[1][2] The Observer Group experimented in the methodology and equipment for projecting reconnaissance from the sea[3] before the establishment of the OSS Maritime Unit, the Underwater Demolition Teams, and before the Army Special Forces and Air Commandos.
[8] Colonel Erskine, under General Smith, was in charge of the Intelligence section jointly devised the plan in organizing a unit of men that were specialized in reconnoitering enemy shores for the upcoming mission of invading Europe and North Africa during World War II.
[1] Around this time the Observer Group was sent to the School for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which also shared the same base at Quantico, and were trained by FBI Agents for two weeks in the rudiments of jujitsu, pistol shooting from the hip, and operation of the Thompson submachine gun, or TSMG.
[1] While the Observer Group was practicing their operational skills, the Intelligence Officers had worked out the tactical utilization of amphibious reconnaissance[1] developing a new doctrine and organizational plan for the Fleet Marine Force.
With the assignment to the United States Army of primary responsibility for the Atlantic (Amphibious Corps, Atlantic Fleet) and to the United States Navy of primary responsibility for the Pacific (the Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet), the joint command under General Smith divided as he relocated from Quantico to Camp Elliott, northeast of San Diego, California.