United States Marine Corps

[USMCRET6391]

Mission

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 fully 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.

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."[1]

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.

The amphibious assault is the most complex military maneuver in all of warfare. The doctrines that the US Marines developed for this maneuver are complex in their details. These doctrines acknowledge the complexity of the maneuver and they rely on the twin spears of instant obedience to given orders, and flexibility in execution. The initiative of individuals in taking the fight to the enemy is valued and exemplified. This initiative displayed by individual leaders is crucial to the success of any amphibious assault.

The maneuver warfare doctrine upon which the Corps is organized and the nature of the operations of which the Corps has traditionally been a part causes it to place a premium on decentralized decision-making and the individual abilities of leaders at all levels. This is accomplished through the use of commander's intent as the guiding principle for leaders. Commander's intent specifies the end state the commander wants achieved and other certain parameters he may lay out. This allows the lowest possible tactical units to determine how they wish to execute their mission to fulfill this intent. As a result, a large degree of initiative and autonomy is expected of junior Marines, particularly the NCOs (Corporals and Sergeants) as compared to many other military organizations. The Marine Corps pushes authority and responsibility downward to a greater degree than the other services.

The Marines argue that they do not and should not take the place of the other services, any more than an ambulance takes the place of a hospital. Nonetheless, when a pressing emergency develops, the Marines essentially act as a stopgap, to get into and hold an area until the larger machinery can be mobilized. The opinions of other military men and politicians have, at times, differed, and President Harry S. Truman considered abolishing the Corps as part of the 1948 reorganization of the military. As Truman said, "The only propaganda machine that rivals that of Stalin is that of the United States Marine Corps." Truman, a former U.S. Army artillery captain in World War I, held some resentment of the Marines for the high degree of praise bestowed upon them after the war, mostly at the expense of Army units. He also believed that the Army proved that they could do amphibious landings with the actions in North Africa, Italy and Normandy, so there was no need for a separate service to fulfill this function.

An example of this coordinated, time-sensitive capability could be seen in 1990, when the 22nd and 26th Marine Expeditionary Units conducted Operation Sharp Edge, a noncombatant evacuation operation, or NEO, in the west African city of Monrovia, Liberia. Liberia suffered from civil war at the time, and civilian citizens of the United States and other countries could not leave via conventional means. Sharp Edge ended in success. Only one reconnaissance team came under fire, with no casualties incurred on either side, and the Marines evacuated several hundred civilians within hours to U.S. Navy vessels waiting offshore.

Another example of Marine Corps capabilities may be seen in Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War. General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., commander of United States Central Command, landed in Saudi Arabia to assess what was needed to prevent forces from Iraq under Saddam Hussein from invading Saudi Arabia. He was informed that a Marine expeditionary unit was offshore and could be in place for defensive combat operations within a day. General Schwarzkopf inquired when significant United States Army tank assets could be made available, and he was told that deploying these units from the United States would take six months. It is of note that the ground war started almost six months to the day from the date of that assessment.


Reputation of the Marine Corps

The Marine Corps has a widely held reputation as a fierce and effective fighting force and the Marines take pride in their gung-ho attitude, they are indoctrinated with a strong belief in their chain of command and the importance of esprit de corps, a spirit of enthusiasm and pride in themselves and the Corps. The Marine Corps is popularly seen as possessing a degree of fame and infamy among the enemies they fight, and examples of this effect are readily seized upon and publicized by the Corps and its supporters. During the 1991 Gulf War, after Iraqi forces had already been bloodied by the Corps in the first ground engagement of the war at Khafji, U.S. Army General Norman Schwarzkopf used a public demonstration of a Marine landing on Kuwait and the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr to pin down Iraqi units, while the Army then executed a sweep from the West. In December 1992, the preannounced landing of U.S. Marines on the beaches of Mogadishu was watched on American broadcasting stations on U.S. primetime.

Most recently, Iraqis in the Persian Gulf War and 2003 invasion of Iraq were said to have taken special note of Marine Cobra helicopters and the distinctive look of the Marine combat uniform [6] [7]. The Marines have taken steps to build on this psychological advantage by, for instance, developing a new utility uniform that makes Marines easier to distinguish from other U.S. servicemen. See the Web site of the Permanent Marine Corps Uniform Board (PMCUB) for illustrations of the various Marine uniforms.

