3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion Patch

The gator standing in the hatch on this patch is Gator, the mascot of 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, the amtrac outfit Marines call 3rd Tracks. The battalion was activated on 16 September 1942 in San Diego as the 3rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion. It carried the 3rd Marine Division ashore at Bougainville, Guam and Iwo Jima. Today it is one of two active duty assault amphibian battalions in the Corps, assigned to the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton. Its crews now drive the Amphibious Combat Vehicle, which replaced the AAV.

At Bougainville the battalion landed in 124 LVT-1s, at Guam in 193 LVT-2s and LVT-4s, and at Iwo Jima in 90 LVT-2 Water Buffalos. It was deactivated on 1 May 1946 and reactivated at Camp Pendleton on 1 April 1952, moving to the LVT-5 in the late 1950s and standing by through the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. From March 1966 to January 1970 it fought in Vietnam from Chu Lai, Da Nang, An Hoa and Hoi An. The LVT-7 arrived in the early 1970s, and on 30 December 1976 the unit became 3d Assault Amphibian Battalion. In the early 1980s its LVT-7s went through the Service Life Extension Program and came out as AAV-7A1s.

The patch measures 3.88 by 3.5 inches, a yellow disc with a scroll across the bottom, all trimmed in a red merrowed edge, the colors of the Corps. The scroll reads 3RD ASLT AMPH BN in black block letters. An olive drab amtrac sits broadside across the field with its antenna up. In front of it, the gator in a helmet and goggles stands in a hatch ring lined with white vision blocks, the way a crew chief rides with his head out. The back is sew-on, so it has to be stitched in place and should not be ironed.

In 1990 the battalion deployed to Saudi Arabia and formed the mechanized infantry elements of Task Force Ripper for Desert Storm. On 9 December 1992 it rolled ashore near Mogadishu with the 15th MEU for Operation Restore Hope, then pushed on to Bardera, Baidoa and Kismayo. In March 2003 it crossed from Kuwait into Iraq and carried Marines to Baghdad, earning the Presidential Unit Citation. Delta Company, the reinforced company at Twentynine Palms, was retired in 2021 after nearly four decades. Amtrackers remember the salt spray, the long hours of maintenance and the grunts they carried.

Put it in a shadow box with a photo of your track and a 1st Marine Division patch, or stitch it on the vest you wear to a 3rd Tracks reunion. It also makes a good gift for a Marine who crewed AAVs or the new ACVs, or for a family member who wants his unit on a jacket. Ship to shore, then keep rolling.