Marine Corps Test Unit The Marine Corps Test Unit 1 , or " MCTU # 1 " , was an experimental testing unit of the United States Marine Corps . It was established outside the Fleet Marine Force for the development of specialized tactics , techniques and organizational concepts , and to evaluate its tangible employment in the nuclear age . It reported directly to the Commandant of the Marine Corps . Mission . Mission objectives for Marine Corps Test Unit # 1 as directed by Commandant of the Marine Corps : History . The two atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan to end World War II demonstrated the threat of nuclear warfare . In December 1946 , Marine Corps instructor Colonel Robert E . Cushman , Jr . wrote an extensive staff report to then - Marine Commandant Alexander Vandegrift about feasible massive amphibious landings over small areas subject to potential tactical nuclear weapon s . He envisioned that the Marine Corps could no longer imagine small - scale operations , recommending the planning for greater mobility and dispersion , and focus entirely on operating more inland from the sea : It was not until 1951 , after the Korean War had commenced , that the Marine Corps began to develop heliborne experience in the battlefield when they used helicopter s to rapidly transport companies and battalions into the combat zone . However the Marine Corps didn ' t have enough helicopters nor the individual helicopter lift capability at that time to employ the tactics needed to implement Colonel Cushman ' s concept of dispersion . Marine Commandant Lemuel Shepherd ' s staff realized the Marine Corps was in need of a test unit outside the operationally committed Fleet Marine Force to develop special tactics , techniques and organizational concepts for the nuclear age ; however , it had to remain under operational control of the Commandant of the Marine Corps . On 1 July 1955 , Commandant Shepherd approved his staff ' s recommendation and activated Marine Corps Test Unit # 1 , near Basilone Road at Camp Horno on MCB Camp Pendleton . Deactivation of MCTU # 1 . The commandant acted upon that MCTU # 1 would case its colors and integrate its research and development , merging their roles into the amphibious reconnaissance companies . Major Bruce F . Meyers relieved Captain Michael Sparks as the commanding officer of 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Company on 18 June 1957 . The next day , 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Company received orders from the Fleet Marine Force , Pacific ( FMFPac ) and disbanded its colors . 1st Force Reconnaissance Company was activated on 19 June 1957 with Bruce F . Meyers as its first Commanding Officer . Captain Joseph Z . Taylor was his executive officer . Although the MCTU # 1 no longer existed , Major Meyers continued to pursue more unique methods in insertion capabilities . Organization . General Shepherd appointed Colonel Edward N . Rydalch as the Test Unit ' s commanding officer and Lieutenant Colonel Regan Fuller as the executive officer over a command of 104 marine officers , 1 , 412 enlisted , 7 navy doctors and 51 hospital corpsmen , and one chaplain . The MCTU # 1 initially began as a regimental - sized unit with a headquarters and service company ; one infantry battalion consisting of four companies ; one 75mm anti - tank platoon ; one 4 . 2 - inch mortar platoon ; one 75mm pack howitzer artillery battery . The Test Unit ' s Operations ( S - 3 ) officer was Major Dewey " Bob " Bohn . The Infantry Battalion was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Stanley Nelson , with Major Willmar " Bill " Bledsoe as the executive officer . It was assigned to test the feasibility of conducting major ' helicopter ' landing assaults projected from the sea . Similarly , amphib recon Marines tested the usage of submarine s for coastal projection during World War II . A Plans and Development ( P & D ) Section was formed on April 1955 to evaluate the trials and tests of the infantry battalion and other subordinated unit ' s experiments with MCTU # 1 . Major Bruce F . Meyers reported for duty and was initially was assigned as the assistant operations officer of the infantry battalion . He was subsequently redesignated as the Helicopter Assault Airborne Techniques Officer . By September 1955 , the reconnaissance platoon , commanded by Captain Joseph Z . Taylor , was added to resolve the amphibious reconnaissance role in the Fleet Marine Force . It was also tasked to bring the past force - " level " preliminary amphib recon methods of World War II towards a modern approach that included parachute insertions and helicopter capabilities . An air element of a medium helicopter squadron was augmented with three observation helicopters and an additional six Grumman F9F - 2 Panthers to support MCTU # 1 during its research and development . A Marine Air Wing element was attached along with administrative and logistic support at the request from nearby