The
United States Marine Corps
(
USMC) is a branch of the
United States armed forces
responsible for providing
force projection from the sea,
using the mobility of the
United
States Navy to rapidly deliver
combined-arms task forces. It
is one of seven
uniformed services of
the United States. In the civilian leadership structure of the
United States military, the Marine Corps is a component of the
Department of the Navy, often
working closely with
U.S. naval
forces for training, transportation and logistic purposes;
however, in the military leadership structure the Marine Corps is a
separate branch.
Captain
Samuel Nicholas formed two
battalions of Continental
Marines on 10 November 1775 in Philadelphia as naval
infantry. Since then, the mission of Marine Corps has
evolved with changing military doctrine and
American foreign policy.
The Marine Corps served in
every American armed
conflict and attained prominence in the 20th century when its
theories and practices of
amphibious warfare proved
prescient and ultimately formed the cornerstone of the
Pacific campaign of
World War II. By the mid-20th century, the
Marine Corps had become the dominant theorist and practitioner of
amphibious warfare. Its ability to respond rapidly to regional
crises gives it a strong role in the implementation and execution
of American foreign policy.
The United States Marine Corps includes just over 203,000 (as of
October 2009) active duty Marines and just under 40,000
reserve Marines. The
Selected Marine Corps Reserve
has approximately 39,600 Marines; the
Individual Ready Reserve has
approximately 60,000 Marines.
It is the smallest of the United States'
armed forces in the Department of Defense (the United
States Coast Guard is smaller, about one-fifth the size of the
Marine Corps, but is under the Department of Homeland Security). The Marine Corps is nonetheless larger
than the entire armed forces of many significant military powers;
for example, it is larger than the active duty
Israel Defense Forces or the whole of
the
British Army.
The Marine Corps is highly cost-effective. The cost per Marine is
$20,000 less than the cost of a serviceman from the other services,
and the entire force can be used for both hybrid and major combat
operations, that is, the Marines cover the entire
Three Block War.
Mission
The United States Marine Corps serves as an amphibious
force-in-readiness. As outlined in and as originally introduced
under the
National
Security Act of 1947, it has three primary areas of
responsibility:
- "The seizure or defense of advanced naval bases and other land
operations to support naval
campaigns;
- The development of tactics, technique, and equipment used by
amphibious landing forces;
and
- Such other duties as the President may direct."
This last clause, while seemingly redundant given the president's
position as
Commander-in-chief,
is a codification of the
expeditionary duties of the Marine
Corps. It derives from similar language in the
Congressional acts
"For the
Better Organization of the Marine Corps" of 1834, and
"Establishing and Organizing a Marine Corps" of 1798. In
1951, the
House
of Representatives' Armed Services
Committee called the clause "one of the most important
statutory — and traditional — functions of the Marine Corps."
It noted
that the corps has more often than not performed actions of a
non-naval nature, including its famous actions in the War of 1812, at Tripoli, Chapultepec, numerous counter-insurgency and occupational
duties (such as those in Central America), World War I, and the Korean War. While these actions are not
accurately described as support of naval campaigns nor as
amphibious warfare, their common thread is that they are of an
expeditionary nature, using the mobility of the Navy to provide
timely intervention in foreign affairs on behalf of American
interests.
In
addition to its primary duties, the Marine Corps has missions in
direct support of the White
House and the State
Department. The
Marine Band, dubbed the
"President's Own" by
Thomas
Jefferson, provides music for state functions at the White
House.
Marines guard presidential retreats,
including Camp
David, and the Marines of the Executive Flight Detachment
of HMX-1 provide helicopter transport to the
President and Vice
President, using the call signs "Marine
One" and "Marine Two" respectively. By authority of the
1946 Foreign Service Act, the
Marine security guards of the
Marine Embassy Security Command provide security for American
embassies,
legations, and
consulates at more than 140 posts
worldwide.
Historical mission
The Marine Corps was founded to serve as an infantry unit aboard
naval vessels and was responsible for the security of the ship and
its crew by conducting offensive and defensive combat during
boarding actions and defending the
ship's officers from
mutiny; to the latter
end, their quarters on ship were often strategically positioned
between the officers' quarters and the rest of the vessel.
Continental Marines also manned raiding parties, both at sea and
ashore.
America's first amphibious assault landing
occurred early in the Revolutionary War as the Marines
gained control of a British
ammunition depot and naval port in New Providence, Bahamas. The
role of the Marine Corps has since expanded significantly; as the
importance of its original naval mission declined with changing
naval warfare doctrine and the professionalization of the Naval
service, the corps adapted by focusing on what were formerly
secondary missions ashore. The Advanced Base Doctrine of the early
20th century codified their combat duties ashore, outlining the use
of Marines in the seizure of bases and other duties on land to
support naval campaigns.
Throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Marine
detachments served aboard Navy cruisers, battleships and carriers.
Marine detachments (generally one platoon per cruiser, a company
for battleships or carriers) served their traditional duties as
ship's landing force, manning the ship's weapons and providing
shipboard security. Marine detachments were also augmented by
members of the ship's company for landing parties, especially in
the Caribbean and Mexico campaigns of the early 20th centuries.
Marines would also develop tactics and techniques of amphibious
assault on defended coastlines in time for use in
World War II. During World War II, Marines
continued to serve on capital ships. They often were assigned to
man anti-aircraft batteries. When gun cruisers were retired by the
1960s, the remaining Marine detachments were only seen on
battleships and carriers. Its original mission of providing
shipboard security finally ended in the 1990s when nuclear weapons
were withdrawn from active deployment and the battleships were
retired.
Capabilities
The Marine Corps fulfills a vital role in national security as an
amphibious, expeditionary, air-ground combined arms task force,
capable of forcible entry from the air, land and sea.
While the Marine Corps does not employ any unique combat arms, as a
force it has the unique ability to rapidly deploy a combined-arms
task force to almost anywhere in the world within days. The basic
structure for all deployed units is a
Marine Air-Ground Task Force
(MAGTF) that integrates a
ground
combat element, an
aviation
combat element and a
logistics combat element combat
component under a common
command
element. While the creation of joint commands under the
Goldwater-Nichols Act has
improved inter-service coordination between each branch, the Corps'
ability to permanently maintain integrated multi-element task
forces under a single command provides a smoother implementation of
combined-arms warfare principles.
