View source for United States Marine Corps

{{Short description|Amphibious and maritime service branch of the U.S. military}}
{{redirect|USMC|other uses|USMC (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}<!-- Date format as in US military date format -->
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name                     = United States Marine Corps
| image                         = Emblem of the United States Marine Corps.svg
| caption                       = Emblem of the United States Marine Corps
| start_date                    = 11 July 1798 <br />({{Age in years and months|1798|7|11}}) <br />(in current form)
----
10 November 1775 <br />({{Age in years and months|1775|11|10}}) <br />(as the [[Continental Marines]])<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.marines.com/history-heritage/timeline |title= Marine Corps Decade Timeline &#124; Marine Corps history |website= Marines.com |access-date= 15 July 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140706052136/http://www.marines.com/history-heritage/timeline |archive-date= 6 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>
----
| dates                         = 
| country                       = {{Flagu|United States}}
| type                          = [[Marines|Maritime land force]]
| role                          = {{plainlist|
*[[Amphibious warfare]]
*[[Expeditionary warfare]]}}
| size                          = {{plainlist|
*180,958 active personnel ({{as of|2020|lc=y}})<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/dwp/rest/download?fileName=ms0_2009.pdf&groupName=milTop |title=ARMED FORCES STRENGTH FIGURES FOR SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 |access-date=9 November 2020 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109023128/https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/dwp/rest/download?fileName=ms0_2009.pdf&groupName=milTop |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*32,400 reserve personnel ({{as of|2022|lc=y}})<ref name="DoD Budget and Manpower Details">{{cite web |title=Defense Budget Overview Book |url=https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2023/FY2023_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf |publisher=Office of the Under Secretary of Denfense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer |access-date=3 August 2022 |date=15 April 2022}}</ref>
*1,304 manned aircraft<ref name="WAF2018">{{cite journal|title=World Air Forces 2018|journal=Flightglobal|page=17|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/asset/21905|access-date=13 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614045619/https://www.flightglobal.com/asset/21905|archive-date=14 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> (total includes 11 VH-3D and 8 VH-60N of HMX-1<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/10/marine-one-upgrade-next-presidential-helicopter-fleet-getting-closer-to-debut.html |title=Marine One upgrade: The next presidential helicopter fleet is getting closer to its debut |last=Macias |first=Amanda |website=[[CNBC]] |date=10 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614045536/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/10/marine-one-upgrade-next-presidential-helicopter-fleet-getting-closer-to-debut.html |archive-date=14 June 2018 |access-date=13 June 2018}}</ref> not listed by WAF 2018)}}
| command_structure             = [[United States Armed Forces]]<br />[[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]]
| garrison                      = [[The Pentagon]]<br />{{nowrap|[[Arlington County, Virginia]], U.S.}}
| garrison_label                = Headquarters
| nickname                      = "Jarheads", "[[Devil Dog]]s", "Teufel Hunden", "Leathernecks"
| motto                         = ''[[Semper fidelis#The United States Marine Corps|Semper fidelis]]'' ("Always faithful")
| colors                        = Scarlet and gold<ref name="colors">{{cite web |url=http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Docs_Speeches/EstablishingMCcolors.htm|title=Marine Corps Order No. 4 (Series 1925)|last=Lejeune|first=Erich E. |author-link=John A. Lejeune |date=18 April 1925|work=[[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps|Commandant of the Marine Corps]]|publisher=[[United States Marine Corps History Division]]|access-date=2 February 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005033213/http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Docs_Speeches/EstablishingMCcolors.htm|archive-date=5 October 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Color Palette |url=http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/Portals/134/Docs/CCM%20Docs/MCRC/MC%20Brand%20Guide/USMC_brand_guide2009.pdf?ver=2014-07-28-165459-843#page=16|work=United States Marine Corps Brand Guide|date=16 July 2009|access-date=7 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201044114/http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/Portals/134/Docs/CCM%20Docs/MCRC/MC%20Brand%20Guide/USMC_brand_guide2009.pdf?ver=2014-07-28-165459-843#page=16|archive-date=1 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><br />{{color box|#CC0000}}&nbsp;{{color box|#CC9900}}