MCAS El Toro . Around late May in 1957 , MCTU # 1 finalized all their reports summarizing the last two years of the heliborne assault exercises , nuclear weapons testing , and the recon platoon ' s parachute reconnaissance and pathfinding experiments into a sixty - page after - action report archived as " Test Project 6H " . By early June , the recon platoon received the last remaining jumpers from MCTU # 1 and were adjoined by several more recon marines from the 1st Marine Division Recon Company that became jump qualified . On 18 June 1957 , the reconnaissance platoon from the test unit was disbanded and reported to 1st Marine Division , FMF , then to its headquarters battalion to assume command of the 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Company . Major Bruce F . Meyers relieved Captain Michael Spark , who was later killed in the Vietnam War and awarded the Navy Cross . The next day on 19 June 1957 , the newly assembled 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Company was dissolved , casing its colors for the establishment of 1st Force Reconnaissance Company , Fleet Marine Force . Plans and Development Section . In April 1955 , Colonel Edward Rydalch created a separate Plans and Development Section in an effort to author staff studies for various tests by the subordinated units of marine corps Test Unit # 1 and make evaluations and reports to the commandant on their progress . Colonel Rydalch assumed additional duties as the titular head of the P & D Section . He assigned Lieutenant Colonels Regan Fuller and Chuck Bailey as the executive officers and supervisors of the daily tests and evaluations that were to be generated by P & D . The section operated much like a subsidiary to Operations ( G - 3 ) but with nominal independence within MCTU # 1 . It was established in the newly constructed ' Butler Building ' , dubbed as the " War Room " . The building was completely surrounded by barbed wire and had an armed guard on post . A significant figure that revolutionized the modern scope of the marine corps reconnaissance doctrine was ( then - ) Captain Bruce F . Meyers . Prior to his assignment with the test unit , Meyers was a combat swimming instructor and also the officer - in - charge ( OIC ) of the Amphibious Reconnaissance School , NAB Coronado for 35 months . During his tenure as OIC , he began to develop innovative ideas of deeper parachute insertion methods from aircraft projected from aircraft carrier s . He figured if the aircraft could slow down enough to land on carriers , then they could slow sufficiently for parachutists to exit and deploy their parachutes . Meyers took this ' parachute entry ' concept to Brigader General Lewis " Chesty " Puller , who requested that Meyers write a letter to the commandant , outlining the plans and thoughts on deeper reconnaissance and pathfinding . With Chesty Puller ' s endorsement , the commandant directed Meyers to attend parachutists ' schools . Meyers spent two weeks on Temporary Additional Duty orders to the Naval Parachute Loft on NAS North Island , then was sent to Fort Benning for one year with the United States Army service schools to attend the US Army Infantry School , and the parachute and jumpmaster courses . Upon completion , he was directed to report to the Marine Corps Test Unit # 1 to test his ideas of deep parachute entry in use with reconnaissance . Major Bruce F . Meyers reported to MCTU # 1 in early April 1955 and was immediately assigned as the assistant operations officer . By May 1955 , Major Meyers was reassigned to the P & D as the " Reconnaissance / Pathfinder Project Officer " , until his title was initially changed to " Helicopter Assault Airborne Techniques Officer " to reflect the test unit ' s heliborne capabilities within the infantry battalion ; his duties remained the same despite the title change . After setting up the Standing Operating Procedure for Test Unit 1 , Major Meyers and the Test Unit ' s executive officer , Lieutenant Colonel Fuller , prepared a detailed recommendation to their commanding officer , Colonel Rydalch , and to the commandant for approval of forming and training a reconnaissance platoon for MCTU # 1 . Reconnaissance Platoon . The Reconnaissance Platoon , Marine Corps Test Unit # 1 , of some twenty marines was established in September 1955 after the approval of the commandant , by the recommendation of the P & D Section and the commanding officer of MCTU # 1 . The Reconnaissance Platoon was the precursor to the Force Reconnaissance companies and was created to be employed exclusively in the training , testing , and exercises designed to validate reconnaissance theories and techniques of an all - helicopter assault . These were applied to the higher levels in the echelon in addition to use at the battalion or regimental landing team - " level " . This recon platoon subsequently became the pivotal beginning of the existing deep recon assets that are maintained at Fleet Marine Force - " level " . The test unit ' s executive officer , Lieutenant Colonel Fuller , personally requested Captain Joseph Z . Taylor , a reconnaissance company commander with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion , to be the reconnaissance platoon commander . Taylor had served under Lietenant Colonel Fuller in 1950 when Fuller was the commanding officer of 2nd Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion on MCB Camp Lejeune . Taylor recently returned from reconnaissance exercise ( RECONEX ) 551 at Iwo Jima aboard the " USS Perch " ( ASPP - 313 ) with 3rd Recon Battalion . This allowed Taylor to bring fresh submarine and rubber raft experiences to the test unit ' s experimental reconnaissance platoon . Lieutenant Colonel Regan Fuller tasked both Bruce Meyers and Joseph Taylor to seek innovative ways in finding practical aircraft , equipment , and methods to enhance and develop the emerging deep reconnaissance capability in the marine corps . Subordinate training . Infantry battalion . Early 1955 , the four - company infantry battalion trained in wooden mockups of Sikorsky helicopters in repetitive troop exercises , making the battalion fully capable of being helicopter transportable by following spring . Exercise Desert Rock VI . On March 22 , 1955 , the infantry battalion of MCTU # 1 was temporary assigned to the 3rd Marine Corps Provisional Atomic Exercise Brigade , or 3rd MCPAEB , to participate in Exercise Desert Rock VI - codenamed " Operation TEAPOT " . Operation TEAPOT was a series of tactical nuclear weapon s tests with active nuclear warheads conducted by the United States Atomic Energy Commission at the Nevada Test Site . The battalion and its detached aviation elements were involved in Shot ' Bee ' . A nuclear weapon was detonated simultaneously as the infantry battalion maneuvered within away from ground zero , acting as an amphibious battalion landing force in the vicinity of a nuclear fallout . Close air support was used , targeting the helicopter Landing Zone s ninety seconds before the marines were set down . While the marines were advancing , the mushroom cloud was still forming above . The battalion simulated their attacks through a buildup of mock trenches and facilities made to resemble an city . Exercise Desert Rock VI also concluded tests in the effects of the atomic blast on their equipment and marines on the ground . Equipment and mannequins were placed in different locations of varying distances from ground zero , all displayed in different degrees of protection . After the detonation and fallout cleared , the marines from the infantry battalion , Marine Corps Test Unit # 1 , were taken and shown the effects of their equipment and mannequins . The after - action report with the photographs that were taken before and after photographs revealed that their tanks had turrets blown off , amphibious tracked vehicles were turned upside - down , and the mannequins in the open were vaporized . However , the distance from ground zero and the additional level of protection proved noteworthy . The tactical exercise that they had successfully demonstrated gave the marine corps a survivability estimate and an appreciation for the atomic power of nuclear weapons . Reconnaissance Platoon . The Reconnaissance Platoon of Marine Corp Test Unit # 1 conducted ground reconnaissance training to hone their skills , as well as basic and advanced amphibious recon training that was set up through the liaison at the Amphibious Reconnaissance School , Troop Training Unit , Pacific ( TTUPac ) on NAB Coronado . Another training liaison was established with the Commander of the Naval Air Force , US Pacific Fleet , or COMNAVAIRPAC , at NAS North Island in enrolling the recon platoon into the Navy ' s SERE School and the USAF ' s Escape and Evasion course ; originally designed for pilots that faced the possibility of being shot over enemy territory . It became a reasonable conclusion that reconnaissance marines would be operating deep behind enemy lines and would require such training . After MCTU # 1 had been dissolved , the 1st Force Reconnaissance Company continued to experiment in newer innovative means in projecting and recovering their recon Marine operators from behind enemy lines safely and efficiently . In 1956 Free Fall parachuting was illegal in the United States Armed Forces . Reserve captain Jacques - Andre Istel , USMCR who had led a civilian team to the 1956 World parachuting Championships in Moscow wrote to HQMC recommending the use of free fall parachuting for reconnaissance . The letter ultimately led to the " HALO " ( high altitude low opening ) project . His company , Parachutes Incorporated , was awarded the contract to train the US Army in free fall parachuting at Fort Bragg in 1957 . The USMC requested training in free fall . PI provided instructor Daryl Henry , also an architect . Istel later commanded VTU 1 - 1 , the only Reserve Recon unit . The MCTU # 1 participated in major exercises with the