The close integration of disparate Marine units stems from an
organizational culture centered around the infantry. Every other
Marine capability exists to support the infantry. Unlike some
Western militaries, the corps remained conservative against
theories proclaiming the ability of new weapons to win wars
independently. For example,
Marine aviation has
always been focused on
close air
support and has remained largely uninfluenced by air power
theories proclaiming that
strategic
bombing can single-handedly win wars.
This focus on the infantry is matched with the doctrine that "Every
Marine is a rifleman", a focus of Commandant
Alfred M. Gray, Jr., emphasizing the infantry
combat abilities of every Marine. All enlisted Marines, regardless
of military specialization, receive training as a
rifleman; all officers receive training as infantry
platoon commanders. Marines have demonstrated the value of this
culture many times throughout history. For example, at
Wake Island, when all of the Marine
aircraft were shot down, pilots continued the fight as ground
officers, leading supply clerks and cooks in a final defensive
effort. As a result, a large degree of initiative and autonomy is
expected of junior Marines, particularly the
NCOs (
corporals and
sergeants),
as compared with many other military organizations. The Marine
Corps emphasizes authority and responsibility downward to a greater
degree than the other military services. Flexibility of execution
is implemented via an emphasis on "commander's intent" as a guiding
principle for carrying out orders; specifying the end state but
leaving open the method of execution.
The amphibious assault techniques developed for World War II
evolved, with the addition of
air
assault and
maneuver warfare
doctrine, into the current "
Operational Maneuver from the
Sea" doctrine of power projection from the seas. The Marines
are credited with the development of helicopter insertion doctrine
and were the earliest in the American military to widely adopt
maneuver-warfare principles which emphasize low-level initiative
and flexible execution.
The Marine Corps relies on the Navy for
sealift to provide its rapid deployment
capabilities. In addition to basing a third of the
Marine Corps Operating Forces
in Japan,
Marine Expeditionary
Units (MEU) are typically stationed at sea. This allows the
ability to function as first responders to international incidents.
The
United States Army now
maintains
light infantry units
capable of rapid worldwide deployment, but those units do not match
the combined-arms integration of a MAGTF and lack the logistics
that the Navy provides. For this reason, the Marine Corps is often
assigned to non-combat missions such as the evacuation of Americans
from unstable countries and providing
humanitarian relief during natural
disasters. In larger conflicts, Marines act as a stopgap, to get
into and hold an area until larger units can be mobilized. The
corps performed this role in
World War I
and the
Korean War, where Marines were
the first significant combat units deployed from the United States
and held the line until the country could mobilize for war. To aid
rapid deployment, the
Maritime
Pre-Positioning System was developed: fleets of
container ships are positioned throughout the
world with enough equipment and supplies for a
Marine Expeditionary Force to
deploy for 30 days.
Doctrine
Two small manuals published during the 1930s would establish USMC
doctrine in two areas. The
Small Wars
Manual laid the framework for Marine
counter-insurgency operations from
Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan while the
Tentative Landing Operations
Manual established the doctrine for the amphibious operations
of World War II.
History
Origins
The United
States Marine Corps traces its institutional roots to the Continental Marines of the American Revolutionary War,
formed at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, by a resolution of the Second Continental Congress on
10 November 1775, to raise 2 battalions of
Marines. That date is regarded and celebrated as the date of
the Marine Corps' "birthday". At the end of the American
Revolution, both the
Continental
Navy and Continental Marines were disbanded in April 1783.
Although individual Marines stayed on for the few American naval
vessels left, the last Continental Marine was discharged in
September 1783. The institution itself would not be resurrected
until 1798. In that year, in preparation for the
Naval War with
France, Congress created the United
States Marine Corps. Marines had been enlisted by the War
Department as early as August 1797 for service in the new build
frigates authorized by Congress. The "Act to provide a Naval
Armament" of March 18, 1794 authorizing them had specified the
numbers of Marines to be recruited for each frigate.
The
Marines' most famous action of this period occurred during the
First Barbary War (1801–1805)
against the Barbary pirates, when
William Eaton and First
Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon led
eight Marines and 500 mercenaries in an
effort to capture Tripoli.
Though they only reached
Derna, the
action at Tripoli has been immortalized in the
Marines' hymn and the
Mameluke Sword carried by Marine
officers.
During the
War of 1812, Marine naval
detachments took part in the great
frigate
duels that characterized the war, which were the first American
victories in the conflict.
Their most significant contributions were
delaying the British march to Washington, D.C. at the Battle of
Bladensburg and holding the center of Gen. Andrew Jackson's defensive line at the
defense of
New Orleans. By the end of the war, the Marines had
acquired a well-deserved reputation as expert
marksmen, especially in ship-to-ship actions.
After the war, the Marine Corps fell into a depression that ended
with the appointment of
Archibald
Henderson as its fifth commandant in 1820.
Under his tenure, the
Corps took on expeditionary duties in the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Key West, West Africa, the
Falkland
Islands, and Sumatra. Commandant Henderson is credited with
thwarting
President
Jackson's attempts to combine and integrate the Marine Corps with
the Army. Instead,
Congress
passed the
Act for the Better Organization of the Marine
Corps in 1834, stipulating that the Corps was part of the
Department of the
Navy as a sister service to the Navy. This would be the first
of many times that the existence of the Corps was challenged.
Commandant Henderson volunteered the Marines
for service in the Seminole
Wars of 1835, personally leading nearly half of the
entire Corps (two battalions) to war. A decade later, in
the Mexican–American
War (1846–1848), the Marines made their famed assault on
Chapultepec Palace in Mexico City, which would be later celebrated by
the phrase "From The Halls of Montezuma" in Marines' hymn.
In the
1850s, the Marines would see further service in Panama and Asia,
escorting Matthew Perry's
East India Squadron on its
historic trip to the Far East.
With their vast service in foreign engagements, the Marine Corps
played a moderate role in the
Civil
War (1861–1865); their most prominent task was
blockade duty. As more and more states
seceded from the
Union, about half of the Corps'
officers also left the Union to join the
Confederacy and form the
Confederate States
Marine Corps, which ultimately played little part in the war.
The
battalion of recruits formed for the First Battle
of Bull Run (First Manassas) performed poorly, retreating with
the rest of the Union forces.
