This Military Service Page was created/owned by
CWO2 Philip E. Montroy
to remember
Marine BGen Bankson Holcomb Jr..
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Contact Info
Home Town Wilmington
Last Address U.S. Consulate London, England
Date of Passing Oct 05, 2000
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
BGen B. Holcomb, USMC retired in 1952. He was given a "Tombstone Promotion" to BGen upon retirement.
Other Comments:
BGen Holcomb was a cousin to Gen Thomas Holcomb, 17th CMC, and served under him from 1936-1943.
BGen Bankson Holcomb Jr., along with his friend & cohort Col. Alva Lasswell, is considered one of the "Founding Fathers" of the USMC Cryptologic Program. Like Lasswell, his career seems to have been impacted due to his years of duty with Naval Intelligence. The problems this caused didn't dampen the BGen.'s dedication or performance. He served his Corps and Country well. Holcomb, like Lasswell, blazed the trail for all of the Crypto/Signal Intelligence Marines to follow. BGen Holcomb was a great Marine Officer and a fine example for all Marines to follow.
Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic (FMFLANT) is an American maritime landing force that is spread across the Atlantic Ocean and reports to the United States Atlantic Command. It is headquartered at Naval Station Norfolk and directs and commands all the subordinate elements of the Navy Expeditionary Strike Force and Marine Air-Ground Task Force components that follow under the 2nd (Disestablished and merged with US Fleet Forces Command on 30 September 2011), 4th, and 6th Fleet and the Marine Forces Command (MarForCom). The Commanding General of Marine Forces Command is dual-posted as the Commanding General of the Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic. FMFLANT is under operational control of the Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet Forces Command, when deployed.
Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command (COMMARFORCOM), headquartered at the Naval Support Activity Center in Norfolk, Virginia, commands service retained-operating forces; executes force sourcing and synchronization to affect force generation actions in the provisioning of joint capable Marine Corps forces, and directs deployment planning and execution of service retained-operating forces in support of Combatant Commander (CCDR) and service requirements; serves as Commanding General, Fleet Marine Forces Atlantic (CG FMFLANT) and commands embarked Marine Corps forces; coordinates Marine Corps-Navy integration of operational initiatives and advises CDR U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFF) on support to Marine Corps forces assigned to naval ships, bases, and installations; conducts Service directed operational tasks as required.
As COMMARFORCOM, commands Service retained-operational forces. As CG FMFLANT, commands Service retained-operational forces embarked aboard Naval shipping.
Status and Command Relationships. MARFORCOM is a Service retained component headquarters with the following command relationships.
COMMARFORCOM reports to the Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC).
COMMARFORCOM commands and exercises administrative control (ADCON) of the following subordinate commands:
II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF)
Marine Corps Security Cooperation Group (MCSCG)
Marine Corps Security Force Regiment (MCSFR)
Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF)