| colors_label                  = Colors
| march                         = "[[Semper Fidelis (march)|Semper Fidelis]]" {{audio|Semper Fidelis.ogg|Play}}
| mascot                        = [[Bulldog|English bulldog]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marines.mil/unit/mcrc/8mcd/Pages/ReadyfortheCorpsMarinesrecruitlatestmascotfromSouthTexas.aspx|title=Ready for the Corps: Marines recruit latest mascot from South Texas|last=Loredo-Agostini|first=Heidi E.|date=30 July 2009|work=[[Marine Corps Recruiting Command|Recruiting Station San Antonio]]|publisher=United States Marine Corps|access-date=22 December 2010|location=Castroville, Texas|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320233156/http://www.marines.mil/unit/mcrc/8mcd/Pages/ReadyfortheCorpsMarinesrecruitlatestmascotfromSouthTexas.aspx|archive-date=20 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marines.mil/unit/barracks/Pages/NewsStories/2008/ChestyXIIretires.aspx|title=Marine Barracks' mascot, Chesty the XII, retires after more than 40 'dog years' of faithful service|last=Dobbs|first=Chris|date=25 July 2008|publisher=United States Marine Corps|access-date=22 December 2010|location=Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516012257/http://www.marines.mil/unit/barracks/Pages/NewsStories/2008/ChestyXIIretires.aspx|archive-date=16 May 2011}}</ref>
| equipment                     = [[List of United States Marine Corps individual equipment|List of U.S. Marine Corps equipment]]
| equipment_label               = Equipment
| battles                       = {{collapsible list
| titlestyle= background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title= ''See list''
|[[American Revolutionary War]]|[[Quasi-War]]|[[First Barbary War]]|[[War of 1812]]|[[Second Barbary War]]|[[West Indies Anti-Piracy Operations of the United States|West Indies Anti-Piracy Operations]]|[[Seminole Wars]]|[[African Anti-Slavery Operations of the United States|African Anti-Slavery Operations]]|[[Aegean Sea Anti-Piracy Operations of the United States|Aegean Sea Anti-Piracy Operations]]|[[First Sumatran expedition]]|[[Second Sumatran expedition]]|[[United States Exploring Expedition]]|[[Capture of Monterey]]|[[Mexican–American War]]|[[Bombardment of San Juan del Norte|Bombardment of Greytown]]|[[Battle of Ty-ho Bay]]|[[First Fiji Expedition]]|[[Second Opium War]]|[[Second Fiji Expedition]]|[[Paraguay expedition]]|[[Reform War]]|[[John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry|John Brown's raid]]|[[American Civil War]]|[[Bombardment of Qui Nhon]]|[[Shimonoseki Campaign]]|[[Formosa Expedition]]|[[United States expedition to Korea]]|[[Egyptian Expedition (1882)]]|[[Bering Sea Anti-Poaching Operations]]|[[Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii]]|[[Second Samoan Civil War]]|[[Banana Wars]]{{unordered list|[[Spanish–American War]]|[[Second Occupation of Cuba]]|[[Border War (1910–1919)|Border War]]|[[Negro Rebellion]]|[[United States occupation of Nicaragua|Occupation of Nicaragua]]|[[United States occupation of Haiti|Occupation of Haiti]]|[[United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916–1924)|Occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916)]]|[[Sugar Intervention]]}}|[[Philippine–American War]]|[[Boxer Rebellion]]|[[World War I]]|[[Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War|Russian Civil War]]|[[World War II]]|[[Korean War]]|[[Vietnam War]]|[[1958 Lebanon Crisis]]|[[United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1965–66)|Occupation of the Dominican Republic (1965)]]|[[Operation Eagle Claw|Iranian hostage rescue]]|[[Multinational Force in Lebanon]]|[[Operation Urgent Fury]]|[[1986 United States bombing of Libya|1986 bombing of Libya]]|[[Tanker War]]{{unordered list|[[Operation Earnest Will]]|[[Operation Prime Chance]]|[[Operation Eager Glacier]]|[[Operation Nimble Archer]]|[[Operation Praying Mantis]]}}|[[United States Invasion of Panama|Operation Just Cause]]|[[Gulf War|Persian Gulf War]]|[[Somali Civil War]]|[[Iraqi no-fly zones]]|[[1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnian War]]|[[1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Kosovo War]]|[[1999 East Timorese crisis]]|[[Operation Enduring Freedom]]{{unordered list|[[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan]]|[[Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines|Philippines]]|[[Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa|Horn of Africa]]|[[Georgia Train and Equip Program|Pankisi Gorge]]|[[Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara|Trans Sahara]]|[[Operation Enduring Freedom – Caribbean and Central America|Caribbean and Central America]]}}|[[Iraq War]]|[[Pakistan-United States skirmishes]]|[[Operation Odyssey Dawn]]|[[Military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|2014 intervention against ISIL]]|[[Operation Inherent Resolve]]|[[Resolute Support Mission]]|[[Battle of Khasham]]
