Portal:United States Marine Corps

Topics: Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology

War and the military
Military of Ancient Rome
Australia
Bangladesh
Canada
Germany
Greece
Pakistan
Turkey
United Kingdom (British Army
Royal Air Force
Royal Navy)
United States (Army
Marine Corps
Navy
Air Force
Coast Guard) … Military history of Africa
France
the Ottoman Empire …… American Civil War
American Revolutionary War
Cold War
Crusades
Italian Wars
Napoleonic Wars
War of 1812
World War I
World War II …… Battleships
Biological warfare
Submarine
Tank
Weapons of mass destruction …… NATO
Terrorism

The United States Marine Corps Portal

P:USMC

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 United States 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 the Marine Corps has evolved with changing military doctrine and American foreign policy. The Marine Corps has 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 rapidly respond on short notice to expeditionary crises gives it a strong role in the implementation and execution of American foreign policy.

The United States Marine Corps includes approximately 182,000 active duty Marines (as of 2016) and 38,500 reserve 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 normally under the Department of Homeland Security). The Marine Corps is nonetheless larger than the armed forces of many significant military powers; for example, it is larger than the active duty Israel Defense Forces, or the entire British Army.

More about the USMC...

edit

This month in USMC history

On October 16, 1820, Commandant Anthony Gale was found guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer at a court-martial, fired from his post, and removed from the Corps.
On October 18, 1859, Marines, under the command of Robert E. Lee, quelled John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry.
On October 21, 1944, V Amphibious Corps supported the Army at the Battle of Leyte.
On October 23, 1983, 241 Marines, sailors, and soldiers from 1st Battalion 8th Marines were killed in a bombing of their barracks at Beirut International Airport.
On October 25, 1983, the 22nd Marine Amphibious Unit invaded Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury.
On October 1, 1997, Gilda A Jackson, a Special Projects Officer in the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at MCAS Cherry Point became the first African-American female in the Marine Corps to be promoted to the rank of colonel.

edit

Did you know...?

... MajGen William H. Rupertus, author of the Rifleman's Creed, was rejected from the predecessor of U.S. Coast Guard because he failed his physical exam?
... before "Semper Fidelis" became the Marine Corps official motto in 1883, there were three unofficial mottos: "By Sea and by Land," "Fortitudine," and "To the shores of Tripoli."
... Marines in uniform are not authorized to put their hands in their pockets.
... the rank of Marine “Gunner” is the only Marine Corps rank that requires different insignia on the left and right uniform collars
... even though the Corps is an amphibious force, swim qualification is one of the few annual qualifications that doesn’t count toward a Marine’s promotion to the next rank.
... that the U.S. Marine Corps was formed before the U.S. declared its independence from Great Britain. On November 10, 1775, the Continental Congress approved the establishment of two battalions of Marines to fight for independence.

edit

Web resources

edit

Selected biography

Portal:United States Marine Corps/biography/2017October

edit

Selected quote

“I love the Corps for those intangible possessions that cannot be issued: pride, honor, integrity, and being able to carry on the traditions for generations of warriors past."
-- Jeff Sornig, USMC (Navy Times, November 1994)

edit