Question about Base Forces

[Platoonist]

Ever heard the phrase 'The pen is mightier than the sword'

Yes. But I've always been fonder of Terry Prachett's quote: "The pen might not be mightier than the sword, but the printing press was heavier than the siege weapon."

[Don Bowen]

Bobcat was the code name for Bora Bora. The "unit" sent was a composite force:

Task Force 5614 (Task Force Bobcat):

• 102nd Infantry Regiment (less 1st and 3rd Battalions and Detachments) – 58 Officers and 1283 Men
• Battery A, 99th Field Artillery Battalion – 4 Officers and 142 Men
• Battery C, 99th Field Artillery Battalion – 4 Officers and 144 Men
• 198th Coast Artillery Regiment (AA) – 75 Officers, 1 Warrant Officer, 1330 Men
• HQ & HQ Battery, 3rd Battalion and Batteries F and H, 13th Coast Artillery Regiment – 14 Officers and 340 men (equipped with 7-inch guns removed from old battleship U.S.S. Connecticut)
• 8th Station Hospital – 20 Officers and 150 Men (no female nurses)
• 2 Sections of Company C, 94th QM Battalion (Bakery) – 1 Officer and 16 Men
• 1 Radio Repair Section, 175th Signal Company – 1 Officer and 10 Men
• Detachment, Quartermaster Corps – 3 Officers and 63 Men
• 695th Signal Air Warning Company – 6 Officers and 123 Men
• Detachment, Ordnance Department – 2 Officers and 38 Men
• Detachment, Finance Department – 1 Officer and 6 Men
• HQ Staff – 3 Officers plus 1 attached Marine Officer.
• 1st Naval Construction Detachment – 8 Officers and 250 Men (not part of garrison, to be withdrawn when construction of the fuel depot was completed)
• Naval Fuel Depot Operation Unit – 6 Officers and 123 Men
• VS-2D14 (Navy) – 9 Officers and 78 Men
• Two Civilian Red Cross personnel

Totals:
• Army – 192 Officers, 1 Warrant Officer, 3645 Men
• Navy – 23 Officers and 451 Men
• Marines – 1 Officer
• Civilian - 2

[RangerJoe]

Speaking solely from the US Navy perspective, bases forces came in four basic types plus innumerable "subs". Lions and Oaks, Cubs and Acorns. Components could be tailored to a specific base but these pre-defined units were preferred.

Lions were major port base forces (see above). The first Lion was deployed to the New Hebrides.

Cubs were minor port base forces, each about one-fourth of a Lion

Oaks were major air base forces.

Acorns were minor air base forces, each about one-fourth of an Oak.

Did the "Bobcats" battalion which was sent to Bora Bora count as one of these basic types? Or was Bobcats just an assigned CB code name?

The "Bobcats" were not a base force but a CB - Construction Battalion - and was referred to as the "Bobcats" because they were going to Bora Bora. I think that I would rather be referred to as a "Bobcat" than a "Bleacher," a "Button," or a "Rose!"

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/hi ... abees.html

The Seabees:

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/l ... ar-ii.html