first assembled Marine Air - Ground Task Force during Air - Ground Landing Exercise 57 - I ( AGLEX 57 - I ) in December 1957 , and Operation SKI JUMP in January 1957 . During Operation SKI JUMP , the reconnaissance platoon were to provide pre - D - Day reconnaissance , and later pathfinding , for the upcoming helicopter assault waves . Thirty days prior to the scheduled landing , or D - Day minus thirty ( D - 30 ) , the reconnaissance platoon was divided into two separate reconnaissance teams and parachuted into two separated drop zones to reconnoiter the planned helicopter landing zones . A simulated nuclear weapon was to be detonated between the two helicopter landing zones at 0810 the same day , prior to the planned pathfinder drop and following after helicopter landings of a battalion of marines . The mock atomic bomb was made of barrels of napalm buried into the ground . The pathfinder teams were scheduled to parachute to their respective drop zones , DZ Yellow and DZ Red , at 0815 . Three parachutist Marines were killed during SKI JUMP on January 17 at Case Springs , a high plateau and wooded area on Camp Pendleton . Severe winds suddenly appeared while the parachutists were in their descent . Corporal Ben Simpson and PFC Matthew J . O ' Neill Jr . , were dragged over . They were found dead by Major Bruce Meyers , their skulls were crushed and helmets gone due to the drag . Lieutenant Kenneth Ball , the jumpmaster in the stick , was knocked unconscious and wasn ' t able to attempt the quick - release ; he later died at the Camp Pendleton hospital from multiple intrusions . The marines in the reconnaissance platoon were using the standard military - issued T - 10 parachutes . One of the findings were that the T - 10 safety " quick - release " on the front of the harness made it quite impossible to detach in case of emergencies , even after frequent practice by the parachutists . Dirt and small rocks fouled the quick - releases while the harnesses were dragged at over the ground , making them ineffective . The Board of Investigations concluded that improvements to their parachutists and equipment were to be provided . Chief Warrant Officer Lewis " Lew " T . Vinson suggested that the Capewell canopy release be installed on all the Marines ' parachutes , static - line or free - fall , to permit the jumper to get out of the harness if caught in a drag . Later , the Army Parachute Board came to the same conclusion at Fort Benning and Fort Bragg . Six army parachutists had been recently killed at Fort Bragg in the same manner as the unfortunate marines at Case Springs . Because of these deaths , it led to the recommendation and requirement of adopting the Capewell Release by all the services . Parachutist and jumpmaster training . Not until April 1956 , the marines in the Recon Platoon were able to gain the necessary quotas to send the recon platoon leader , Captain Joe Taylor , and his twenty enlisted marines to the United States Army Airborne School at Fort Benning , Georgia . However , Bruce Meyers was the only marine within MCTU # 1 that had parachutist experience and qualifications and recognized the perils of not being prepared for airborne school . Through their recommendation , Meyers and Taylor were able to construct its own ' pre - jump school ' to prepare marines for the course ; this prevented the loss of Marines that became unqualified due to the Test Unit ' s training quota . Captain Taylor managed to get the services of Sergeant Robert Zweiner , a parachute rigger from an Air Delivery Platoon at the nearby airstrip on Camp Pendleton . Sgt . Zweiner led a grueling course , instructing the Marines in Parachute Landing Fall s ( PLFs ) , body positioning and positive exits from aircraft . All of them were able to pass the pull - up physicals and complete the long runs ; by the time the Test Unit ' s recon Marines were sent to the actual school , they were well - prepared and everyone passed the course , each earning their silver wings and returning to MCTU # 1 . Robert Zweiner was quickly reassigned and transferred to MCTU # 1 to head the test unit ' s newly formed Parachute Loft , becoming the founder of 1st Force Reconnaissance Company ' s Paraloft . Although all the Marines assigned to the Test Unit ' s recon platoon were now low - level static line qualified , Major Bruce Meyers was still , however , the only Marine in MCTU # 1 with free - fall experience . Meyers ' s next objective were to turn the majority of Marines in the recon platoon to become also free - fall qualified . Once again , Meyers set up training with a training liaison to send a bulk of the platoon on temporary additional duty on 1 July 1956 to the Naval Parachute Unit ( NPU ) at Naval Auxiliary Air Station in El Centro , California . Under the instructions of a very highly qualified Navy jumpmaster , Chief Warrant Officer Lewis " Lew " T . Vinsen , introduced the art of free - falling to the recon platoon . Due to the free exchange and cross - training cooperation in these efforts , on one occasion , Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger from Wright Patterson Test Center jumped several times with the Marines of Recon Platoon , Marine Corps Test Unit # 1 . Capt . Kittinger later made , and still holds , the world - record for the highest free - fall parachute jump from the gondola of a high - altitude balloon . The recon Marines would jump on average two - to three - times daily testing various types of parachutes , which soon became apparent by both MCTU # 1 and NPU that the Marine should also try to become ' navy test parachutists ' due to the increased sophisticated and variant types of free - fall jumps the recon Marines were experimenting . By the next year , Major Bruce Meyers , Captain Joe Taylor , Sergeant Robert Zweiner and several others of the ' more - qualified ' Marines parachutists within the test unit ' s recon platoon subsequently became qualified as " Naval Test Parachutists " after completing the twenty - two jump syllabus . In the realization of the increasingly sophisticated parachute jumps , jumpmaster s were assigned to oversee the overall conduct of the jumps performed . The most important aspect of this training was the jumpmaster ' s judgment , determining the exit points that would best get his Marines into the LZ , and to judge the winds appropriately both on the ground and aloft . Eventually , all the staff non - commissioned officers were jumpmaster qualified after five jumps as Assistant Jumpmasters . Off - carrier tests . One of the highest priorities considered for reconnaissance and pathfinder parachute insertions in the Marine Corps were to expand its capability in jumping from carrier - based aircraft . The jump logs for MCTU # 1 and the first twenty months of 1st Force Recon has shown various types of parachutes and different carrier - based aircraft that had been experimented in finding alternative methods parachute entry , such as the Fairchild C - 119 Flying Boxcars , Douglas R4D - 6 Skytrains , Lockheed P2V Neptunes , L - 2 Beavers , AJ - 2 Savages , F3D - 2 Skyknights , TF - 1 Trader and A - 3 Skywarrior s . Beginning in May 1956 , Major Bruce , Captain Taylor and Sergeant Zweiner headed to the Air Transport Squadron Five ( VR - 5 ) at NAS North Island and spent countless hours examining the Grumman TF - 1 Trader . Originally , the TF - 1 Trader was a carrier onboard delivery aircraft , whose primary mission was the consignment of personnel , mail , and critical parts for the naval carrier vessel itself . It was capable of launching off every size of naval carrier , even its smallest , in the United States Fleet . Detachments of VR - 5 were dispersed worldwide everywhere US Naval carriers were sent . This proved the feasibility of the TF - 1 , assuring of it being potentially accessible almost virtually anywhere in the world . The only difficulty was that the TF - 1 Trader never in the past had foreseen its use in parachute deployment , modifications were made to the bombing bay chutes by mounting anchor - line cables to allow parachutists to hook up their static lines . After a thorough review of aerial and still photography , plus extra scrutiny of the aircraft , they attached dummies with the appropriate weight and gear and tested its use . Major Meyers , CWO Lew Vinson and two other NPU parachute engineers made the first live jumps from the TF - 1 carrier aircraft on 9 – 13 July 1956 . They began to test later jumps with the TF - 1 by wearing additional combat gear , including weapons , packs and the AN / GRC9 radio . The " first " " off - carrier " parachute jump test in naval aviation history was on July 26 , 1956 , when the Test Unit arranged a TF - 1 Trader from VR - 5 to depart the " USS Bennington ( CVA - 20 ) " and the Marines be recovered from sea . The Marines from Recon Platoon , MCTU # 1 , Major Bruce Meyers , 1stLt . Donald E . Koelper ( later killed in combat as a Captain , receiving the first Navy Cross of the Marine Corps in the Vietnam War ) , and PFCs Kenneth Bell and Matthew O ' Neill ( later killed during the Test Unit ' s parachute training ) made the jump . In August 1956 , the recon platoon made its first parachute jump from a jet aircraft , the F3D - 2 Skyknight . The American broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite later filmed 2nd Force Recon in their off - carrier parachute jumps from the A3D Skywarrior in " The New Recon Marines " in 1962 . Pathfinder training . The development of Marine Corps pathfinding in the Test Unit were first being tested in April 1953 . The Marine Corps Test Unit # 1 ' s concept of pathfinder methods were ; to develop techniques for undetected movement from their drop zones ( DZ ) to the preselected helicopter landing sites and approach - lane control points , coordination timing for pathfinder drops with atomic or other fire support , and methods for last - minute emplacement of visual and electronic terminal guidance aids . After the Grumman TF - 1 Trader was tested operationally for parachute entry in reconnaissance , the Recon Platoon assembled and trained as pathfinder teams ; designed to parachute in , set up , and operate one helicopter landing zone consisting of one or more landing points for individual helicopters . Many of the pathfinder methods were developed by the recon - pathfinder Marines themselves . Major Bruce Meyers set up a direct liaison with their helicopter counterparts at MCAS El Toro and MCAS Santa Ana of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing . The helicopter crew and the Test Unit ' s recon platoon cross - trained in a series of day - and - night trial and error tests . They used the emergency SE - 11 signal lights and the Justrite , a three - colored high - intensity beam used to guide pilots onto aircraft carriers during night landings . The Justrite had a simple visual sight that was intended for aiming either the lower edge , bottom red lens , indicating a too - low descent ; the middle green lens , indicating a perfect elevation and / or descend ; and the upper , top amber lens , indicating that the pilot must increase his rate of descend so as not to overshoot the landing zone ( LZ ) . If the pilot saw " red " , he were to decrease his rate of descend and immediately climb up until he was back into the " green " . In September 1956 , Recon Platoon of MCTU # 1 tested their pathfinding capabilities , the " first " operational use of Marine pathfinders in the Marine Corps . In preparation for the Air - Ground Landing Exercises ( AGLEX ) 57 - E that was to be scheduled for early 1957 , a pathfinder team parachuted into MCB Camp Pendleton from a TF - 1 Trader , established visual and radio aids and guided four helicopters to a designated LZ . It was proved satisfactory in utilizing the procedures and techniques worked out between the pathfinder teams , Marine Aircraft Group 36 ( MAG - 36 ) and MARS - 37 . On 28 March 1957 , the pathfinders jumped in Helicopter Landing Exercise IV ( HELILEX IV ) with 3rd Battalion 1st Marines . Extraction and recovery methods . The MCTU # 1 reported to the Commandant of the Marine Corps that they had proven and tested its capability in full operational methods of insertion for deeper pre - assault and post - assault parachute reconnaissance . It would supplement the already existing methods of amphibious reconnaissance of areas close proximity of the littoral landing beaches . The Marines now had the capability of carrier - launching recon teams , day or night , for effecting penetration of enemy radar air defenses and postdrop retirement of the carrier aircraft . Important among the reconnaissance and pathfinder elements were to improve the existing methods of post - reconnaissance evasion and recovery of the reconnaissance and pathfinder teams . It was already logical that if the recon teams were on , or near , the littoral areas of an amphibious operation , they were close enough to be extracted by submarine or seaplane . However , since Marines were going to be penetrating and inserting deeper into enemy territory , it was time to develop practical means in overland evasion techniques to reach the availed recovery that is coherently from the sea . In September 1956 , the first training exercises in evasive methods were in the rugged Laguna Mountains , east of San Diego in a region between MCB Pendleton and El Centro in California . The recon Marines chose the Cuyamaca Reservoir , a large , grassy , dried - up reservoir suitable for a night parachute drop zone and subsequent helicopter landing zone . The recon platoon was broken down into four - man recon teams and planned three successive jumps from the TF - 1 Trader and two night jumps from the F3 - D Skyknight jet . A P5M Marlin seaplane was arranged to rendezvous with the teams off the western shore of the Salton Sea at dawn for recovery once they conducted their preliminary pre - D - Day reconnaissance . The recon Marines would traverse by foot due east through the Colorado Desert and Chocolate Mountains to be picked up the seaplane . The recon platoon even made arrangements with the civilian agencies to create maximum realism to their evasion exercises . They notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the United States Border Patrol , and the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , as well as all police agencies working in the area . The local authorities would simulate enemy patrols ; the realism added extreme scrutiny to the trials and tests of the recon platoon ' s training . These long - range , cross - country evasion exercises were copied and exacted from the Royal Marines ; it depicted the similar roles in the British film " The Cockleshell Heroes " . References . The " New Yorker " 25 April 1959 Letter dated 19 November 1956 to CMC Code AO2 from Captain Jacques A Istel , 057676 / 0302 , USMCR Subject : New technique of reconnaissance Army contract to Parachutes Incorporated