The
Rebirth of Beach Jumpers
On 28 June 1951, Beach Jumper Unit ONE and
TWO were reactivated. In July 1951., requirements for Beach Jumper
Units again became evident; Beach Jumper Unit-1 (Pacific Fleet) and Beach Jumper
Unit-2 (Atlantic Fleet) were commissioned under a new directive of the Chief Naval
Operations. Beach Jumper Unit-1 was formally commissioned 26 July 1951 at U. S.
Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado., California. Administrative control of the Unit
was held by Commanding Officer, Naval Amphibious Training Unit but under
operational control of Commander, Amphibious Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Unit
internal organization was similar to shipboard organization. Personnel allowance
included ten officers and eighteen enlisted men.
As during their initial start there were
those who questioned the worth of a deception unit in these modern times. As a
fleet training exercise was planned, the Beach Jumpers unit was given a chance to
prove their worth. It didn’t take the Navy long to realize that deception still
played an important part in modern warfare.
Beach Jumpers knew that Fleet communications
from COMPHIBLANT to ships at sea were relayed through radio Washington. Pretending
to be COMPHIBLANT they sent an official message, via Radio Washington, ordering
every ship Commanding Officer to report aboard the flagship the next morning to
discuss terminating the exercise. The next morning at least half of the ships
Commanding officers were aboard the flagship in a state of mounting confusion and
anger. All doubt as to the worth of the Beach Jumpers program was quickly erased.
Through the late 1950's and
into the early 1960's as the Cold War evolved into the "Counterinsurgency
Era," Beach Jumper expertise in the area of manipulative and imitative
deception and electronic warfare (EW) was employed in revolutionary new ways, both
during scheduled fleet exercises and on actual operations. Additionally, a
new secondary mission for Beach Jumper ONE was directed:
"To plan and execute
Psychological Operations in support of commands to which it has been
assigned".
|