United States Marine Corps

“ The citizen who thinks most deeply about his country will be the first to share the burdens of his community and neighborhood. The man who feels the [Pg 165] greatest affection for the service in which he bears arms will work most loyally to make his own unit know a rightful pride in its own worth. Among all of the military services from out of the present and past, none has been more faithful to this principle than the United States Marine Corps. Among its members, being a Marine is the thing that counts mainly; after that comes service to the Regiment or Battalion. ”

“ Comstock, still unable to comprehend where this preliminary fencing was leading.
"Have you ever heard of the United States Marine Corps?" asked Dick after the silence of a second or two.
"Most certainly I have," was the reply. "The marines figure in nearly every move our country makes in one way or another. They are always busy somewhere, though they get but little credit from the general public for their excellent work. ”

“ It is believed that it may well be said that the men on duty in Europe, far away from home ties and influences, will return to their own country unharmed by the temptations and pitfalls which their relatives and friends may have feared. They are a fine, upstanding lot of men, and their adaptability and efficiency have been so apparent as to fully warrant the oft-made statement that the men of the United States Navy, which includes the Marine Corps, can do anything, anywhere, and at any time. ”

“ The Marine Corps system of training for the enlisted personnel during the war was thorough and excellent in every respect, and resulted in the turning out of men who proved themselves well fitted for the arduous duties of Marines.
For a short time after the outbreak of the war temporary recruit depots were opened at the navy yards at Philadelphia, Pa., and Norfolk, Va., with a capacity of 2,500 at the former and 500 at the latter. These were used until the regular recruit depots at Parris Island, S. C., and Mare Island, Calif., could accommodate the recruits. ”

“ At the present time marines are used in the United States Navy on board ship and to guard naval stations at home and in the insular possessions; and when on board ship they constitute a quickly available infantry force for service abroad. Sailors are also drilled as infantry and artillery, but as their chief duties are connected with the ship, when they are landed the fighting efficiency of the ship is greatly reduced. ”

“ The Marine Corps, while maintaining the Fourth Brigade of Marines, a total of 258 officers and 8,211 enlisted men, that fought in eight battle operations suffering approximately 12,000 casualties, placed and maintained the Fifth Brigade of Marines of the same strength in France; supplied the commanding general of the Second Division, and many officers on his staff; furnished a considerable number of officers to command Army units of the Second and other divisions, and for staff and detached duty throughout the American Expeditionary Forces ”

“ The United States Army and Marine Corps, including their Reserve components and National Guard organizations, together with components of the other branches of the military, are performing their missions while under enormous strain from multiple, extended deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. ”

“ It is very gratifying in our pride over the achievements of the Marines, to know that that pride is shared by the War Department and your warm approbation of their conduct as a part of the Army will be treasured by the Corps as well as by the individuals. ”

“ The following named limited duty officers for appointment to the grade indicated in the United States Marine Corps under title 10, U.S.C., section 624:
To be major
Steven L. Ferwerda Eric J. Giannettino Mattthew T. Migliori Karlton L. Petty Trevor M. Smith Weiguo R. Xu The following named limited duty officers for appointment to the grade indicated in the United States Marine Corps under title 10, U.S.C., section 624:
To be major
Benjamin D. Kastning Robert A. Lopez, Jr. ”

“ In order to expedite the training of the new officers, advantage was taken of the law providing for a Marine Corps Reserve, and successful candidates were immediately enrolled as second lieutenants in the reserve and ordered to Marine Corps posts for instruction pending the issuance of their commissions in the regular service. ”

“ In both the Army and the Navy there is urgent need that everything possible should be done to maintain the highest standard for the personnel, alike as regards the officers and the enlisted men. I do not believe that in any service there is a finer body of enlisted men and of junior officer than we have in both the Army and the Navy, including the Marine Corps. ”

“ No Marine tactical organization of history ever did more than the Brigade to uphold the tradition of the Corps as a force-in-readiness. The transition from activation to embarkation took only 6 days, and it may be recalled that the Brigade became the first United States unit to get into the fight after crossing the Pacific from the American mainland. ”

“ In addition to the training described above, 69 officers and 2,084 enlisted men, a total of 2,153, graduated from the Marine Corps school of machine gun instruction at Utica, N. Y.
Never before in the history of the corps have better drilled and trained or more generally efficient men been turned out, ready for duty, upon completion of their training, and to this factor is largely due the splendid record made by the Marines during the war. ”

“ The outbreak of war made it essential that the corps should be filled as far as practicable with officers who had had prior military experience and training, and immediate steps were taken to arrange for the designation and examination of Marine Corps warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, graduates of military colleges, and other civilians with military experience and training. ”

“ The same is true for each re-enlistment. When an enlisted man completes thirty years’ service and is over fifty years of age he may retire on three-fourths pay.
The Marine corps (see Marines) is a wholly separate military body, but it is under the control of the Navy Department.
United States naval vessels are, as a rule, built at private yards under contracts awarded after competition. The government is not committed to any fixed policy or building programme. Each year the secretary recommends certain new construction. ”

“ In carrying out the policy of obtaining officers from the ranks, orders were issued to commanding officers of every post and station of the Marine Corps, both at home and abroad, as well as those on board ship, to the effect that all commissioned officers would be taken from the ranks, and that the number of men to be designated from each post to attend the training camp would be a certain percentage of the number of men stationed at such post or station. ”

