Jungle Warfare (Pacific combat lessons)

COLD OPEN: We're reading from "Jungle Warfare," a 107-page lessons-learned compilation of Pacific jungle combat from the Philippines, Guadalcanal, and Bougainville. The document was compiled by veterans of combat in the Pacific jungles in World War II as a training manual. It's published as Fleet Marine Force Reference Publication (FMFRP) 12-9, Jungle Warfare. PROVENANCE: This document was released by The Black Vault, a website that archives various government documents. The canonical PDF is available at theblackvault.com/documents/wwii/marine1/129.pdf. THE DOCUMENT: FMFRP 12-9, Jungle Warfare, is published to ensure the retention and dissemination of useful information which is not intended to become doctrine or to be published in Fleet Marine Force manuals. This reference publication was compiled by veterans of combat in the Pacific jungles in World War II as a training manual. It will help the reader to understand the effects of jungle terrain on military operations. The jungle fighting in which we have participated in this war has for the most part taken place in the coastal areas of the South Pacific Islands. Our objectives have been the seizure of air fields or of sites suitable for development as bases for further operations of our ground forces and our air and naval craft. During the first two years of war New Guinea has been the only area in which we have fought in the mountain jungles. However, the terrain difficulties and the character of vegetation place similar restrictions on military operations regardless of whether they are carried out in the coastal jungles or in hilly, rolling or mountainous country. While operating in coastal regions of a tropical island, several sorts of terrain and vegetation will be encountered. There are cultivated areas largely given over to coconut plantations. These generally have a few fair coral tracks running through them. The tracks are of crushed coral and are from six to eight feet wide. Movement and visibility in the plantations are normal. The fronds of the trees give partial concealment from air observers. Air fields are easy to construct on the site of coconut groves for the ground is quite flat. Henderson and several other fields on Guadalcanal as well as Munda on New Georgia were formerly small parts of large coconut plantations. CONTEXT: The document is a training manual compiled by veterans of combat in the Pacific jungles in World War II. It provides lessons learned on jungle warfare, including terrain, vegetation, and weather, as well as tactics and techniques for operating in the jungle. OUTRO: This is what the public record looks like at its most ordinary. The document is available at theblackvault.com/documents/wwii/marine1/129.pdf.