}}
| anniversaries                 = [[United States Marine Corps birthday ball|10 November]]
| decorations                   = <!-- Decoration -->
[[File:Streamer PUC Navy.PNG|200px]] <br />[[File:Streamer PUC Army.PNG|200px]]<br />[[Presidential Unit Citation (United States)|Presidential Unit Citation]]
[[File:Streamer JMUA.PNG|200px]]<br />[[Joint Meritorious Unit Award]]
[[File:Navy Unit Commendation streamer.svg|200px]]<br />[[Navy Unit Commendation]]
[[File:Streamer VUA Army.PNG|200px]]<br />[[Valorous Unit Award]]
[[File:Meritorious Unit Commendation (Navy-Marine) Streamer.jpg|200px]]<br />[[File:Streamer MUC Army.PNG|200px]]<br />[[Meritorious Unit Commendation]]
[[File:Streamer FCDG.PNG|200px]]<br />[[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|French Croix de guerre 1914–1918]]
[[File:Presidential Unit Citation (Philippines) Streamer.png|200px]]<br />[[Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation|Philippine Presidential Unit Citation]]
[[File:Streamer KPUC.PNG|200px]]<br />[[Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation|Korean Presidential Unit Citation]]
[[File:VGCP Streamer.jpg|200px]]<br />[[Vietnam Gallantry Cross]]
[[File:Streamer RVMUCCA.PNG|200px]] <br />[[Vietnam Civil Actions Medal]]
| website                       = {{ubl|{{URL|https://www.marines.mil|marines.mil}}|{{URL|https://www.marines.com|marines.com}}}}
| battle_honours                = <!-- Commanders -->
| commander1                    = {{Flagicon image|Flag of the President of the United States.svg|size=25px}} [[President of the United States|President]] [[Joe Biden]]
| commander1_label              = [[Powers of the president of the United States#Commander-in-chief|Commander-in-Chief]]
| commander2                    = {{Flagicon image|Flag of the United States Secretary of Defense.svg|size=25px}} [[Lloyd Austin]]
| commander2_label              = [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]]
| commander3                    = {{Flagicon image|Flag of the United States Secretary of the Navy.svg|size=25px}} [[Carlos Del Toro]]
| commander3_label              = [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]]
| commander4                    = {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.svg|size=25px}} [[General (United States)|Gen]] [[Eric Smith (general)|Eric M. Smith]]
| commander4_label              = [[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps|Commandant]]
| commander5                    = {{Flagicon image|Flag of a United States Marine Corps general.svg|size=25px}} [[General (United States)|Gen]] [[Christopher J. Mahoney]]
| commander5_label              = [[Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps|Assistant Commandant]]
| commander6                    = [[File:USMC-E9-SGMMC.svg|25px]] [[Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps|SMMC]] [[Carlos A. Ruiz]]
| commander6_label              = [[Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps]]
| notable_commanders            = <!-- Insignia -->
| identification_symbol         = [[File:Flag of the United States Marine Corps.svg|border|100px]]
| identification_symbol_label   = [[Flag of the United States Marine Corps|Flag]]
| identification_symbol_2       = [[File:USMC logo.svg|100px]]
| identification_symbol_2_label = Seal
| identification_symbol_3       = [[File:Eagle, Globe, and Anchor.svg|100px]]
| identification_symbol_3_label = Emblem ("[[Eagle, Globe, and Anchor]]" or "EGA"){{NoteTag|Variations also used as a "Branch of Service Insignia" on Marine Corps uniforms<ref>{{cite web |title=Marine Corps Order P1020.34G W/CH 1–5: Marine Corps Uniform Regulations, Chapter 4: Insignia and Regulations For Wear, Paragraph 4001. Branch of Service Insignia, Pages 4–7 |url=http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/MCO%20P1020.34G%20W%20CH%201-5.pdf |date=31 March 2003 |access-date=15 January 2018 |website=marines.mil |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215092520/http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/MCO%20P1020.34G%20W%20CH%201-5.pdf |archive-date=15 December 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}
| identification_symbol_4_label = Wordmark
| identification_symbol_4       = [[File:Marines banner.png|100px]]
| identification_symbol_5_label = Song
| identification_symbol_5       = "[[Marines' Hymn|The Marine's Hymn]]" {{Audio|Marines' Hymn, USMC Band.ogg|Play}}
}}
{{United States Armed Forces sidebar}}

