Originally posted by frank3
It should be green 
Not neccecarily.
OPERATIONAL HISTORY
The USN accepted 188 PBJs in 1943, 395 in 1944 and 123 in 1945. These aircraft equipped 16 USMC squadrons, eight of which served in the Pacific.
The PBJ-1Cs were mainly used for training while the first Mitchell to see combat was the PBJ-1D.
Armament on the PBJ-1Ds was heavily modified. Like the USAAF's Fifth and Thirteenth Air Forces, these aircraft were modified into strafers by installing four fixed 50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns in the nose and two 50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns in blisters on both sides of the forward fuselage. Another modification was the installation of 50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns in the small waist windows between the dorsal turret and the tail; later PBJ-1Ds were modified with the larger "bay windows" of the B-25H and J. The last major modification was the addition of a tail turret with one 50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun. The canopy of the tail gun was similar to that used on the B-25H and J.
The eight squadrons that saw service in the Pacific were:
VMB-413 Commissioned on 1 March 1943. Departing the U.S. on 3 January 1944. Arriving Espiritu Santo on 27 January 1944 with 13 PBJ-1Ds. After receiving familiarization training, VMB-413 moved forward to Stirling Island, Treasury Islands, British Solomon Islands, on 7 March. This base made it easy to fly bombing and heckling missions against targets on Bougainville and the huge Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain Island. The squadron flew its first mission against a supply dump near Rabaul on 14 March and for the next week, joined USAAF and USN aircraft in attacking the Rabaul area. After these preliminary raids, VMB-413 switched to its primary function, night heckling raids against Japanese installations on Bougainville and Rabaul. The squadron returned to NOB Espiritu Santo in May 1944 for rest and recreation and then moved forward to Munda Airfield on New Georgia Island in the British Solomon Islands and commenced operations against the Kahili-Choiseul area of Bougainville Island. On 18 October 1944, the squadron moved to Marine Corps Air Facility (MCAF) Emirau on Emirau Island in the St. Matthias Group of the Bismarck Archipelago. For the remainder of the war, the squadron flew missions against the bypassed Japanese forces on New Britain and New Ireland Islands. On 17 August 1945, the squadron was ordered to transfer to Titcomb Field, Malabang, Mindanao, Philippines Islands.
VMB-423 was commissioned on 15 September 1943. Arriving Espiritu Santoon 11 March 1944. First combat mission on 14 May. Meanwhile, the ground echelon had been dispatched to Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Green Island in the Solomon Islands, located about halfway between Buka and New Ireland, and the air echelon joined them on 21 June; by the end of June, the squadron had ten PBJ-1Ds. For the next year, the squadron carried out day and night air attacks against targets on New Britain and New Ireland Islands in the Bismarck Archipelago and suppled CAS for Australian troops on Bougainville Island. On 12 June 1945, the squadron moved to MCAF Emirau on Emirau Island where it conducted strikes against New Britain and New Ireland Islands until 10 August at which time it began a movement to Titcomb Field, Malabang, Mindanao, Philippines Islands arriving on 16 August just after the war ended.
VMB-433 was commissioned on 15 September 1943. On 26 May 1944, the ground echelon departed by ship for the Solomon Islands; the next day, the air echelon departed and arrived at NAAF Green Island on 14 July for temporary duty; this temporary duty consisted of flying with VMB-413 and VMB-423 to gain combat experience. In August 1944, the air and ground echelons were reunited at NOB Espiritu Santo where the squadron remained for the remainder of the war. On 16 August 1945, the squadron was ordered to Titcomb Field, Malabang, Mindanao, Philippines Islands.
VMB-443 was commissioned on 15 September 1943. The ground echelon sailed from San Diego on 18 May 1944 and arrived at NOB Espiritu Santo in June; one month later, the ground echelon moved to MCAF Emirau and joined the flight echelon which arrived on 13 August. VMB-443 began flying both day and night missions against Rabaul and other bypassed Japanese installations on New Britain and New Ireland Islands until moving to Titcomb Field, Malabang, Mindanao, Philippines Islands in August 1945 after the war had ended.