Interim: Civil War to World War I
The remainder of the 19th century was marked by declining strength
and introspection about the mission of the Marine Corps. The Navy's
transition from
sail to
steam put into question the need for Marines on
naval ships. Meanwhile, Marines served as a convenient resource for
interventions and landings to protect American lives and interests
overseas. The Corps was involved in over 28 separate interventions
in the 30 years from the end of the American Civil War to the end
of 19th century. They would also be called upon to stem political
and labor unrest within the United States. Under Commandant
Jacob Zeilin's tenure, Marine customs
and traditions took shape: the Corps adopted the
Marine Corps emblem on 19 November
1868. It was also during this time that "
The Marines' Hymn" was first heard. Around
1883, the Marines adopted their current motto "
Semper Fidelis" ( ).
John Philip Sousa, the musician
and composer, enlisted as a Marine apprentice at the age of 13,
serving from 1867 until 1872, and again from 1880 to 1892 as the
leader of the
Marine
Band.
During
the Spanish–American
War (1898), Marines led American forces ashore in the Philippines, Cuba, and
Puerto Rico, demonstrating their
readiness for deployment. At Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the Marines seized
an advanced
naval base that remains in use today. Between 1899 and
1916, the Corps continued its record of vigorous participation in
foreign expeditions, including the Philippine–American War, the
Boxer Rebellion in China
(1899–1901), Panama, the Cuban
Pacifications, the Perdicaris
Incident in Morocco, Veracruz, Santo
Domingo, and the Banana Wars in
Haiti and Nicaragua; the
experiences gained in counter-insurgency and guerrilla
operations during this period were consolidated into the
Small Wars
Manual.
World War I
During
World War I veteran Marines
served a central role in the late American entry into the conflict.
Unlike the Army, the Marine Corps had a deep pool of officers and
NCOs with battle experience, and experienced a smaller expansion.
Here, the Marines fought their famed battle at
Belleau Wood, creating the Marines'
reputation in modern history. While its previous expeditionary
experiences had not earned it much acclaim in the Western world,
the Marines' ferocity and toughness in France earned them the
respect of the Germans, who rated them of
stormtrooper quality. Though Marines and
American media reported that Germans had nicknamed them
Teufel
Hunden as meaning "
Devil Dogs", there
is no evidence of this in German records (as
Teufelshunde
would be the proper German phrase), it was possibly American
propaganda. Nevertheless, the name stuck.
The Corps had entered the war with 511 officers and 13,214 enlisted
personnel, and by 11 November 1918 had reached a strength of 2,400
officers and 70,000 men.
Between the World Wars, the Marine Corps was headed by Commandant
John A. Lejeune, and under his leadership, the Corps
presciently studied and developed amphibious techniques that would
be of great use in World War II. Many officers, including Lt.
Col.
Earl Hancock "Pete" Ellis,
foresaw a war in the Pacific with Japan and took
preparations for such a conflict. Through 1941, as the
prospect of war grew, the Corps pushed urgently for joint
amphibious exercises and acquired amphibious equipment that would
prove of great use in the upcoming conflict.
World War II
In
World War II, the Marines played a
central role in the
Pacific War.
The
battles of Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Tarawa, Guam, Tinian, Saipan, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa saw
fierce fighting between Marines and the Imperial Japanese Army.
Philip Johnston
proposed the use of
Navajo as a
code language to the
Corps. The idea was accepted, and the Navajo code was formally
developed and modeled on the
Joint Army/Navy Phonetic
Alphabet.
During
the battle of Iwo Jima, photographer Joe
Rosenthal took the famous photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo
Jima of five Marines and one Navy Corpsman raising the American flag on Mt. Suribachi. Secretary of the Navy
James Forrestal, having come ashore
earlier that day, said of the flag raising, "...the raising of that
flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred
years." The acts of the Marines during the war added to their
already significant popular reputation. By war's end, the Corps
expanded from two
brigades to six
divisions, five
air wings, and supporting troops,
totaling about 485,000 Marines. In addition, 20
defense battalions and a
parachute battalion were set raised. Nearly
87,000 Marines were casualties during World War II (including
nearly 20,000 killed), and 82 were awarded the
Medal of Honor.
Despite Secretary Forrestal's prediction, the Corps faced an
immediate institutional crisis following the war due to the low
budget. Army generals pushing for a strengthened and reorganized
defense establishment also attempted to fold the Marine mission and
assets into the Navy and Army. Drawing on hastily assembled
Congressional support, the Marine Corps rebuffed such efforts to
dismantle the Corps, resulting in statutory protection of the
Marine Corps in the
National Security Act of 1947.
Shortly afterward, in 1952 the
Douglas-Mansfield Bill afforded the
Commandant an equal voice with the
Joint Chiefs of Staff on matters
relating to the Marines and established the structure of
three active
divisions and
air wings
that remain today.
Korean War
The
Korean War (1950–1953) saw the
hastily formed
Provisional Marine Brigade
holding the defensive line at the
Pusan
Perimeter.
To execute a flanking maneuver, General Douglas MacArthur called on Marine air and
ground forces to make an amphibious landing at Inchon. The successful landing resulted in the
collapse of North
Korean lines and the pursuit of North Korean forces north
near the Yalu River until the entrance of
the People's
Republic of China into the war. Chinese troops surrounded,
surprised and overwhelmed the overextended and outnumbered American
forces.
X
Corps, which included the 1st Marine Division and
the Army's 7th Infantry Division, regrouped and inflicted heavy
casualties during their fighting withdrawal to the coast, now known
as the Battle of
Chosin Reservoir. Marines would continue a battle of
attrition around the
38th
Parallel until the 1953 armistice. The Korean War saw the Corps
expand from 75,000 regulars to a force of 261,000 Marines, mostly
reservists. 30,544 Marines were killed or wounded during the war
and 42 were awarded the Medal of Honor.
Vietnam War
The
Marine Corps served an important role in the Vietnam War taking part in such battles as
Da
Nang, Hue
City, and Khe Sanh. Individuals from the USMC operated in the
Northern I Corps Regions of
South
Vietnam. While there, they were constantly engaged in a
guerrilla war against the
National
Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) and an
intermittent conventional war against the
North Vietnamese Army (NVA). Portions
of the Corps were responsible for the less-known
Combined Action Program (CAP) that
implemented unconventional techniques for
counter-insurgency and worked as military
advisors to the
Republic of Vietnam Marine
Corps.
Marines were withdrawn in 1971, and returned
briefly in 1975 to evacuate Saigon and attempt a rescue of the crew of the Mayagüez.
Vietnam was the longest war for Marines; by its end, 13,091 had
been killed in action, 51,392 had been wounded, and 57 Medals of
Honor had been awarded.
