How did the performance of the US Army and Marine Corps compare in the WWII Pacific Theater?

by Dorigoon

Not really sure what I'm looking for here (success rate of missions? kill/death ratios? other measures?), but has there been any scholarly work that studied how these two groups did compared to each other?

the_howling_cow

Many people primarily associate American involvement in the Pacific theater of World War II with the U.S. Marine Corps, but the U.S. Army deployed more troops and suffered more casualties;

As the chart is quite long, I will split it in half as it appears in the book and "compress" it using abbreviations

Abbreviation Meaning
T&O Theater and organization
TBC Total battle casualties
TDABC Total deaths among battle casualties
KIA Killed in action
WIA Wounded in action
DOW Died of wounds
DOW (US) Died of wounds after returning to the United States
RTD/DIS (US) Returned to duty or discharged after returning to the United States
RTD Returned to duty overseas
C&I Captured and interned
C&I (KIA) Killed in action while in a captured or interned status
C&I (W&I) Died of wounds and injuries while in a captured or interned status
C&I (OC) Died of other causes while in a captured or interned status
C&I (RTD) Returned to military control
MIA Missing in action
MIA (DD) Declared dead after being listed as missing in action
MIA (OC) Died of other causes after being listed as missing in action
MIA (RTD) Returned to military control
T&O TBC TDABC KIA WIA DOW DOW (US) RTD/DIS (US) RTD
Pacific Theaters 157,932 50,385 30,538 95,021 5,707 29,923 59,391
Combat divisions 92,900 22,839 18,223 74,342 4,538 23,869 45,935
Airborne divisions 2,431 620 494 1,926 120 659 1,147
11th 2,431 620 494 1,926 120 659 1,147
Cavalry divisions 4,055 971 734 3,311 236 961 2,114
1st 4,055 971 734 3,311 236 961 2,114
Infantry divisions 86,414 21,248 16,995 69,105 4,182 22,249 42,674
6th 2,370 517 410 1,957 104 586 1,267
7th 8,135 1,896 1,520 6,610 373 2,022 4,215
24th 7,012 1,691 1,374 5,621 315 2,040 3,266
25th 5,432 1,500 1,235 4,190 262 1,441 2,487
27th 6,533 1,849 1,512 4,980 332 1,416 3,232
31st 1,733 415 340 1,392 74 445 873
32nd 7,268 2,002 1,613 5,627 372 1,860 3,395
33rd 2,426 524 396 2,024 128 616 1,280
37th 5,960 1,348 1,094 4,861 250 1,386
38th 3,464 785 645 2,814 139 846 1,829
40th 3,025 748 614 2,407 134 779 1,494
41st 4,260 962 743 3,504 217 909 2,378
43rd 6,026 1,414 1,128 4,887 278 1,749 2,860
77th 7,461 1,857 1,449 5,935 401 2,126 3,408
81st 2,314 517 366 1,942 149 456 1,337
93rd 133 17 12 121 5 46 70
96th 8,812 2,038 1,563 7,181 473 2,555 4,153
Americal 4,050 1,168 981 3,052 176 971 1,905
Air Force units 19,584 12,002 6,879 4,164 240 938 2,986
Other units 39,340 14,556 4,777 12,439 903 3,517 8,019
Organizations undetermined 6,114 988 659 4,076 26 1,599 2,451
U.S. Army Strategic Air Forces 2,897 2,148 1,795 407 13 102 292
Combat divisions
Air Force units 2,897 2,148 1,795 407 13 102 292
Other units
Organizations undetermined
T&O C&I C&I (KIA) C&I (W&I) C&I (OC) C&I (RTD) MIA MIA (DD) MIA (OC) MIA (RTD)
Pacific Theaters 27,465 2,473 182 8,452 16,358 4,914 2,889 144 1,881
Combat divisions 26 2 2 22 309 74 235
Airborne divisions 11 6 5
11th 11 6 5
Cavalry divisions 1 9 1 8
1st 4 1 9 1 8
Infantry divisions 86,414 21,248 16,995 69,105 4,182 22,249 42,674 25
6th 2,370 517 410 1,957 104 586 1,267
7th 2 1 1 3 1 2
24th 6 1 5 11 1 10
25th 2 2 5 3 2
27th 1 1 40 5 35
31st 1 1
32nd 1 1 27 17 10
33rd 1 1 5 5
37th 1 1 4 4
38th 5 1 4
40th 1 1 3 3
41st 13 2 11
43rd 2 2 9 8 1
77th 1 1 76 7 69
81st 6 2 4
93rd
96th 5 5 63 2 61
Americal 1 1 16 11 5
Air Force units 5,947 776 39 2,230 2,902 2,594 1,819 19 756
Other units 20,351 1,591 135 6,058 12,567 1,773 969 123 681
Organizations undetermined 1,141 104 8 162 867 238 27 2 209
U.S. Army Strategic Air Forces 334 58 8 6 262 361 267 1 93
Combat divisions
Air Force units 334 58 8 6 262 361 267 1 93
Other units
Organizations undetermined

Source:

  • United States. United States Army Adjutant General's Corps. Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II Final Report, 7 December 1941-31 December 1946. Washington: Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1953.