ANGLICO has its origins in the Assault Signal Companies of World War II. The Army and Marine Corps both used ASCOs (although the Army called them JASCO) to coordinate naval gunfire and air support for amphibious landings. They consisted of Shore Fire Control Parties (SFCP) to direct gunfire from Navy vessels offshore, and Tactical Air Control Parties (TACP) to direct air support from carrier and land-based aircraft. The ASCOs were somewhat of an ad-hoc organization, especially in Army divisions, and were sometimes regarded as unwanted orphans. In 1947, the Joint Chiefs of Staff abolished the ASCOs and JASCOs. This is a good article by (then) LtCol Robert D Heinl, Jr. on the importance of the (J)ASCO, written shortly before the companies were disbanded.
In 1949 the Marine Corps saw fit to form the Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Companies. There was originally one ANGLICO per Marine Division, plus another ANGLICO under Fleet Marine Forces Atlantic (FMFLant). The former existed to support their partnered Marine Division in an amphibious assault, and the FMFLant ANGLICO was intended to support Army divisions during their own amphibious training. After the Vietnam War commenced, 1st ANGLICO deployed Sub-Unit 1 to support operations in that theater. Marines from Sub-Unit 1 fought in numerous major actions in Vietnam, all the way up until the Easter Offensive of 1972.
In Operation Desert Storm, ANGLICO truly came into its own as a liaison unit. ANGLICO teams were attached to various units from the Saudi Arabian Army and National Guard, and became a vital part of making sure that our Arab allies were capable of taking on the Iraqi Army. They developed a tight relationship with the Saudis, so much so that in the words of then-Capt Doug Kleinsmith, quoted in David J. Morris’s excellent book Storm On The Horizon, “At first there was sort of this weird posturing going on, but after a while it became a point of pride to have an ANGLICO team attached to you. If you were a Saudi commander and you didn’t have your ANGLICO team, you’d been snubbed.”
The teams fom 1st ANGLICO would play a pivotal role in the Battle for Khafji in January of 1991. Their command of artillery and air support were probably the single greatest factor that enabled the Saudis and Qataris to take the city back from the Iraqi Army. To steal another quote from Dave Morris, an Arab liaison officer assigned to 1st Marine Division made the remark, “ANGLICO was the single unifying element that brought it all together. With a mixed Coalition force the likes of which we had in northeastern Saudi Arabia you must, without question, have American advisors with common radio equipment cross-attached throughout the force. The fact that the ANGLICO guys were also fire-support gurus only sweetened the deal.”
In 1998, despite ANGLICO’s success in Desert Storm and the increasing emphasis on joint and coalition operations, the Marine Corps decided to disband the two active duty ANGLICOs. Their responsibilities were transferred to I and II Marine Liaison Elements (MLE), much smaller organizations that could not provide anywhere near the robust capability of a full-strength ANGLICO. For instance, when II MLE deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom I, they had 46 Marines with which to support the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and the Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade. However, in the summer of 2003 both 1st and 2d ANGLICO were reactivated, and an additional company was created on Okinawa, designated 5th ANGLICO. In the meantime, 3rd and 4th ANGLICO continued to deploy teams in support of our coalition partners in southeastern Iraq.
As of this time, 1st and 2d ANGLICO have both completed two deployments to Iraq. 1st ANGLICO is currently back over there for the 3rd time, and 5th ANGLICO will be joining the rotation and commencing their first deployment to Iraq as a company sometime next year. Originally the ANGLICOs were supporting a mix of Marine and Army infantry units, in order to augment their terminal air control capabilities. However, the mission is shifting to that of supporting the new Iraqi Army, much as our predecessors supported the Saudis in Desert Storm. You can expect to see ANGLICO Marines involved in the war in Iraq for many years to come, even as the US military presence starts to decline in the future. In my opinion, it is a great mission for ANGLICO, and one that will hopefully contribute materially to the safety and security of Iraq.
This post is by no means a comprehensive history of the ANGLICOs. It barely scratches the surface of what ANGLICO Marines have done over the past 60 years. One day, hopefully someone much smarter and more eloquent than I will actually undertake writing a comprehensive history of the ANGLICOs. In the meantime, I will post some links to articles and books about ANGLICO below.
1947 Minority Report on (J)ASCO
Marine Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company
Also, the book Storm On The Horizon by David J. Morris covers the exploits of 1st ANGLICO in Operation Desert Storm.
This was a good little “capes-brief” (so to speak) on the ANGLICO guys. Thanks. Hell, I didn’t even realize you guys were still around, so I know I learned something.
I was an army FO working with ANGLICO elements in the fall of ’67 and summer of ’68. We we all under operational control
of the 2d ARVN Regt, 1st ARVN INF. Along with the remains of David Lemcke, the partial remains of an ANGLICO Marine and the
partial remains of Brent Jones remained
buried on ALFA-One, the easternmost of the
“Dye Marker” bases. Jones mother got nothing
to bury, so I surmise the same goes for the
family of the Marine. Isn’t nearly 40 years
long enough?