Due to policies concerning rotation, more Marines were deployed for service during Vietnam than World War II.
While recovering from Vietnam, the Corps hit a detrimental low
point in its service history caused by
courts-martial and Non-Judicial Punishments
related partially to increased
Unauthorized
Absences and Desertions during the war. Overhauling of the
Corps began in the late 1970s, discharging the most delinquent, and
once quality of new recruits improved, the Corps focused on
reforming the NCO Corps, a vital functioning part of its
forces.
Interim: Vietnam to the War on Terror
After
Vietnam, the Marines resumed their expeditionary role,
participating in the 1980 Iran hostage rescue attempt Operation
Eagle Claw, the invasion of
Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury) and the invasion of Panama
(Operation Just Cause). On 23 October 1983, the Marine headquarters
building in Beirut, Lebanon, was bombed, causing the highest peacetime losses to the Corps
in its history (220 Marines and 21 other service members of the
24th Marine Expeditionary
Unit were killed) and leading to the American withdrawal from
the country. The year of 1990 saw Marines of the Joint Task
Force Sharp Edge save thousands of lives by evacuating British,
French and American nationals from the violence of the
Liberian Civil War.
During the Persian Gulf War (1990–1991), Marine task forces
formed the initial core for Operation Desert Shield, while United
States and Coalition troops mobilized, and later liberated Kuwait in
Operation Desert Storm. Marines participated in combat operations in
Somalia (1992–1995) during Operations Restore Hope, Restore Hope II, and
United Shield to provide
humanitarian relief.
Global War on Terrorism
Following the
11 September
2001 attacks President
George W.
Bush announced the
War on Terrorism. The stated objective of
the Global War on Terror is "the defeat of
Al-Qaeda, other
terrorist
groups and any nation that supports or harbors terrorists". Since
then, the Marine Corps, alongside other military and federal
agencies, has engaged in global operations around the world in
support of that mission.
Operation Enduring Freedom
Marines
and other American forces began staging in Pakistan and Uzbekistan on the border of Afghanistan as early as October 2001 in preparation for
Operation Enduring
Freedom. The 15th and 26th Marine Expeditionary
Units were the first conventional forces into Afghanistan in
support of Operation Enduring Freedom in November 2001, and in
December, the Marines seized Kandahar
International Airport. Since then, Marine battalions and squadrons
have been rotating through, engaging
Taliban
and
Al-Qaeda forces. In June 2009, 7000
Marines with the
2nd Marine
Expeditionary Brigade deployed to Afghanistan in an effort to
improve security.In 2002,
Combined Joint Task
Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA)
was stood up at
Camp
Lemonier, Djibouti to provide regional security. Despite
transferring overall command to the Navy in 2006, the Marines
continued to operate in the
Horn of
Africa into 2007.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Most recently, the Marines have served prominently in the Iraq War.
The
I Marine Expeditionary
Force, along with the Army's
3rd Infantry Division,
spearheaded the
2003 invasion of
Iraq. The Marines left Iraq in the summer of 2003, but returned
for occupation duty in the beginning of 2004.
They were given
responsibility for the Anbar Province, the large desert region to the west of Baghdad. During this occupation, the Marines
spearheaded both assaults on the city of Fallujah in April (Operation Vigilant Resolve) and November 2004 (Operation Phantom Fury).
Their time in Iraq has also courted controversy with the
Haditha incident and the
Hamdania incident. They currently continue
to operate throughout Iraq.
Organization
The
Department of
the Navy, led by the
Secretary of the Navy,
oversees both the Marine Corps and the Navy. The most senior Marine
officer is the
Commandant
of the Marine Corps, responsible for organizing, recruiting,
training, and equipping the Marine Corps so that it is ready for
operation under the command of the
Unified Combatant Commanders. The
Marine Corps is organized into four principal subdivisions:
Headquarters Marine Corps
(HQMC), the Operating Forces, the Supporting Establishment, and the
Marine Forces Reserve
(MARFORRES or USMCR).
The Operating Forces are further subdivided into three categories:
Marine Corps Forces (MARFOR) assigned to unified commands,
Marine Corps Security
Forces guarding high-risk naval installations, and
Marine Corps Security Guard
detachments at American embassies. Under the "Forces for Unified
Commands" memo, Marine Corps Forces are assigned to each of the
regional unified commands at the discretion of the
Secretary of Defense with
the approval of the President. Since 1991, the Marine Corps has
maintained component headquarters at each of the regional unified
combatant commands. Marine Corps Forces are further divided into
Marine Forces
Command (MARFORCOM) and
Marine
Forces Pacific (MARFORPAC), each headed by a
Lieutenant General.
MARFORCOM has operational control of the
II Marine Expeditionary Force;
MARFORPAC has operational control of the
I Marine Expeditionary Force
and
III Marine
Expeditionary Force.
The Supporting Establishment includes
Marine Corps Combat
Development Command (MCCDC),
Marine Corps Recruit
Depots,
Marine Corps
Logistics Command,
Marine
bases and
air stations, Recruiting Command, and the
Marine Band.
Relationship with other services
In general, the Marine Corps shares many resources with the other
branches of the
United
States military. However, the Corps has consistently sought to
maintain its own identity with regards to mission, funding, and
assets, while utilizing the support available from the larger
branches. While the Marine Corps has far fewer
installations
both in the US and worldwide than the other branches, most
Army posts,
Naval
stations, and
Air Force
bases have a Marine presence.
United States Army
The Marine Corps combat capabilities in many ways overlap those of
the
United States Army, the
latter having historically viewed the Corps as encroaching on the
Army's capabilities and competing for funding, missions, and
renown. The attitude dates back to the founding of the
Continental Marines, when General
George Washington refused to allow
the initial Marine battalions to be drawn from among his
Continental Army. Most significantly, in
the aftermath of World War II, Army efforts to restructure the
American defense establishment included the dissolution of the
Corps and the folding of its capabilities into the other services.
