The 13th Defense Battalion was commissioned on September 25, 1942 at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.

[1] The battalion's Headquarters and Service Battery was formed by the re-designation of the Marine Barracks, Naval Operating Base, Guantanamo Bay.

Cuba providing air and coastal defense until March 5, 1944 when it embarked on the SS George Washington bound for the United States.

The battalion arrived in New Orleans on March 11, 1944 with follow on travel to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

[4] In July 1944 the battalion travelled to the West Coase and sailed for Pearl Harbor, arriving on August 14, 1944.