The '''United States Marine Corps''' ('''USMC'''), also referred to as the '''United States Marines''', is the [[Marines|maritime land force]] service branch of the [[United States Armed Forces]] responsible for conducting [[expeditionary warfare|expeditionary]] and [[amphibious operations]]<ref name="OMFTS">{{Cite report |author=[[Charles C. Krulak]] |title= Operational Maneuver from the Sea |publisher= Headquarters Marine Corps |year= 1996 |url= http://www.dtic.mil/jv2010/usmc/omfts.pdf |access-date=28 July 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060811112202/http://www.dtic.mil/jv2010/usmc/omfts.pdf |archive-date= 11 August 2006}}</ref> through [[combined arms]], implementing its own [[infantry]], [[artillery]], [[Aerial warfare|aerial]], and [[special operations]] forces. The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the eight [[uniformed services of the United States]].

The Marine Corps has been part of the [[United States Department of the Navy]] since 30 June 1834 with its sister service, the [[United States Navy]].<ref>Hoffman, Colonel Jon T., ''USMC: A Complete History'', Marine Corps Association, Quantico, VA, (2002), p.&nbsp;57.</ref> The USMC operates [[List of United States Marine Corps installations|installations]] on land and aboard sea-going [[amphibious warfare ship]]s around the world. Additionally, several of the Marines' tactical [[Naval aviation|aviation]] squadrons, primarily Marine Fighter Attack squadrons, are also embedded in Navy [[carrier air wing]]s and operate from the [[aircraft carrier]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Air Wings Built for Two |url=https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/1202wings/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=Air & Space Forces Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

The history of the Marine Corps began when two [[battalion]]s of [[Continental Marines]] were formed on 10 November 1775 in [[Philadelphia]] as a service branch of infantry troops capable of fighting both at sea and on shore.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marines.com/history-heritage/timeline|title=U.S. Marine Corps Decade Timeline|access-date=1 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001031854/http://www.marines.com/history-heritage/timeline|archive-date=1 October 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> In the [[Pacific War|Pacific theater]] of [[World War II]], the Corps took the lead in a massive campaign of amphibious warfare, [[Leapfrogging (strategy)|advancing from island to island]].<ref name="USMC-WW2-I-I-2">{{Cite book |access-date=2 June 2007 |chapter-url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/I/USMC-I-I-2.html |chapter=Part I, Chapter 2: Evolution of Modern Amphibious Warfare, 1920–1941 |title=Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal |series=History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, Volume I |author=Hough, Frank O. |author2=Ludwig, Verle E. |author3=Shaw, Henry I. Jr |publisher=Historical Branch, HQMC, United States Marine Corps |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070530012649/http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/I/USMC-I-I-2.html |archive-date=30 May 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=USMC-WW2-IV-II-1>{{Cite book |access-date=3 August 2008 |chapter-url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/IV/USMC-IV-II-1.html |chapter=Part II, Chapter 1: The Development of FMFPac |title=Western Pacific Operations |year=1971 |author1=Garand, George W. |author2=Truman R. Strobridge |name-list-style=amp |series=History of U.S. Marine Corps Operation in World War II, Volume IV |publisher=Historical Branch, HQMC, United States Marine Corps |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725095249/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/IV/USMC-IV-II-1.html |archive-date=25 July 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=USMC-WW2-V-VI-1>{{Cite book |access-date=3 August 2008 |chapter-url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/V/USMC-V-VI-1.html |year=1968 |chapter=Part VI, Chapter 1: Amphibious Doctrine in World War II |title=Victory and Occupation |author1=Frank, Benis M |author2=Henry I. Saw, Jr. |name-list-style=amp |series=History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, Volume V |publisher=Historical Branch, HQMC, United States Marine Corps |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011233619/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/V/USMC-V-VI-1.html |archive-date=11 October 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2022, the USMC has around 177,200 active duty members and some 32,400 personnel in [[United States Marine Corps Reserve|reserve]].<ref name="DoD Budget and Manpower Details" />

==Mission==
As outlined in {{USC|10|5063}} and as originally introduced under the [[National Security Act of 1947]], three primary areas of responsibility for the U.S. Marine Corps are:
* Seizure or defense of advanced naval bases and other land operations to support [[naval warfare|naval campaigns]];
* Development of tactics, technique, and equipment used by amphibious landing forces in coordination with the [[United States Army|Army]] and [[United States Air Force|Air Force]]; and
* Such other duties as the [[President of the United States|President]] or [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] may direct.