Leading this movement were such prominent Army officers as General
Dwight D. Eisenhower and
Army Chief of Staff
George C. Marshall. While the rivalry is still
present today, most Marines and soldiers adopt a more cooperative
attitude when operating jointly. Doctrinally, Marines focus on
being expeditionary and independent, while the Army tends more
toward overwhelming force with a large support element. The
emphasis on mobility and
combined arms
makes the Marine Corps a much lighter force than the Army. The
Marine Corps maintains a larger percentage of its personnel and
assets in the combat arms (
infantry,
artillery,
armor, and
close air support) than the Army. However,
the Army maintains much larger and diverse
armor,
artillery, ground
transport, and logistics forces, while the Marines have a larger
and more diverse aviation arm, which is usually organic to the
MAGTF. Marines tend to have better cohesion as an expeditionary
unit, as well as being completely
amphibious. The Army operates a great
many different types of units, while the "Every Marine's a
rifleman" creed shows the Marines' focus on standardized infantry
units with the other arms in support roles. This commitment to
standardized units can be seen in the short-lived experiment of the
Marine Raiders, while the
75th Ranger Regiment has continued for
the last four decades.
The Marines often utilize the Army for the acquisition of ground
equipment (as well as benefiting from Army research and development
resources), training resources, and other support concepts. The
majority of
vehicles
and
weapons
are shared with, modified, or inherited from Army programs.
Culturally, Marines and soldiers share most of the common U.S.
military slang and terminology, but the Corps utilizes a large
number of
naval terms and
traditions incompatible with the Army lifestyle, as well as their
own
unique
vernacular. Many Marines regard their
culture to have a
deeper warrior tradition, with the ethos that every Marine is a
rifleman and emphasis on cross-training and combat readiness
despite actual job, be it infantry or otherwise.
United States Navy
The Marine Corps' counterpart under the Department of the Navy is
the
United States Navy. As a
result, the Navy and Marine Corps have a close relationship, more
so than with other branches of the military. Whitepapers and
promotional literature have commonly used the phrase "Navy-Marine
Corps Team", or to "the Naval Service". Both the
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO)
and Commandant of the Marine Corps report directly to the Secretary
of the Navy.
Cooperation between the two services begins with the training and
instruction of Marines.
The Corps receives a significant portion of
its officers from the United States Naval Academy and Naval Reserve Officer
Training Corps (NROTC). NROTC staff includes Marine
instructors, while Marine
drill
instructors contribute to training of officers in the
Navy's Officer Candidate
School.
Marine
aviators are trained in the Naval Aviation training
pipeline.
Training alongside each other is viewed as critical, as the Navy
provides transport, logistical, and combat support to put Marine
units into the fight, for example, the
Maritime Prepositioning ships
and
naval gunfire support.
Most Marine aviation assets ultimately derive from the Navy, with
regards to acquisition and funding, and Navy
aircraft carriers typically deploy with a
Marine squadron alongside Navy squadrons. Marines do not recruit or
train noncombatants such as
chaplains or
medical/dental personnel; naval personnel fill these roles. Some of
these sailors, particularly
Hospital
Corpsmen and
Religious
Programs Specialists, generally wear Marine uniforms emblazoned
with Navy insignia. Conversely, the Marine Corps is responsible for
conducting land operations to support naval campaigns, including
the seizure of naval and air bases. Both services operate a network
security team in conjunction.
Marines and Sailors share many naval traditions, especially
terminology and customs. Marine Corps
Medal of Honor recipients wear the Navy
variant of this and other awards; and with few exceptions, the
awards and badges of the Navy and Marine Corps are identical. The
Navy's
Blue Angels flight demonstration
team is staffed by both Navy and Marine officers and enlisted men,
and includes a Marine
C-130 Hercules
aircraft.
In 2007, the Marine Corps joined with the Navy and Coast Guard to
adopt a new maritime strategy called
A Cooperative
Strategy for 21st Century Seapower that raises the notion
of prevention of war to the same philosophical level as the conduct
of war. This new strategy charts a course for the Navy, Coast Guard
and Marine Corps to work collectively with each other and
international partners to prevent regional crises, manmade or
natural, from occurring or reacting quickly should one occur to
avoid negative impacts to the United States.
United States Air Force
While the majority of Marine
aviation assets
ultimately derive from the Navy, some support is drawn from the
United States Air Force. The
Marine Corps also makes extensive use of the
Air Mobility Command to
airlift Marines and equipment around the
globe.
Air-ground task forces
Today, the basic framework for deployable Marine units is the
Marine Air-Ground Task
Force (MAGTF), a flexible structure of varying size. A MAGTF
integrates a
ground combat
element (GCE), an
aviation
combat element (ACE), and a
logistics combat element (LCE)
under a common
command element
(CE), capable of operating independently or as part of a larger
coalition. The MAGTF structure reflects a strong tradition in the
Corps towards self-sufficiency and a commitment to
combined arms, both essential assets to an
expeditionary force often called
upon to act independently in discrete, time-sensitive situations.
The history of the Marine Corps as well has led to a wariness of
overreliance on its sister services, and towards joint operations
in general.
A MAGTF varies in size from the smallest, a
Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU),
based around a reinforced infantry
battalion and a composite
squadron, up to the largest, a
Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF),
which ties together a
Division,
an
Air Wing, and a
Logistics Group under a MEF
Headquarters Group. The seven MEUs constantly rotate between
themselves and their attached components to maintain a high state
of readiness. Each MEU is rated as capable of performing
special operations. The three MEFs contain
the vast majority of Active duty deployable forces.
Special warfare
Although the notion of a Marine special forces contribution to the
United States
Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) was considered as early as
the founding of USSOCOM in the 1980s, it was resisted by the Marine
Corps. Then-Commandant
Paul X.
Kelley expressed the popular belief
that Marines should support Marines, and that the Corps should not
fund a special warfare capability that would not support Marine
operations. However, much of the resistance from within the Corps
dissipated when Marine leaders watched the Corps' 15th and 26th
MEU(SOC)s "sit on the sidelines" during the very early stages of
Operation Enduring
Freedom while other special operations units actively engaged
in operations in Afghanistan. After a three-year development
period, the Corps agreed in 2006 to supply a 2,600-strong unit,
Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC), which would
answer directly to USSOCOM.
Personnel
Leadership
As stated above, the
Commandant of the Marine
Corps is the highest-ranking officer of the Marine Corps;
though he may not be the senior officer by time in
grade. He is both the symbolic and functional head
of the Corps, and holds a position of very high esteem among
Marines. The Commandant has the
U.S. Code Title 10
responsibility to man, train, and equip the Marine Corps. He does
not serve as a direct battlefield commander. The Commandant is a
member of the
Joint Chiefs of
Staff, and reports to the
Secretary of the
Navy.
The
Assistant
Commandant of the Marine Corps acts as a deputy to the
Commandant. The
Sergeant Major of the Marine
Corps is the senior enlisted Marine, and acts as an advisor to
the Commandant.