“ TRAINING OF OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN.
During the war the Marine Corps selected and trained its own flyers and mechanics, and had its own aviation field and equipment. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass., enlisted Marines selected as promising flying material and given the rank of gunnery sergeant, took a 10 weeks’ course in groundwork, and about 80 men a month were graduated. After ground graduation they did their actual flying at the Marine flying field, Miami, Fla. ”

“ To summarize, the average Marine who arrived in France received at least six weeks’ training in the United States in a recruit depot and a very short period at Quantico. This is a contrast to the six months’ training received by the average enlisted man of the Army. After arrival in France the Marines, except those of the original Fourth Brigade, received practically no training in a training area since they joined the brigade almost immediately. The Marines comprising the Fifth Brigade of Marines received no training in a regular training area in France. ”

“ The marine corps was increased to 17,000 men. Retired officers were called back for bureau work, so that younger men might be released for active service. By June 6, American warships had arrived off the coast of France. Naval bases were established on both the French and English coasts as stations for American destroyers, co-operating with the Allied navies against German submarines. In addition, over 200 merchantmen had been provided with guns and crews to work them before the end of August. ”

“ Fifth, to enhance the already formidable ability of the Marine Corps to respond to limited war emergencies, I am asking the Congress for 60 million dollars to increase the Marine Corps strength to 190,000 men. This will increase the initial impact and staying power of our three Marine divisions and three air wings, and provide a trained nucleus for further expansion, if necessary for self-defense. ”

“ In terms of economy of manpower it could be considered an inefficient, though not ineffective use of Marines. On the other hand, the history of warfare down through the ages makes it repeatedly clear that a nation fights the pitched battle against its opponent with the arsenal of weapons and personnel at hand.
As an Eighth U.S. Army component (attached variously to the X, IX, and I Corps) , the 1st Marine Division (one of nearly 20 divisions representing U.S. Army, British Commonwealth, and ROK troops) performed its assigned mission—to repulse and punish the enemy. ”

“ First, of course, came the25 bringing of the 1st Marine Division (less one RCT) up to war strength, including augmentation personnel and supplies for the units of the Brigade. Next, the organization of a third reinforced infantry regiment, the 7th Marines, was directed by a letter from CMC to CG 1st Marine Division on 4 August.43
43 O. P. Smith, Notes, 5–6.
Headquarters Marine Corps naturally foresaw the necessity for replacement and rotation troops. The importance of the Reserve in this long-range expansion program may be seen by glancing ahead at the statistics of the next few months. ”

“ With all OMCR ground units called up and absorbed into the 1st and 2d Divisions, and air squadrons being mobilized on a slower schedule (due to less-urgent combat needs for air personnel in the early war stage) , the Marine Corps dealt with its remaining body of reserve strength. Bulk orders went out beginning 15 August to the Volunteer Reserve, and by the end of the year 58,480 men and502 women in this category were on active duty. More than 80 percent of the volunteer reservists on Marine Corps rolls served during the Korean War. ”

“ Much praise was due to the Seamen for their unparalleled exertions in landing the remaining troops, cannon, and stores, amidst a most dreadful surf, and the heaviest rains.
The Marines were left at the first posts, the Malata and the Polverista, with a view to secure the retreat of the advanced forces, if necessary; to preserve a mutual communication with the ships, and to guard the stores and heavy artillery. "They," says Sir William Draper, "from the good conduct and example of their Officers, behaved very well, and were of great use upon all occasions." ”

“ A farther augmentation of thirty Companies was granted to the Corps of Marines, to keep pace with the general energies, which completed their establishment to fourteen thousand eight hundred and forty-five, being the vote for the service of 1758. At this period too, that highly useful body of men, the National Militia, was ordered to be raised and organized for domestic security, while our regular armies were employed in retaliating the terrors of invasion, and in carrying the war into the foreign possessions of our enemies. ”

“ Things are a bit different in the Marine Corps. In this organization a man doesn't absolutely have to wait for his number to come around. If he distinguishes himself above his fellows, he may be promoted without much regard for age or length of service. He goes up as he is able to, by his active ability and his readiness to work hard and effectively for Uncle Sam. ”

“ The Marine Corps had its own staff personnel officer, similar to the Army's G-1, and, more important for the development of racial policy, it had a Division of Plans and Policies that was immediately responsible to the commandant for manpower planning. In practical terms, the Marine Corps of World War II was subject to the dictates of the Secretary of the Navy for general policy, and the secretary's 1942 order to enlist Negroes applied equally to the Marine Corps, which had no Negroes in its ranks, and to the Navy, which did. ”

“ More than three decades later, as CMC and CG FMFPac, both Marine generals were firm advocates of the force-in-readiness concept as a basic mission of the Marine Corps. It was a mission that had evolved from practice rather than theory. During the half century since the Spanish-American War, there had been only two years when U. S. Marines were not on combat duty somewhere. It had long been a tradition that the Marines, as transitory naval forces, might land on foreign soil without the implication of hostilities usually associated with invasion. ”

“ It is to the faithful Marine Soldier who knows not the meaning of desertion, that the nation, under such sudden emergencies, is often obliged to have recourse, in equipping as well as manning her fleets; for it is not in human nature to place confidence in that man who has been constrained to serve, and who recognises not either a voluntary will, or a sacred obligation to discharge his allotted duties.
It has always been remarked, that the corps of Marines recruit more successfully in every part of our isles, where their nature is ascertained, than any other under his Majesty. ”