The 3rd Yokosuka, again formed at the Naval facility consisting of 850 men on 20 November 1942,was involved in the Dutch West Timor invasion as airborne inserted infantry originating from the captured air base at Kendari. The 1st Yokosuka SNLF (Special Naval Landing Force) was formed 20 September 1941, at Yokosuka Naval District, round a battalion of 520 paratroopers, the 2nd Yokosuka also formed at the Yokosuka port area, 15 October 1941, with 746 men and trained as such, took no part in any airborne operations and became an island defensive base unit. SNLF airborne troops wore a badge with an emblem of two crossed, open parachutes and an anchor, topped with a small cherry flower. However, their operational use would prove to be contrary to this doctrine. They were not meant to become entangled in heavy, pitched land battles. The lightly armed parachute units were an intended to assault coastal areas, supporting amphibious landings or disembarkations, or enemy airfields and other strategic objectives. Paratroop units were only organized on the very eve of the war, beginning in September 1941. Rikusentai units were grouped in battalion-level formations, named after the three naval districts, including Yokosuka. Rikusentai paratroopers should not be confused with the Imperial Japanese Army paratroopers, known as Teishin.
They were under the operational control of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS or Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun Koku Hombu). They came from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Yokosuka SNLFs. The troops were officially part of the Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF or Rikusentai), the navy's marine corps. The Imperial Japanese Navy fielded marine paratroopers during World War II.