Headquarters
Marine Corps comprises the rest of the Commandant's counsel and
staff, with deputy commandants that
oversee various aspects of the Corps assets and capabilities.
The current and 34th Commandant is General
James T. Conway, who assumed the position on 13
November 2006. , Marine General
James E. Cartwright (
Vice Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff) is senior in terms of time in grade and
billet to the commandant. The 31st and current Assistant Commandant
is
James F. Amos, while the 16th and current Sergeant
Major is
Carlton W. Kent.
Rank structure
As in the rest of the United States military, Marine Corps
ranks fall into one of three categories:
commissioned officer,
warrant officer, and
enlisted, in decreasing order of authority (excluding the Air
Force, which does not currently appoint warrant officers). To
standardize compensation, each rank is assigned a
pay grade.
Commissioned Officers
Commissioned Officers are distinguished from other officers by
their
commission, which is the formal
written authority, issued in the name of the
President of the United
States, that confers the rank and authority of a Marine
Officer. Commissioned officers carry the "special trust and
confidence" of the President of the United States.
Warrant Officers
Warrant Officers are primarily former enlisted experts in a
specific specialized field, and provide leadership generally only
within that speciality.
Enlisted
Enlisted Marines in the pay grades E-1 to E-3 make up the bulk of
the Corps' ranks, usually referred to simply as "Marines" or
"junior Marines". Although they do not technically hold leadership
ranks, the Corps' ethos stresses leadership among all Marines, and
junior Marines are often assigned responsibility normally reserved
for superiors. Those in the pay grades of E-4 and E-5 are
non-commissioned officers (NCOs).
They primarily supervise junior Marines and act as a vital link
with the higher command structure, ensuring that orders are carried
out correctly. Marines E-6 and higher are Staff Non-Commissioned
Officers (SNCOs), charged with supervising NCOs and acting as
enlisted advisors to the command.
The E-8 and E-9 levels each have two ranks per pay grade, each with
different responsibilities. The First Sergeant and Sergeant Major
ranks are command-oriented, serving as the senior enlisted Marines
in a unit, charged to assist the commanding officer in matters of
discipline, administration and the morale and welfare of the unit.
Master Sergeants and Master Gunnery Sergeants provide technical
leadership as occupational specialists in their specific MOS.
The
Sergeant Major of
the Marine Corps is a unique rank and billet conferred on the
senior enlisted Marine of the entire Marine Corps, personally
selected by the Commandant.
Different forms of address can be found at
United States Marine
Corps rank insignia and
List
of United States Marine Corps acronyms and expressions.
Military Occupational Specialty
The Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) is a system of job
classification. Using a four digit code, it designates what field
and specific occupation a Marine performs. Segregated between
officer and enlisted, the MOS determines the staffing of a unit.
Some MOSs change with rank to reflect supervisory positions, others
are secondary and represent a temporary assignment outside of a
Marine's normal duties or special skill.
Initial training
Every year, over 2,000 new Marine officers are commissioned, and
38,000 recruits accepted and trained. All new Marines, enlisted or
officer, are
recruited by the
Marine Corps Recruiting
Command.
Commissioned officers are commissioned
mainly through one of three sources: Naval Reserve Officer
Training Corps (NROTC), Officer
Candidates School (OCS), or the United
States Naval Academy (USNA). Following commissioning, all Marine
commissioned officers, regardless of accession route or further
training requirements, attend The Basic
School (TBS) at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. At TBS, second lieutenants, warrant
officers, and selected foreign officers learn the art of
infantry and
combined
arms warfare. Along with the concept that
"Every Marine is
a rifleman", every officer, regardless of his MOS/billet, is
qualified to be an infantry platoon commander.
Enlisted
Marines attend recruit
training, known as boot camp,
at either Marine Corps Recruit Depot San
Diego or Marine
Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. Historically, the
Mississippi River served as the dividing
line which delineated who would be trained where, while more
recently, a
district system
has ensured a more even distribution of male recruits between the
two MCRD facilities. Females attend only the Parris Island depot as
part of the segregated Fourth Recruit Training Battalion. All
recruits must pass a fitness test to start training; those who fail
receive individualized attention and training until the minimum
standards are reached. Marine recruit training is the longest among
the American military services; it is 13 weeks long, compared to
the Army's 11 weeks.
Following
recruit training, enlisted Marines then attend School of
Infantry training at Camp Geiger or Camp Pendleton. Infantry Marines begin their combat
training, which varies in length, immediately with the Infantry
Training Battalion (ITB). Marines in all other MOSs other than
infantry train for 29 days in Marine Combat Training (MCT),
learning common infantry skills, before continuing on to their MOS
schools which vary in length.
Uniforms
The Marine Corps has the most stable and most recognizable uniforms
in the American military; the Blue Dress dates back to the early
19th century and the service uniform to the early 20th century.
Marines' uniforms are also distinct in their simplicity; Marines do
not wear
unit
patches or
United States
flags on any of their uniforms, nor name tags on their service
and formal uniforms. Only a handful of skills (parachutist, air
crew, explosive ordnance disposal, etc.) warrant
distinguishing
badges, and rank insignia is not worn on uniform headgear (with
the exception of an officer's garrison service cover). While other
servicemembers commonly identify with a sub-group as much as or
more than their service (
Ranger,
submariner, aircrew, etc.),
Marine uniforms do not reflect such division.
Marines have three main uniforms: Dress, Service, and Utility. The
Marine Corps
Dress
uniform is the most elaborate, worn for formal or
ceremonial occasions. There are three different forms of the Dress
uniform, the most common being the Blue Dress Uniform, also called
"Dress Blues" or simply "Blues". It is most often seen in
recruiting advertisements and is equivalent to
black tie. There is also a "Blue-White" Dress for
summer, and
Evening Dress for formal
(
white tie) occasions. Versions with a
khaki shirt in lieu of the coat are worn as a daily working uniform
by Marine recruiters.
The
Service Uniform was once the prescribed daily
work attire in garrison; however, it has been largely superseded in
this role by the utility uniform. Consisting of olive green and
khaki colors, it is commonly referred to as "Greens". It is roughly
equivalent in function and composition to a
business suit.