This last clause derives from similar language in the [[United States Congress|Congressional]] acts ''"For the Better Organization of the Marine Corps"'' of 1834 and ''"Establishing and Organizing a Marine Corps"'' of 1798. In 1951, the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives']] [[United States House Committee on Armed Services|Armed Services Committee]] called the clause "one of the most important statutory – and traditional – functions of the Marine Corps". It noted that the Corps has more often than not performed actions of a non-naval nature, including its famous actions in [[First Barbary War|Tripoli]], the [[War of 1812]], [[Battle of Chapultepec|Chapultepec]], and numerous [[counterinsurgency]] and occupational duties (such as those in Central America, [[World War I]], and the [[Korean War]]). While these actions are not accurately described as support of naval campaigns nor as amphibious warfare, their common thread is that they are of an expeditionary nature, using the mobility of the Navy to provide timely intervention in foreign affairs on behalf of American interests.<ref name="Estes">{{Cite book|last=Estes|first=Kenneth W.|title=The Marine Officer's Guide, 6th Edition|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=2000|isbn=1-55750-567-5}}</ref>

The [[United States Marine Band|Marine Band]], dubbed the "President's Own" by [[John Adams]], provides music for state functions at the [[White House]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, William J. Clinton, 1998, Book 2: July 1 to December 31, 1998 |first=William J. |last=Clinton |editor=Office of the Federal Register |author-link=Bill Clinton |page=[https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesmari0000lurc/page/1217 1217] |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-4034-4551-3 |chapter=Remarks Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the United States Marine Corps Band 10 July 1998 |quote=The Marine Band played at Thomas Jefferson's Inauguration in 1801 and hasn't missed a single one since. Jefferson was a violin player who loved music almost as much as he loved freedom. He named the band "The President's Own". |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesmari0000lurc/page/1217}}</ref> Marines from Ceremonial Companies A & B, quartered in [[Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.]], guard presidential retreats, including [[Camp David]], and the Marines of the Executive Flight Detachment of [[HMX-1]] provide helicopter transport to the President and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]], with the radio call signs "[[Marine One]]" and "Marine Two", respectively.<ref>{{cite book|title=Marines: An Illustrated History: The United States Marine Corps from 1775 to the 21st Century| first=Chester G.|last= Hearn|page=180|publisher= Zenith Imprint|year= 2007 |isbn= 978-0-7603-3211-5}}</ref> The Executive Flight Detachment also provides helicopter transport to [[United States Cabinet|Cabinet members]] and other [[Very important person|VIPs]]. By authority of the 1946 Foreign Service Act, the [[Marine Security Guard]]s of the Marine Embassy Security Command provide security for American [[diplomatic mission|embassies]], [[legation]]s, and [[Consul (representative)|consulates]] at more than 140 posts worldwide.<ref>{{cite book|title=Marine Pride: A Salute to America's Elite Fighting Force |url=https://archive.org/details/marinepridesalut0000kell |url-access=registration |first= Scott |last=Keller |page=[https://archive.org/details/marinepridesalut0000kell/page/56 56]|publisher= Citadel Press|year=2004 |isbn =978-0-8065-2603-4}}</ref>

The relationship between the [[United States Department of State|Department of State]] and the U.S. Marine Corps is nearly as old as the Corps itself. For over 200 years, Marines have served at the request of various [[United States Secretary of State|Secretaries of State]]. After [[World War II]], an alert, disciplined force was needed to protect American embassies, consulates, and legations throughout the world. In 1947, a proposal was made that the Department of Defense furnish Marine Corps personnel for Foreign Service guard duty under the provisions of the Foreign Service Act of 1946. A formal Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the Department of State and the [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]] on 15 December 1948, and 83 Marines were deployed to overseas missions. During the first year of the program, 36 detachments were deployed worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://2001-2009.state.gov/m/ds/rls/33081.htm|title=The Role of Marines in Embassy Security|access-date=22 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094058/http://2001-2009.state.gov/m/ds/rls/33081.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Historical mission===
