2021 Second Virtual National Congress
“Always Faithful and Holding Fast”

22 – 23 October 2021

Saturday - 23 OCT 2021 Presentation 17:30 EDT

Medium Tank Operations During the 1943 Battle of Tarawa

Maj David A. Vickers, USMC (Ret)
Deputy Director, National Museum of the Marine Corps (NMMC)

Synopsis

Mr. David Vickers is a retired Marine Corps tank officer and is currently the Deputy Director at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. His talk will be about the development, challenges, and actions of the first medium tank company deployed into combat by the Marines in World War II. The lessons learned from this tank unit helped shape Marine Corps tank doctrine for the rest of World War II.

Mr. Vickers researched this unit for over three years and will recount some of the stories associated with these tanks during the battle of Tarawa in 1943. He also has a number of excellent, and not well known, photographs that he will share during his presentation. His research contributed to the book Tanks in Hell, and It will surely be of interest to naval historians.

Mr. Vickers became the Deputy Director for NMMC in May 2020. He supervises the Branch Heads and is responsible for human resource actions, budget oversight, strategic planning, project management, and interdisciplinary teams. He also represents the Director in her absence.

Mr. Vickers has a long association with the Marine Corps and with NMMC. In 1984, after completing his undergraduate degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles, he was commissioned in the Marine Corps. He served just over 20 years as a tank officer and was stationed in Japan, California, New York, and Virginia. Some of his military schools include the Armor Officer Advanced Course, Scout Leader’s Advanced Course, FBI Firearms Instructor Course, ATF Post-bomb Incident Course, and Anti-terrorism Instructor Course.

He served in over ten staff and command billets within tank battalions to include H&S Company Commander and D Company Commander at 1st Tank Battalion. He also served as the protocol officer for I MEF, the Deputy Security Director at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, and the Assistant Battalion Inspector-Instructor for 8th Tank Battalion. Mr. Vickers is also a veteran of Operation Desert Shield. He retired from the Marine Corps at Quantico, Virginia, as the Ground Branch Head for Doctrine Division at MCCDC in 2005.

Mr. Vickers returned to Doctrine Division at MCCDC as a doctrine writer, but after that command’s re-organization, he became the Service Doctrine Coordinator for the entire Marine Corps. In this position, he managed over 270 doctrine publications, while also producing doctrine policy, writing, mentoring, and training doctrine teams throughout the Marine Corps. Mr. Vickers was the subject matter expert for Service doctrine in the Marine Corps from 2005 to 2020.

In 2006 Mr. Vickers joined the first group of docent volunteers for the not yet completed NMMC. He has been with the museum since it first opened, and completed over 5000 hours of volunteer service. In 2017, he was accepted at Johns Hopkins University into the Masters in Museum Studies program, graduating in 2019 with a 4.27 GPA.  

Mr. Vickers is married to Virginia (Ginny) Vickers. They have two married daughters (Kristen and Kasha) and have five grandchildren. He is also a nationally recognized diorama miniaturist with over 30 years of experience in the art form.

2021 Congress is hosted by the Continental Commandery, the Naval Order’s virtual, national Commandery, using collaboration software easily downloaded from the Internet. Training /practice sessions will be provided in the preceding months to familiarize Companions with the use of the collaboration software.

The events leading up to our 2021 CONGRESS are important for all companions.  They involve our various committee meetings and essential business of the Order. A timeline is provided for Pre-CONGRESS activities; inputs and comments are still welcome.

Welcome to the 2021 Naval Order Virtual CONGRESS
“Always Faithful and Holding Fast”

Our Congress this year will again be held in a Virtual Environment. The CONGRESS endeavors to deliver the same level of information on the business of the Order and Educational opportunities as professional and rich as at past Congresses.  The key to success is YOU. Your participation in our advance training in mid-September and other test opportunities to make sure your equipment works prior to the Congress is critical.  Please sign up!   We will have a sign up (Registration) page, and those registering up will receive a very nice 2021 Congress challenge coin (for the nominal fee); but your commitment to your Commandery as soon as possible ensures that the Virtual Environment is sized, planned and readied for the Congress. 

The Meeting URL for the Survey for the Congress 2021 will be posted to this web site throughout the CONGRESS; the Zoom event code will have the same password. If you do not have internet or computer access, please contact us at nouscongress@outlook.com or contact your Commandery Commander, and we will do our best to accommodate your needs. A Kindle device with all reports and briefs can be provided to Companions (on a limited basis). The Zoom event can be accessed from a computer or a Smartphone. The Congress Brochure will be available soon.

Coming Soon: CONGRESS Brochure

Pre-CONGRESS presentation and preps

Wednesday - 22 SEP 2021 Presentation 20:00 EDT: Naval History Night - “From Belleau Wood to Guadalcanal: Thomas Holcomb and the Making of the Modern Marine Corps” Speaker: D. Ulbrich

Thursday - 21 OCT 2021 14:00-16:00 EDT: Gathering and Equipment Checks

2021 CONGRESS Theme: “Always Faithful and Holding Fast”

Friday - 22 OCT 2021 “Business Day”  1400 – 1900 Eastern Daylight Time

17:45 – History Presentation: ”Harrison and McCool; the ‘Double Dose of Bad Luck Twins’ of the Marine Corps” Speaker: D. Kent

18:30 – Q&A

Saturday - 23 OCT 2021 “History Day & Change of Command”  1400 – 1900 Eastern Daylight Time

15:15 – History Presentation: “Cold War in the Tropics; the Cuban Missile Crisis” Speaker: A. Atwood

16:15 – History Presentation: “The Battle of Midway: How America Won the Pacific War” Speaker: S. M. Andres

17:00 – Break

17:30 – History Presentation: “Medium Tank Operations During the 1943 Battle of Tarawa” Speaker:  D. Vickers

 Coming Soon: CONGRESS Brochure

Home • Leadership Lessons • Who We Are • Donate • Contact