VMB-611 was commissioned on 1 October 1943. While at NAS Barbers Point, Territory of Hawaii, the squadron's PBJs were equipped with underwing zero-length high velocity aircraft rocket (HVAR) launchers and Long Range Navigation (LORAN) equipment. In October, the air echelon flew from Hawaii to MCAF Emirau; both air and ground echelons had arrived by December 1944. VMB-611 flew its first mission on 17 November, a night mission against Kavieg and for the next three months, the squadron flew night heckling missions and strikes against Vanakanau and Tobera on New Britain Island. On 17 March 1945, the ground echelon transferred to Moret Field, Zamboanga (6.54N, 122.05E) on Mindanao Island in the Philippine Islands where it was joined by the air echelon on 30 March. The squadron flew day and night combat missions in the southern Philippines until the end of the war.
VMB-612 was formed on 1 October 1943. Beginning in January 1944, the squadron began experiments in low-altitude night-radar operations. In August 1944, the squadron departed the U.S. for Kagman Base on Saipan Island in the Mariana Islands arriving on the island in late October. The air echelon flew to Saipan via MCAS Ewa, Territory of Hawaii where the PBJ-1Ds were modified by the installation of an AN/APN-4 airborne Loran receiver, underwing HVAR rocket launchers synchronized to an AN/APQ-5 airborne radar bombsight, and AN/APN-1 airborne radio altimeters calibrated to give accurate reading between 500 and 1,000 feet (152 and 305 meters). Between 13 November 1944 and February 1945, the squadron flew anti-shipping strikes using rockets against Japanese ships and land targets in the Bonin and Volcano Islands area. After the invasion of Iwo Jima in February, the squadron undertook search missions to the Marcus Island area three nights a week, a mission of 1,450 miles (2,334 km). It was during this period that the squadron began to experiment with the Tiny Tim rocket. The subsonic Tiny Tim had a diameter of 11.75 inches (29.8 cm), a length of 10.25 feet (3.12 m), a firing weight of 1,284 pounds (582.4 kg), and a warhead with an explosive charge weighing 150 pounds (68.04 kg). The Marines modified a Mk 51 bomb rack to carry the rockets and installed two on the belly of the aircraft at the bomb bay. On 1 March, the squadron received three PBJ-1Js and in April 1945, the squadron moved to South Field on Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands to continue anti-shipping missions. Now within striking range of the Japanese Home Islands, VMB-612 began bombing targets on Kyoto on 10 April. Anti-shipping missions at night, consisting of three PBJs, were unproductive and in the middle of April, daylight raids against the Home Islands commenced. While on Iwo Jima, the squadron had conducted tests and training using the Tiny Tim rocket; the first combat mission with the Tiny Tim, an anti-shipping strike, was flown by a PBJ-1J on the night of 21/22 July from Okinawa but no targets were found. The squadron's final move began on 28 July Chimu Airfield on the eastern shore of Okinawa Island in the Ryukyu Islands. Operations with the Tiny Tims began in earnest on 11 August with one sortie followed by three sorties on 14 August and six sorties during the night of the 14th. With the Japanese surrender, hostilities ceased at 1600 hours Tokyo time on 15 August 1945. The squadron continued experimentation with the Tiny Tims for the rest of the month.
VMB-613 was commissioned on 1 October 1943. The air echelon departed MCAF Newport with their PBJ-1Ds for Dyess Field on Roi Island , Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in October 1944; both air and ground echelons arrived in December and the squadron began operations against bypassed Japanese forces in the Marshalls in January 1945. The forward echelon deployed to Stickell Field on Eniwetok Island in Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands to conduct antisubmarine patrols between 11 January and 13 March 1945. In the spring of 1945, VMB-613 was chosen to test the PBJ-1H and became the only USMC squadron to operate this type of aircraft in combat. The problem was that there were few targets to use the 75 mm gun against and the aircraft was not very effective so on 19 May, four PBJ-1Hs were detached to Iwo Jima to conduct anti-shipping missions but returned to Roi on the 28th without attacking any targets.
VMB-614 was commissioned on 1 October 1943. The squadron was initially equipped with PBJ-1C and -1D aircraft and effective in July 1944, with PBJ-1Hs equipped with AN/APG-23 airborne gun directing radar. The PBJ-1H was not a popular aircraft and they were replaced by PBJ-1Js modified with the eight gun nose for low altitude strafing missions. The air echelon departed California on 25 July 1945 followed by the ground echelon in early August; both echelons arrived at Henderson Field, NAS Midway Islands (28.13N, 177.26W) by the end of August 1945.
The seven PBJ squadrons that saw combat in the Pacific suffered the loss of 45 aircraft, 26 in combat and 19 in non-combat operations, and 173 crew, 62 officers and 111 enlisted men.
