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The 4th Marines was put under the command of Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, commanding the 16th Naval District, and given the mission of protecting the naval stations on the island of Luzon, primarily Olongapo and the Navy Section Base at Mariveles. The Commander-in-Chief, Asiatic Fleet, stressed a more important mission to Howard. That mission was to prepare his men for mobile field operations. Hart also underscored the proximity to war with the Japanese.

Howard returned and informed his staff that Hart felt that war was only "a matter of days if not hours away." Howard emphasized the point by emphatically stating, "We will be at war with the Japanese within a week." After the staff had left, he revealed to Major Reginald H. "Bo" Ridgely the anticipated finality of their mission, saying, "they would never see their families again."