach landings for the troops . The final element of the formula was the annual exercises called the ' Fleet Landing Exercises ' , or FLEX , which were conducted in the Caribbean , the California coast , and in the Hawaiian Islands . similar to the exercises conducted by LtCol Earl " Pete " Ellis on Culebra by the Advanced Base Force in January , 1914 . This preparation proved invaluable in World War II , when the Marines not only spearheaded many of the attacks against Japanese - held islands in the Pacific theater of war , but also helped train the United States Army divisions that also participated in the island - hopping campaign . Amphibious Corps . Throughout the Pacific campaign during World War II , both the United States Army and Marine Corps trained the new graduated recruits in joint - amphibious operations . Even the Army conducted its own facility to accommodate the training necessary , establishing the Amphibious Training Center ( ATC ) . It was pointed out that the number of amphibious troops in the United States was inadequate and that the Marine Corps was undermanned due to expansion problems in the Navy ' s budget . To further complicate problems in the development of amphibious warfare amongst the Marine Corps was that they were organized for aggressive , but limited objectives , instead of extensive operations that fully relied on larger ground forces that were capable of sustaining longer in combat , due to being well - funded and equipped . A notable result of the ATC was the deployment of Engineer Amphibian Brigades ( later called Engineer Special Brigade s ) , which were largely responsible for much of the amphibious resupply doctrine still in use by the United States Marine Corps today . The United States Navy controlled many joint units of the Army and the Marine Corps . The combined Army / Marine units consisted of two amphibious corps , the Amphibious Corps of the Pacific Fleet and of the Atlantic Fleet . These units represented the sum total of the amphibious forces of the United States , with the exception of small units of the Fleet Marine Force , which had been trained for amphibious raids . It was apparent that the United States Marine Corps did not have sufficient troops trained for the type of operation which was necessary to win the war . To sever the problems , the United States Navy controlled two joint Army - Marine " amphibious corps " , in which the Army and Marine Corps ' s forces were attached under : By 1943 , primarily due to disagreements between the services , the Army ceded this role to the Navy and Marine Corps , and the Army closed its Amphibious Training Center . Subsequently , the Marine subordinate units of the Amphibious Corps , Pacific Fleet ( ACPF ) were re - designated under the full command of the Marine Corps ' s V Amphibious Corps ( VAC ) .