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United States Marine Corps
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Originally organized in 1775 for ship-to-ship fighting, shipboard security and to assist in landing forces, the Marine Corps has evolved into a 21st Century force with a unique, multi-purpose role in the modern United States military.
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The Marine Corps is the second smallest of the five branches (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard) of the U.S. military, with 180,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2005. Only the United States Coast Guard, part of the Department of Homeland Security, is smaller. In absolute terms, the US Marine Corps is nonetheless larger than the armed forces of many major nations; for example, it is larger than the British army or all of the Canadian Forces put together.
The Marine Corps serves as a versatile combat element, and is adapted to a wide variety of combat operations. The Marine Corps was initially composed of infantry combat forces serving aboard naval vessels, responsible for security of the ship, its captain and officers, offensive and defensive combat during boarding actions, by acting as sharpshooters, and carrying out amphibious assaults. The Marines developed and used the tactics of amphibious assault in World War II, most notably in the Pacific Island Campaign.
Since its creation in 1775, the Corps' role has expanded significantly. The Marines have a unique mission statement, and, alone among the branches of the U.S. armed forces, "shall, at any time, be liable to do duty in the forts and garrisons of the United States, on the seacoast, or any other duty on shore, as the President, at his discretion, shall direct." Because of this, the Marine Corps is referred to as "The President's Own." In this special capacity, charged with carrying out duties given to them directly by the President of the United States, the Marine Corps serves as an all-purpose, fast-response task force, capable of quick action in areas requiring emergency intervention.
Raising the Flag at Iwo Jima
While the Marine Corps does not necessarily fill unique combat roles, only when combined do the US Army, US Navy, and US Air Force overlap every area that the Marine Corps covers. As a force, the Marines consistently use all essential elements of combat (air, ground, sea) together. While the creation of joint commands under the Goldwater-Nichols Act has improved interservice coordination between the larger services, the Marine Corps' ability to permanently maintain integrated multi-element task forces under a single command provides a special ability to respond to flexibility and urgency requirements.
The Marine Corps possesses organic ground and air combat elements, and relies upon the US Navy to provide sea combat elements to fulfill its mission as "America's 9-1-1 Force". Marine combat forces are largely contained in three Marine Expeditionary Forces, or "MEF's". The 1st MEF is based out of Camp Pendleton, California, the 2nd out of Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, while the third is based on Okinawa, Japan. Within the MEF's are the individual Marine Divisions (MARDIVS), Marine Logistics Groups (MLG's) and Marine Aircraft Wings (MAWs). Force Reconnaissance companies are composed of Marines specially trained in covert insertion, reconnaissance, and surveillance tactics, and some have even received special operations training. The "Recon Marines" basic mission is to scout out the enemy and report what they find.
The Marines also maintain an operational and training culture dedicated to emphasizing the infantry combat abilities of every Marine. All Marines receive training first and foremost as basic riflemen, and thus the Marine Corps at heart functions culturally as an infantry corps. The Marine Corps is famous for the saying "Every Marine a rifleman."
Marine tactics and doctrine emphasize aggressiveness and the offensive. The Marines have been central in developing groundbreaking tactics for modern amphibious assault and maneuver warfare and they can be credited with the development of helicopter insertion doctrine.
Learn more about the USMC here.
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