In many conflicts, members of the other armed forces of the United States have complained that the Marine Corps often emphasizes its prowess at the expense of the reputation of Army or Navy units which are nearby.[citation needed] Additionally, the aggressive tradition of the Marine Corps, and the public perception of the Corps' as both an aggressive organization and an elite force within the U.S. military, has at times led to public relations issues surrounding accusations of bullying, harassment, and hazing since WWII.

In its post-World War II history, the Marine Corps reputation has been damaged several times. The first major event was the Ribbon Creek Incident on April 8, 1956, when the junior Drill Instructor, Staff Sergeant Matthew McKeon, led his assigned platoon into a tidal stream on Parris Island in the purpose of disciplining his platoon, while violating several basic Marine and training regulations. Six recruits died. SSgt McKeon was court-martialed, and, with significant media coverage, an extensive Congressional investigation took place.

In recent years, following incidents of hazing in various Marine Corps units, such as 2nd ANGLICO and the Silent Drill Platoon, incidents involving civilians in Status of Forces Agreement countries or residing near Marine Corps installations and other public relations issues that could cast the Corps into disrepute, increasingly further-reaching measures have been taken to prevent such incidents and protect the public image of the Marine Corps. Standing orders prohibit hazing and initiation rituals of any kind, at least officially. Marines on Okinawa and at other posts are regularly subject to restrictions and curfews, particularly following incidents between Marines and civilians. Marines are regularly admonished from the time that they are recruits in boot camp that their conduct, even while on liberty, leave, or after they are discharged, can and will reflect upon the Corps. Marines today are also discouraged from publicly disparaging other branches of service. These and other measures reflect a realization that the Marine Corps is generally more visible and higher profile than the other branches of service in all that it does, and that it relies upon the goodwill of the American people and Congress to a much greater degree for its survival.

Organization

Air-ground task forces

The Marine Corps organization is flexible, and task forces can be formed of any size. Modern deployable Marine units are based upon the doctrine of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF). A MAGTF can generally be of any of three sizes, based upon the amount of force required in the given situation; however, all MAGTFs have a similar organization. A MAGTF is comprised of four elements: the command element (CE), the ground combat element (GCE), the air combat element (ACE) and the combat service support element (CSSE). A MAGTF can operate independently or as part of a larger coalition.

The command element is a headquarters unit that directs the other elements. The ground combat element usually comprises of infantry, supported by armor (tanks), and artillery, but may also include special units such as scouts or Force Reconnaissance, snipers, and forward air controllers. An air combat element contributes the air power to the MAGTF. The ACE includes all aircraft (both fixed wing and helicopters), their pilots and maintenance personnel, and those units necessary for aviation command and control. Finally, combat service support elements include all of the support units for the MAGTF: communications, combat engineers, motor transport, medical, supply units, and certain specialized groups such as air delivery and landing support teams.

The smallest type of MAGTF is the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) (Special Operations Capable) (SOC). The command element is the standing headquarters for the MEU, usually headed by a colonel. The ground combat element is a battalion landing team (BLT), which is composed of an infantry battalion reinforced with tanks, artillery, engineers, amphibious vehicles, light armored vehicles, and other ground combat assets. The air combat element is composed of a composite squadron of fixed and rotary-wing aircraft and an ATC and command and control detachment. The combat service support element consists of a Combat Logistics Battalion (CLB) which handles the logistics and administration needs of the MEU. The specific makeup of the MEU can be customized based upon the task at hand; additional artillery, armor, or air units can be attached, including squadrons of F/A-18 Hornet and Harrier jets.

There are usually three MEUs assigned to each of the U.S. Navy Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, with another MEU based on Okinawa. While one MEU is on deployment, one MEU is training to deploy and one is standing down, resting its Marines, and refitting. Each MEU is rated as capable of performing special operations.

A Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) is larger than a MEU, and is based upon a Marine regiment, with larger air and support contingents.

A Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), is comprised of a MEF Headquarters Group, Marine division, Marine Air Wing and Marine Logistics Group. Two notable deployments of an entire MEF were when I Marine Expeditionary Force deployed in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. I MEF ultimately consisted of the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions as well as considerable Marine air and support units. I MEF also deployed to Kuwait beginning in 2002 and took part in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq

The three Marine Expeditionary Forces are:

• 1st Marine Expeditionary Force located at Camp Pendleton, California
• 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force located at Camp Lejuene, North Carolina
• 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force located at Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Japan.

