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US Naval Infantry Battalion 2 was brought into being on August 11, 1998 by amalgamating personnel from the US Navy, USMC, and US Coast Guard. In the wake of the evacuation of the military facilities in San Diego at the start of the Second Mexican-American War, literally thousands of seamen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen were brought to the San Francisco Bay Area. The greatly reduced number of operable Navy vessels left the Navy in San Francisco with “excess” personnel. The Army had been demanding the transfer of personnel from the sister services since the nuclear exchanges began the previous July; in mid-1998 those demands assumed an even greater level of urgency.

As a compromise solution, the Navy divided its personnel in the San Francisco Bay Area into three groups: some would remain to support ongoing naval activity and maintain facilities, some would be released directly into the Army, and some would be formed into a Department of the Navy security unit that would release Army units in the Bay for duty elsewhere. The new Naval Infantry Battalion 2, which soon earned the moniker Blue Two, used its unique blend of experience and available equipment to form a waterborne patrol and quick reaction force. As of April 1, 2001 Blue Two operates on the waters and ashore from the Golden Gate to Sacramento and from Petaluma to San Jose.

Location: San Francisco Bay (HQ: Alameda)
Subordination: Sixth US Army
Manpower: 500
AFV: 0 (the battalion does possess a number of armed boats)



Blue Two is a compromise solution that has worked quite well, even though the solution makes few of the higher-ups happy. The consolidation of much of the Navy’s surviving West Coast assets at Alameda in San Francisco left the Navy in the awkward position of having a large number of personnel who were not performing their MOS functions. Under enormous pressure from the Army and the USMC, the Navy had been transferring less-critical personnel to replacement depots for employment in the ground forces. The unique situation and geography of the San Francisco Bay Area offered the Navy the opportunity to create a force of Department of the Navy personnel who could conduct security missions with an efficiency and effectiveness the Army could not match.

In a nutshell, Naval Infantry Battalion 2 is organized as a waterborne infantry formation intended for security and combat operations throughout the San Francisco Bay estuary. Utilizing its unique mix of Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard personnel and equipment, Blue Two patrols the waterways throughout the Bay Area and assists local militia and law enforcement. Although supplied and supported by the Navy, Blue Two is under the operational control of Sixth US Army. Troops of the Blue Two combat the re-emergence of piracy in the Bay and ensure that waterborne commerce can move freely. Though the “squids” of Blue Two are equipped as light infantry, they can count on fire support from their watercraft.

Sixth US Army would like to have full control over the men and resources of Blue Two. However, the command recognizes that supporting Blue Two out of Army resources would be undesirable, if not unworkable. Besides, the squids do the waterborne job quite well. Periodically, the Sixth Army absorbs some trained replacements out of Blue Two, which somewhat satiates the Army’s appetite for manpower.

The Navy at Alameda dislikes providing logistical support and manpower for an organization that is under the control of the Army. However, Blue Two basically does the same job under the Army that the Navy would have them do. The periodic transfer of riflemen from Blue Two to the Army is a genuine irritant; however, Blue Two actively poaches from the militia of the Bay Area. The most promising recruits manage to stay in the Navy.

Tactics and techniques for water operations largely came from Navy and Coast Guard personnel. Expertise in infantry operations and landing operations came from the Marines who were available. Former members of municipal SWAT teams rounded out the capabilities of Blue Two. Blue Two seldom operates very far from water. While riverine patrols reach as far inland as Sacramento, very rarely does a member of Blue Two get to Pleasanton, South San Jose, West Marin, or Napa. Despite its proximity to San Francisco, Pacifica is essentially outside the area of operations of Naval Infantry Battalion 2.



Then, too, there are the gunboats of the US Navy Infantry Battalion 2, known in its area of operations, San Francisco Bay, as Blue Two. Unlike the Gunryo, which has a very limited number of machine guns and a few mortars for its improvised gun trucks, Blue Two has the advantage of operating with support from the Navy base at Alameda. The selection of weapons is much better, and the availability of materials and technical specialists means that the various gunboats of Blue Two are well-designed, well-built, and well-armed [1].

Although the gunboats of Blue Two vary considerably in dimensions, armament, and draft, all combine direct fire weapons with indirect fire weapons. Usually, the gunboats of Blue Two have a principle gun or guns, such as a 25mm autocannon or twin-mounted .50 caliber machine guns. The primary gun usually is mounted in a full turret built for that purpose or a high-walled firing position with a gun shield for the crew. Secondary guns typically are M60 or M240B machine guns fired from pintle mounts behind gun shields. The most common indirect fire weapon is a 60mm mortar, although several Mk19 AGL are in use as well.

The troop carriers also carry a machine gun, but their role is not to engage in combat. The troop carriers of Blue Two are intended to put the naval infantry ashore, then withdraw while the gunboats provide direct fire support.

1 None of the gunboats used by Blue Two are custom-built. All are pre-Exchange vessels that have been modified.