The
Utility Uniform, currently the
Marine Corps Combat Utility
Uniform, is a camouflage uniform intended for wear in the field
or for dirty work in garrison, though it has now been standardized
for regular duty. It is rendered in a distinctive
MARPAT pixelated
camouflage
(sometimes referred to as digitals or digies) that breaks up the
wearer's shape, and also serves to distinguish Marine uniforms from
those of other services. In garrison, the woodland uniform is worn
sleeves down in winter, and the desert uniform is worn with sleeves
rolled up in summer. The sleeves are rolled tightly to the biceps,
exposing the lighter inside layer, and forming a neat cuff to
present a crisper appearance to the otherwise formless uniform. In
years past when Marines wore identical utilities to their Army and
Air Force counterparts, this
served to distinguish them as the other services have a different
practice for rolling sleeves. Marines consider the utilities a
working uniform and do not permit their wear off-base, except in
transit to and from their place of duty and in the event of an
emergency. This, too, distinguishes them from other services, which
have less stringent restrictions.
Culture
As in any military organization, the official and unofficial
traditions of the Marine Corps serve to reinforce camaraderie and
set the service apart from others. The Corps' embrace of its rich
culture and history is cited as a reason for its high
esprit de
corps.
A rendition of the emblem on the flag
of the Marine Corps
Official traditions and customs
The
Marines' Hymn
dates back to the 19th century and is the oldest official song in
the United States armed forces. The Marine motto
Semper
Fidelis means
always faithful in
Latin, often appearing as
Semper Fi;
also the name of the official march of the Corps, composed by
John Phillip Sousa. The mottos
"Fortitudine" (With Fortitude);
By Sea and by
Land, a translation of the
Royal
Marines'
Per Mare, Per Terram; and
To the Shores
of Tripoli were used until 1868. The
Marine Corps
emblem is the
Eagle,
Globe, and Anchor, sometimes abbreviated "EGA", adopted in
1868. The
Marine Corps seal includes the emblem,
also is found on the
flag of the United States
Marine Corps, and establishes scarlet and gold as the official
colors.
Two styles of
swords are worn by Marines: the
officers'
Mameluke Sword, similar to
the Persian
shamshir presented to Lt.
Presley O'Bannon after the
Battle of Derna, and the
Marine NCO
sword. The
Marine Corps
Birthday is celebrated every year on the
10th of November in a cake-cutting ceremony
where the first slice of cake is given to the oldest Marine
present, who in turn hands it off to the youngest Marine present.
The celebration also includes a reading of Marine Corps Order 47,
Commandant
Lejeune's Birthday
Message.
Close Order Drill is heavily emphasized
early on in a Marine's initial training, incorporated into most
formal events, and is used to teach discipline by instilling habits
of precision and automatic response to orders, increase the
confidence of junior officers and noncommissioned officers through
the exercise of command and give Marines an opportunity to handle
individual weapons.
An important part of the Marine Corps culture is the traditional
seafaring
naval
terminology derived from its history with the Navy.
Unofficial traditions and customs
A recruiting poster makes use of the
"Teufel Hunden" nickname.
Marines have several generic
nicknames:
- Devil Dog is oft-disputed as
well, but the tradition has expanded to include the bulldog's association with the Corps, especially as
a mascot.
- gyrene has dropped out of popular use.
- jarhead has several
oft-disputed explanations.
- leatherneck refers to a
leather collar formerly part of the Marine uniform during the
Revolutionary War period.
Some other unofficial traditions include mottos and exclamations:
- Oorah is common among
Marines, being similar in function and purpose to the Army's
hooah and the Navy's hooyah cries. Many possible etymologies have been offered for the term.
- Semper Fi, Mac was a common and preferred form of
greeting in times past.
- Improvise, Adapt and Overcome has become an adopted
mantra in many units.
Veteran Marines
The ethos that "
Once a Marine, Always a Marine" has led to
the objection to the use of the term "ex-Marine", leading to myriad
forms of address for those no longer on active duty:
- "Marine", since the title is permanent, once earned.
- "Veteran Marine" or "Prior-service Marine" can refer to anyone
who has been discharged from the Corps.
- "Retired Marine" refers to those who have completed 20 or more
years of service and formally retired.
- "Former Marine" is considered acceptable among those who are
honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps.
- "Sir" or "Ma'am" is appropriate out of respect.
- According to one of the "Commandant's White letters" from
Commandant Alfred M. Gray, Jr., referring to a Marine by
their last earned rank is appropriate.
- Marines that have left service with a less than full honorable
discharge might still be considered Marines (depending on the view
of the individual), however that title is also in keeping with a
stigma, and many will avoid the issue altogether by addressing the
individual by name with no other title.
Marine performs a shoulder
throw.
Martial arts program
In 2001, the Marine Corps initiated an internally-designed
martial arts program, called Marine Corps
Martial Arts Program (MCMAP). Due to an expectation that urban and
police-type
peacekeeping missions would
become more common in the 21st century, placing Marines in even
closer contact with unarmed civilians, MCMAP was implemented to
provide Marines with a larger and more versatile set of
less-than-lethal options for controlling hostile, but unarmed
individuals. It is also a stated aim of the program to instill and
maintain the "Warrior Ethos" within Marines. The Marine Corps
Martial Arts program is an eclectic mix of different styles of
martial arts melded together. MCMAP consists of
boxing movements,
joint
locking techniques, opponent weight transfer (
Jujitsu), ground grappling (mostly
wrestling),
bayonet, knife
and
baton fighting, non-compliance
joint manipulations, and airway and blood restriction
chokes. Marines begin MCMAP training in boot camp,
where they will earn the first of five available
belts.
Equipment
Infantry weapons
The basic infantry weapon of the Marine Corps is the
M16 assault rifle family, with a majority of
Marines being equipped with the M16A2 or M16A4 service rifles (the
M16A2 is being phased out), or more recently the
M4 carbine—a compact variant. Suppressive fire is
provided by the
M249 SAW
and
M240G machine guns, at the
squad and company levels respectively. In addition, indirect fire
is provided by the
M203 grenade
launcher in fireteams,
M224 60 mm
mortar in companies, and
M252 81 mm
mortar in battalions. The
M2
.50 caliber heavy machine gun and
MK19 automatic grenade launcher are
available for use by dismounted infantry, though they are more
commonly vehicle-mounted. Precision firepower is provided by the
M40A3 sniper rifle and
M82 anti-material rifle by
Scout Snipers, while
designated marksmen use the
DMR
(being replaced by the
M39
EMR), and the
SAM-R.