Ground Combat Elements

See also: List of United States Marine Corps battalions
There is a typical organization for Marine Corps infantry units, from smallest to largest. The organization and weapons are from the Marine Corps Table of Organization and Equipment standard. Any Marine Corps unit might be organized differently under their own SOP and specialized units, such as Force Reconnaissance, could certainly carry different weapons:

The basic element of a GCE is the fire team. It consists of four Marines: a team leader (M16A4 with M203 attachment), an automatic rifleman (M249), an assistant automatic rifleman(M16A4), and a rifleman (M16A4).

A squad is made up of three fire teams and a corporal or sergeant as squad leader.
Generally, there are two kinds of platoons, the next-level element: A rifle platoon consists of three squads, a Navy corpsman, a platoon sergeant (staff sergeant), and a lieutenant as platoon commander. However, a weapons platoon will see its structure in a 60mm mortar section, an assault section, a medium machine gun section (using M240G 7.62mm machine guns), a Navy corpsman, a platoon sergeant (gunnery sergeant), and a lieutenant as platoon commander

A company’s structure may also not be unitary, since a rifle company has three rifle platoons, a weapons platoon, a Navy corpsman, an administrative clerk, a police sergeant (corporal or sergeant), a training NCO, a company gunnery sergeant, first sergeant, a first lieutenant as executive officer, and captain as commander, whereas a weapons company: an 81mm mortar platoon, an anti-armor platoon, and a heavy machine gun platoon.

The following part depicts the structure of a headquarters and support company:

A battalion consists of three or four companies, commanded by a lieutenant colonel. A colonel will command a regiment, usually made up of three or four battalions. A brigade, commanded by a brigadier general, is less common in the Marine Corps, but typically made up of one or more regiments Finally, a division comprises of three or four regiments, officers and others, commanded by a major general.

Battalions and larger units have a sergeant major, and an executive officer as second in command, plus officers and others for: Administration (S-1), Intelligence (S-2), Operations (S-3), Logistics (S-4), Civil Affairs (wartime only) (S-5), and Communications (S-6).

Units of battalion size or larger may be reinforced by the addition of supporting tank or artillery units, as in the Battalion Landing Teams comprising the GCEs of Marine Expeditionary Units.

The four Marine divisions are:

• 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California
• 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
• 3rd Marine Division at Camp Courtney in Okinawa, Japan
• 4th Marine Division, a reserve unit headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, with units scattered throughout the United States.

In World War II, two more Marine Divisions were formed: the Fifth and Sixth, which fought in the Pacific War. These divisions were disbanded after the end of the war.


Air Combat Elements

See also: List of United States Marine Corps aircraft squadrons

The mission of Marine Corps aviation is to provide the MAGTF commander with an Aviation Combat Element (ACE) capable of conducting air operations in support of the seizure and defense of advanced Naval bases, and conducting such land operations as may be directed by the Joint Force commander.
The ACE supports the MAGTF by providing the six functions of Marine aviation: assault support, anti-air warfare, offensive air support, electronic warfare, control of aircraft and missiles, and aerial reconnaissance.

Typical aviation units are squadrons, groups and wings.

The four Marine aircraft wings are:

• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma,Okinawa, Japan
• 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina
• 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California
• 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, a reserve unit, headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, with units scattered throughout the United States.

Combat Service Support Element

The four Marine logistics groups are:

• 1st Marine Logistics Group at Camp Pendleton, California
• 2nd Marine Logistics Group at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
• 3rd Marine Logistics Group at Camp KinserOkinawa, Japan
• 4th Marine Logistics Group, a reserve unit, headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, with units scattered throughout the United States.

Participation in Joint Operations

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 towards relying too much on its sister services, and towards joint operations in general. During WWII, Marines at times viewed the support which they received from the Navy during the Pacific island battles as insufficient. During most of the Korean War, the Corps was forced to fight as "leg infantry" under Army command, and their unique potential advantage as an amphibious force operating in a peninsular country was ignored.

Historically, the Corps has viewed itself as being particularly vulnerable to the old tendencies toward inter-service rivalries and competition for resources, an issue that relates to the sensitivity of the Corps' reputation as described above. This is not entirely without justification, as efforts to divert resources or missions from the Corps towards other services have at times met with success. In recent years, this tendency has relaxed somewhat as the Corps has come to cooperate more and more closely with the other service branches under the Joint Command Structure. The current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, is a Marine. In October 2005, the establishment of Marine Special Operations Command within the joint U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) was announced, a move which the Corps eschewed when SOCOM was founded in 1986