Portal:United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps Portal

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the U.S. military responsible for providing power projection from the sea, utilizing the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces to global crises. Alongside the U.S. Navy, the Marine Corps operates under the United States Department of the Navy.

Originally organized as the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775 as naval infantry, the Marine Corps would evolve its mission with changing military doctrine and American foreign policy. Owing to the availability of Marines at sea, the Marine Corps has served in every American armed conflict going back to the Revolutionary War. It attained prominence in the 20th century when its theories and practice of amphibious warfare proved prescient, and ultimately formed a cornerstone of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Its ability to rapidly respond to regional crises continues to make it an important body in the implementation and execution of American foreign policy.

The Marine Corps, with 193,000 active duty and 40,000 reserve Marines as of April 2008, is the smallest of the United States' armed forces in the Department of Defense (the United States Coast Guard, about one fifth the size of the Marine Corps, is under the Department of Homeland Security). The Corps is nonetheless larger than the entire armed forces of many significant military powers; for example, it is larger than the Israeli Defense Forces.

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Marines from 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines storm the beaches of Marine Corps Base Hawaii as part of RIMPAC 2004.
Credit: Photographer's Mate 1st Class Jane West, July 18, 2004, USN photo

Amphibious warfare is the projection of military power from sea to shore. The U.S. Marine Corps utilizes the mobility, logistics, and gunfire support of the U.S. Navy to deliver a Marine Air-Ground Task Force on any given shore. Since the Continental Marines made their first landing at the Battle of Nassau, the Marines have led in developing amphibious doctrine, strategy, tactics, and equipment; a development payed off in the Banana Wars, the Pacific Theater of World War II, the landings at Incheon, and various other skirmishes. Today, Marines use the Navy's amphibious warfare ships to stage Marine Expeditionary Units around the globe, ready to respond on short notice.

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Quotes

"We cannot win the war against terrorism if we do not understand and deal with its ideological dimension.... We also must realize that we are judged by what we do, not just by what we say....We must also admit, however, that legitimate and sometimes contradictory national interests play a role in generating these conflicts, as does the manner in which different nations pursue these interests. We must learn about each other, recognize real diver- gences of interests, and manage them vigorously in order to avoid further polarization of disputes."

— General Carlton W. Fulford, Jr. (ret), Connections, Winter 2006.

New articles relating to the United States Marine Corps

• Blood stripe — 11 October 2009
• Marine Corps Recruiting Command — 20 Aug 2009
• VMO-4 — 16 Apr 2009
• MAG-40 — 10 Apr 2009
• John F. Bolt — 10 Apr 2009
• VMA-543 — 19 Mar 2009
• Ross E. Rowell — 19 Mar 2009
• Wilburt S. Brown — 15 Mar 2009
• VMB-433 — 11 Mar 2009

Categories

• Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipients
• United States Marine Corps aviation
• United States Marine Corps facilities
• United States Marine Corps history
• United States Marine Corps images
• United States Marine Corps ranks
• United States Marine Corps awards

United States Marine Corps lists

• List of active United States Marine Corps aircraft squadrons
• List of United States Marine Corps battalions
• List of Marine Expeditionary Units
• List of weapons of the U.S. Marine Corps
• List of vehicles of the United States Marine Corps
• List of United States Marine Corps installations
• List of U.S. Marines

Web resources

• Official United States Marine Corps website
• Marine Corps History Division
• Who's Who in Marine Corps History
• Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipients
• Marine Corps Community
• Marine Corps Times

Selected biography

Megan Malia Leilani McClung was the first female United States Marine Corps officer killed in combat during the Iraq War. Major McClung, a 1995 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, was serving as a public affairs officer with the I Marine Expeditionary Force in Anbar Province, Iraq, when her humvee was destroyed by a roadside bomb in December 2006.

McClung, a former gymnast, was an avid athlete, having competed in triathlons and marathons. In the year of her death, she organized the first satellite running of the Marine Corps Marathon in Iraq.

Marines in the news

• Marine Lt. Col. Doug Hurley, the first Marine to fly the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, was delayed from piloting his first Space Shuttle mission, when the June 13, 2009 launch was delayed due to a hydrogen leak.(Marine Corps Times, June 13, 2009.)
• Marine Week, held from 11 to 17 May 2009, allowed the citizens of Chicago and the nearby areas the chance to see the Marine Corps close up. Events included visits from various units as well as the Drum & Bugle Corps & Silent Drill Platoon, static displays of equipment, sports clinics, law enforcement clinics, and community service events. (Marine website, Marine Corps Times, Reuters)
• LCpl Brady Gustafson, a machine gunner with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion 7th Marines, recieved the Navy Cross and a meritorious promotion on March 27th for actions in Afghanistan on July 21, 2008. Despite his right leg being amputated below the knee, he refused medical evacuation and continued fighting to good effect until his fellow Marines were safe from the enemy. (Marine Corps News, April 6, 2009; Marine Corps Times, Mar 30, 2009)
• The New York Times will now Capitalize the word "Marine" in print.(Marine Corps Times, Feb 26, 2009; New York Times, Feb 18, 2009)

More USMC-related news can be found at usmc.mil or Marine Corps Times.

Did you know...

• ...that reservist LtCol Rob Riggle's only deployment to Iraq has been as a correspondant for The Daily Show?^[1][2][3]
• ...that Marine aviation began on May 22, 1912, when Lt Alfred Cunningham reported to Naval Aviation Camp at Annapolis, Maryland to become the first Marine Naval Aviator?
  
• ...that LtCol. John F. Bolt (pictured), Korean War Navy Cross recipient, remains the only U.S. Marine Corps jet aircraft flying ace?
• ...that Marine Corps Major Peter Ortiz, the most decorated person in the U.S. military to have served in the OSS, previously served in the French Foreign Legion?[1]
  
• ... that the World War II Marine Corps Air Station in Santa Barbara (pictured) is now home to the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport?

This month in Marine history

• On December 26, 1776, Continental Marines joined George Washington at the Battle of Trenton, crossing the Delaware River.
• On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, killing more than 2,000 Marines and sailors, and drawing the United States into World War II.
• On December 4, 1942, the Long Patrol by Evans Carlson and his Marine Raiders comes to an end on Guadalcanal.
• On December 1, 1947, HMX-1 was commissioned to test and evaluate helicopters for the Corps, and would later fly the President of the United States on Marine One.
• On December 20, 1989, Marines landed at Panama during Operation Just Cause.

Things you can do

Here are some things you can do to help expand our USMC content:

• Collaboration — Robert McFarlane

• Requested articles: 15th Marine Regiment  • CLB-46  • I Marine Amphibious Corps  • Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 (currently redirects to United States Marine Corps Training and Education Command)   • Rathvon M. Tompkins   • Marine Security Force Bermuda

• Requested images: Marine Corps Ball images

• Expand: Fort Riviere • Chemical Biological Incident Response Force • 28th Marine Regiment • China Marines • V Amphibious Corps • Logistics Vehicle System Replacement

• Citations: challenge coin • Battle of Abu Ghraib • Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company

• Revert Vandalism on this portal and on articles to do with the U.S. Marines.

Templates

{{USMCportallink}} - to add portal link
{{USMC-stub}} - for USMC articles that need expansion
{{USMC-bio-stub}} - for biographies of Marines that need expansion
{{US Marine Corps navbox}} - to include the navigational box
{{PD-USGov-Military-Marines}} - to mark an image as USMC-created

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