WrrH THE 2D MARINE DWISION IN DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM             7


been disbanded in 1988. Its place in the 6th Marines was taken by the 2d
Battalion, 2d Marines, the remaining battalion of the 2d Marines. (flie 1st and
3d Battalions, 2d Marines, had deployed with 4th MEB in August.)  As noted
earlier, the 8th Marines had to leave two of its four battalions behind to cover
any other MEF commitments which might arise. The 3d Battalion, 23d Marines,
a Reserve unit headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana became, the 8th
Marine's third battalion.~
   These additions filled out the two infantry regiments. The division's artillery
regiment, the  10th Marines, needed some reinforcement as well. The 1st
Battalion, 10th Marines, had sailed in August as the artillery support of the 4th
MEB;  the 4th Battalion had  been deactivated in the summer       of 1989.
Fortunately, elements of the 3d Marine Division had also been ordered to Saudi
Arabia to reinforce I MEF; so the 2d Battalion, 12th Marines, from that division
joined the regiment on 14 January 199127 This battalion had just added Battery
L, 4th Battalion, 12th Marines, to its organization prior to its deployment. Now,
with the transfer to it of Battery S, 5th Battalion, 10th Marines, it became a
"4x6" battalion, composed of four batteries of six 155mm howitzers each.~ Two
reserve batteries, K and M, of the 4th Battalion, 14th Marines, had been joined
to the 5th Battalion, 10th Marines, bringing that unit also to four batteries. This
battalion had just completed its transition from self-propelled to towed artillery
in June. When it received the 155mm self-propelled howitzers from the MPS
squadron, it bad to reverse this course and become a self-propelled unit once
more.~ Other batteries which attached to the 10th Marines were Batteries D and
F from the 2d Battalion, 14th Marines, 4th Marine Division; Battery D, 2d
Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division; and Battery H, 3d Battalion, 12th
Marines, 3d Marine Division.


                            Photograph courtesy of U.S. Army, 1st Cavalry Division Museum
MiAl tank belongs to the U.S. Army's 1st Brigade ("Tiger"), 2d Armored Division,
which operated as a part of the 2d Marine Division during the Gulf War.