Marine Corps Recruit Depot - Yearbook (San Diego, CA)

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Colonel J. R. Davis Commanding Officer, Recruit Training Regiment Colonel J. R. Davis enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1960 and was commissioned a second Lieutenant in April, 1964, under the meritorious non-commissioned officer program. Colonel Davis’ past assignments have included: Executive Officer, Marine Detachment, USS Essex; Platoon and Company Commander, 2D Battalion, 2D Marines; Advisor. Vietnamese Army, Republic of Vietnam; Instructor, U.S. Army Special Warfare School, Ft. Bragg; S-4 Officer, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines; Marine Officer Instructor, NROTC, University of Florida. Gainesville; Head, Requirements Branch. Special Projects Directorate. Headquarters Marine Corps; Administrative Assistant Aide to the Chief of Staff. Headquarters Marine Corps: Commanding Officer, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division; Executive Officer, 7th Marine Regiment; and Officcr-in-Chargc, Marine Detachment, Pohang, Korea. Colonel Davis’ last assignment was Commanding Officer, Headquarters and Service Battalion. Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego. The many personal decorations awarded to Colonel Davis include the Silver Star Medal. Bronze Star Medal with V”, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon. Good Conduct Medal, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Gold Star and Silver Star, and the Vietnamese Honor Medal. Colonel Davis is a graduate of the Amphibious Warfare School, the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the Naval War College. Additionally, he holds a Bachelors Degree in Sociology, a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Florida, and a Masters Degree in Management from Salve Regina College. Married to the former Barbara McVickcr of Toledo, Ohio, Colonel Davis and his wife have two daughters. Cynthia and Christine.

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THE MENTAL AND MORAL QUALITIES of the United States Marine have been tested constantly since the birth of the nation. All through the long history of the Marine Corps there are examples, both in war ami peace, of his versatility, trustworthiness, singleness and tenacity of purpose, courage, faithfulness and self-sacrifice. The rich tradition of the Corps dates back to November 10. 1775. when it was established by the Contintental Congress. In the Revolutionary War, tlx Marines fought against the British Fleet on the ships of john Paul Jones, and made their first amphibious landing on the beaches of the Bahamas in 1776. Marines ended their war with the Mediterranean pirates when they planted the Stars ami Stri|x-s over the pirate stronghold of Dcrne. in Tripoli, after a six-hundred-mile march across the desert of North Africa. In the War of 1812. they fought on Lake Champlain and l.akc Erie, and were with General Jackson behind the barricades at New Orleans They defeated the Seminole Indians in the dense swamps of Florida in 1836. and fought under General Scott in the Mexican War of 1846-48 Their first visit to Japan came in 1854 as guard detachments from the ships of Commodore Perry’s fleet Under tin- command of Colonel Robert E. Lee. U.S.A., Marines captured John Brown at Harper's Ferry in 1859. They fought savages in Formosa in 1867. ami stormed the barrier forts of Korea in 1871. During the Spanish-American War. a single battalion of Marines held the naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Cuba, against 6.000 Spaniards, while other Leathernecks distinguished themselves at the Battle of Santiago and with Dewey at Manila They helped quell the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900. and from then on until World War I. men of the Corps campaigned in tin- Philippines. Cuba. Mexico, Haiti, ami Santo Domingo to protect American lives and property On the battlefields of France. Marines were called Devil Dogs” by the Germans because of their courage and tenacity of attack. In the first World War. the Fourth Brigade of Marines took part in five operations as part of tlx- famed Second Division of the A E F.—Bellcau Wood. Soissons. St Mihiel. Chapagne. and the Meuse-Argonne. Marine units were decorated six times by the French during these campaigns. Tlx interim between world wars found the Marines engaged in developing the technique of amphibious warfare and in their traditional pursuits around tlx? globe, from guarding the U S. mails to fighting bandits in Nicaragua. World War II saw the men who wear the eagle, globe, and and anchor valiantly defend Wake Islam! and Bataan and then spearhead the amphibious landings across the Pacific.. .in the Solomons, at Tarawa. Saipan. Guam. Iwo Jima, ami Okinawa, to name a few. Following the war. Marines found a new type of service—duty with United Nations Forces in Korea. The United States Marine Corps, rich in tradition and world-famed for its battle record and esprit de corps, plays an important role as the nation’s forc«rin-readiness” to help keep tire peace throughout tlx-world today.