The Marine Corps was founded to serve as an infantry unit aboard naval vessels and was responsible for the security of the ship and its crew by conducting offensive and defensive combat during [[Naval boarding|boarding actions]] and defending the ship's officers from [[mutiny]]; to the latter end, their quarters on the ship were often strategically positioned between the officers' quarters and the rest of the vessel. Continental Marines manned raiding parties, both at sea and ashore. America's first amphibious assault landing occurred early in the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], on 3 March 1776, as the Marines gained control of [[Fort Montagu]] and [[Old Fort of Nassau|Fort Nassau]], a [[British Empire|British]] ammunition depot and naval port in [[New Providence]], the Bahamas. The role of the Marine Corps has expanded significantly since then; as the importance of its original naval mission declined with changing naval warfare doctrine and the professionalization of the naval service, the Corps adapted by focusing on formerly secondary missions ashore. The Advanced Base Doctrine of the early 20th century codified their combat duties ashore, outlining the use of Marines in the seizure of bases and other duties on land to support naval campaigns. In 1987, the USMC Sea School was closed; in 1998, all Marine Detachments on board ships were disbanded.

Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, Marine detachments served aboard Navy cruisers, battleships, and aircraft carriers. Marine detachments served in their traditional duties as a ship's landing force, manning the ship's weapons and providing shipboard security. Marine detachments were augmented by members of the ship's company for landing parties, such as in the [[First Sumatran expedition]] of 1832 and continuing in the Caribbean and [[United States occupation of Veracruz|Mexican campaign]]s of the early 20th centuries. Marines developed tactics and techniques of amphibious assault on defended coastlines in time for use in World War II.<ref name="Lawliss">{{Cite book |last= Lawliss |first= Chuck |title= The Marine Book: A Portrait of America's Military Elite |publisher= Thames and Hudson |year= 1988 |location= New York}}</ref> During World War II, Marines continued to serve on capital ships, and some were assigned to man anti-aircraft batteries.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hough, LtCol. |first1=Frank O. |url=https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/History%20of%20the%20U.S.%20Marine%20Corps%20in%20WWII%20Vol%20I%20-%20Pearl%20Harbor%20to%20Guadacanal%20%20PCN%2019000262400.pdf |title=Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal: History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II |last2=Ludwig |first2=Verle E. |last3=Shaw, Jr. |first3=Henry I. |publisher=Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps |year=1989 |volume=1 |language=en |lccn=58-60002 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20130625000000/https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/History%20of%20the%20U.S.%20Marine%20Corps%20in%20WWII%20Vol%20I%20-%20Pearl%20Harbor%20to%20Guadacanal%20%20PCN%2019000262400.pdf |archive-date=2013-06-25}} [https://archive.org/details/historyofusmarin01usma/page/n3/mode/2up Alt URL]</ref>

In 1950,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/A%20Chronology%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Marine%20Corps%201947-1964%20%20PCN%2019000318200.pdf|title=A Chronology of the United States Marine Corps Historical Reference Pamphlet|date=1947–1964|website=Marines.mil|access-date=29 April 2020|archive-date=5 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605151639/https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/A%20Chronology%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Marine%20Corps%201947-1964%20%20PCN%2019000318200.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> President [[Harry S. Truman|Harry Truman]] responded to a message from U.S. Representative [[Gordon L. McDonough]]. McDonough had urged President Truman to add Marine representation on the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]]. President Truman, writing in a letter addressed to McDonough, stated, "The Marine Corps is the Navy's police force and as long as I am President that is what it will remain. They have a propaganda machine that is almost equal to [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin's]]." McDonough then inserted [https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Letter,_Harry_Truman_to_Gordon_McDonough,_29_August_1950_(15310975758).jpg President Truman's letter], dated 29 August 1950, into the ''[[Congressional Record]]''. Congressmen and Marine organizations reacted, calling President Truman's remarks an insult, and demanded an apology. Truman apologized to the Marine commandant at the time, writing, "I sincerely regret the unfortunate choice of language which I used in my letter of August 29 to Congressman McDonough concerning the Marine Corps." While Truman had apologized for his metaphor, he did not alter his position that the Marine Corps should continue to report to the Navy secretary. He made amends only by making a surprise visit to the [[Marine Corps League]] a few days later, when he reiterated, "When I make a mistake, I try to correct it. I try to make as few as possible." He received a standing ovation.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Battistella|first=Edwin|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/the-art-of-the-political-apology-106458/|title=The Art of the Political Apology|date=7 May 2014|work=Politico.com|access-date=14 January 2024|archive-date=20 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020070506/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/the-art-of-the-political-apology-106458_Page2.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