The Marine Corps utilizes a variety of direct-fire rockets and
missiles to provide infantry with an offensive and defensive
anti-armor capability. The
SMAW and
AT4 are
unguided rockets that can
destroy armor and fixed defenses (e.g., bunkers) at ranges up to
500 meters. The
Predator SRAW,
FGM-148 Javelin and
BGM-71 TOW are
anti-tank guided missiles. The
Javelin can utilize top-attack profiles to avoid heavy frontal
armor. The Predator is a short-range
fire-and-forget weapon; the Javelin and TOW
are heavier missiles effective past 2,000 meters that give infantry
an offensive capability against armor.
Ground vehicles
The Corps operates the same
High Mobility
Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) and
M1A1 Abrams tank as does the Army. However, for
its specific needs, the Corps uses a number of unique vehicles. The
LAV-25 is a dedicated wheeled armored
personnel carrier, similar to the Army's
Stryker vehicle, used to provide strategic mobility.
Amphibious capability is provided by the
AAV-7A1 Amphibious Assault
Vehicle, an armored tracked vehicle that doubles as an
armored personnel carrier, due to
be replaced by the
Expeditionary Fighting
Vehicle, a faster vehicle with superior armor and weaponry. The
threat of
land mines and
improvised explosive devices in
Iraq and Afghanistan has also seen the Corps begin purchasing heavy
armored vehicles that can better withstand the effects of these
weapons as part of the
Mine
Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle program. The Marine Corps
has ordered 1,960 MRAP vehicles, hoping to use them to
replace all HMMWVs on patrols in
Iraq.
Prior to 2005, the Marines operated exclusively tube artillery—the
M198 155 mm howitzer, now being
replaced by the
M777 155 mm
howitzer. However, the Corps has expanded its artillery
composition to include the
High Mobility Artillery
rocket system (HIMARS), a truck-mounted rocket artillery
system. Both are capable of firing guided munitions.
Aircraft
The organic
aviation capability of
the Marine Corps is essential to its mission. The Corps operates
both
rotary-wing and
fixed-wing aircraft mainly to provide
assault support and
close air support to its ground forces.
However, other aircraft types are also used in a variety of support
and special-purpose roles.
The light-attack and light transport capabilities are provided by
AH-1W SuperCobras and
UH-1N Hueys,
slated to be replaced by the
AH-1Z Viper and the
UH-1Y
Venom. Medium-lift squadrons flying the
CH-46E Sea Knight and
CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters are in
the process of converting to the
V-22
Osprey, a
tilt-rotor
aircraft with superior range and speed. Heavy-lift squadrons
are equipped with the
CH-53E Super
Stallion helicopter, eventually to be replaced with the
upgraded
CH-53K.
Marine attack squadrons fly the
AV-8B
Harrier II; while the fighter/attack mission is handled by the
single-seat and dual-seat versions of the
F/A-18 Hornet strike-fighter aircraft. The
AV-8B is a
V/STOL aircraft that can operate
from
amphibious assault
ships, land air bases and short, expeditionary airfields, while
the F/A-18 can only be flown from land or aircraft carriers. Both
are slated to be replaced by the STOVL B version of the
F-35 Lightning II, beginning training
operations in 2008.
In addition, the Corps operates its own organic
aerial refueling and
electronic warfare (EW) assets in the
form of the
KC-130 Hercules and
EA-6B Prowler. The Hercules doubles as
a ground refueller and tactical-airlift transport aircraft. The
Prowler is the only active tactical electronic warfare aircraft
left in the United States inventory, and has been labeled a
"national asset"; frequently borrowed along with Navy Prowlers and
EA-18G Growlers to assist in any
American combat action since the retirement of the US Air Force's
own EW aircraft.
The Marines also operate
unmanned aerial vehicles: the
RQ-7 Shadow and
Scan Eagle for tactical reconnaissance.
Marine Fighter Training Squadron 401 (
VMFT-401), operates
F-5E,
F-5F and F-5N Tiger II aircraft in support of air combat
adversary (
aggressor)
training. Marine Helicopter Squadron One (
HMX-1) operates the
VH-3D Sea
King and
VH-60N Nighthawk
helicopters in the VIP transport role, most notably
Marine One, but are due to be replaced by the
VH-71 Kestrel. A single Marine Corps
C-130 Hercules aircraft "Fat Albert" is used to support the US
Navy's flight demonstration team, the "
Blue
Angels".
Marine bases and stations
The Marine Corps operates many major bases, 14 of which host
operating forces, several support and training installations, as
well as satellite facilities. Marine Corps bases are concentrated
around the locations of the
Marine Expeditionary Forces,
though
reserve units are
scattered throughout the United States.
The principal bases
are Camp Pendleton on the West Coast, home to I MEF; Camp
Lejeune on the East Coast, home to II MEF; and Camp
Butler in Okinawa, Japan, home to III MEF.
Other important bases include air stations, recruit depots,
logistics bases, and training commands.
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center
Twentynine Palms in California is the Marine Corps' largest base and home to the
Corps' most complex, combined-arms, live-fire training.
Marine Corps
Base Quantico in Virginia is home to Marine Corps Combat
Development Command, and nicknamed the "Crossroads of the
Marine Corps". Marines also operate
detachments at many installations owned by other
branches, to better share resources, such as specialty schools.
Marines are also present at, and operate many, forward bases during
expeditionary operations.
Finally, Marines operate a presence in the
National Capital
Region, with Headquarters
Marine Corps scattered amongst the Pentagon, Henderson Hall, Washington Navy Yard, and Marine Barracks, Washington,
D.C..
See also
References
- Richard Leiby, Terrorists by Another Name: The Barbary
Pirates, The Washington Post, 15 October
2001
- Contains a very detailed account of almost all the actions of
the Continental Marines and USMC until 1932. It is available in
scanned TIFF format from the archives of the Marine Corps
University.
- Chapter 7, The Marines' Push Button 113–119
- Casualties: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps,
history.navy.mil.
- Official Navy figures number the Marine deaths at 13,091. This
source provides a number of 14,837.
- Simmons, 247. Roughly 800,000 Marines served in Vietnam, as
opposed to 600,000 in World War II.
- (PDF file, see 1992, 9 December, p. 16.
- Estes (1986), p. 60
- ALMAR 007/08 directing seasonal uniform
changes
- Yi, Capt. Jamison, USMC. "MCMAP and the Warrior Ethos",
Military Review, November-December 2004.
Further reading
External links