When gun cruisers were retired by the end of the 1970s, the remaining Marine detachments were only seen on battleships and carriers. Its original mission of providing shipboard security ended in the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Corps' Salty Seadogs Have All But Come Ashore: Seagoing Traditions Founder as New Millennium Approaches |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/c/the-corps-salty-seadogs-have-all-but-come-ashore-seagoing-traditions-founder-as-new-millennium-approaches.html |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=NHHC |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Capabilities===
The Marine Corps fulfills a critical military role as an amphibious warfare force. It is capable of [[asymmetric warfare]] with [[conventional warfare|conventional]], [[irregular warfare|irregular]], and [[hybrid warfare|hybrid forces]]. While the Marine Corps does not employ any unique capabilities, as a force, it can rapidly deploy a combined-arms task force to almost anywhere in the world within days. The basic structure for all deployed units is a [[Marine Air-Ground Task Force]] (MAGTF) that integrates a [[ground combat element]], an [[aviation combat element]], and a [[logistics combat element]] under a common [[Command element (United States Marine Corps)|command element]]. While the creation of joint commands under the [[Goldwater–Nichols Act]] has improved interservice coordination between each branch, the Corps's ability to permanently maintain integrated multielement task forces under a single command provides a smoother implementation of combined-arms warfare principles.<ref name="Warren">{{Cite book |last= Warren |first= James A. |title= American Spartans: The U.S. Marines: A Combat History From Iwo Jima to Iraq |publisher= Free Press, Simon & Schuster |year= 2005 |location= New York |isbn= 0-684-87284-6 |url= https://archive.org/details/americanspartans00warr}}</ref>

[[File:Marine-31st.jpg|thumb|U.S. Marines from the [[31st Marine Expeditionary Unit]] training]]
The close integration of disparate Marine units stems from an organizational culture centered on the infantry. Every other Marine capability exists to support the infantry. Unlike some Western militaries, the Corps remained conservative against theories proclaiming the ability of new weapons to win wars independently. For example, [[United States Marine Corps Aviation|Marine aviation]] has always been focused on [[close air support]] and has remained largely uninfluenced by air power theories proclaiming that [[strategic bombing]] can single-handedly win wars.<ref name="Lawliss" />

{{anchor|Every Marine is a rifleman}}This focus on the infantry is matched with the doctrine of "Every Marine [is] a rifleman", a precept of Commandant [[Alfred M. Gray, Jr.]], emphasizing the infantry combat abilities of every Marine. All Marines, regardless of [[List of United States Marine Corps MOS|military specialization]], receive training as a [[rifleman]], and all officers receive additional training as infantry platoon commanders.<ref>{{Cite book |last= Milks |first= Keith A. |title= Ensuring 'Every Marine a Rifleman' is more than just a catch phrase|publisher= 22 MEU, USMC |date= 8 May 2003 |url= http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/0/b5ac3322e236c38985256feb00492f93?OpenDocument |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071224075658/http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/0/b5ac3322e236c38985256feb00492f93?OpenDocument |archive-date=24 December 2007 |id= Story ID # 20071230234422}}</ref> During World War II at the [[Battle of Wake Island]], when all the Marine aircraft were destroyed, pilots continued the fight as ground officers, leading supply clerks and cooks in a final defensive effort.<ref name="Heinl">{{Cite web |author= R.D. Heinl, Jr |title= Marines in WWII Historical Monograph: The Defense of Wake |publisher= Historical Section, Division of Public Information, Headquarters, USMC |year= 1947 |url= http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Wake.html |access-date= 28 August 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061002174813/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Wake.html |archive-date= 2 October 2006|df= dmy-all}}</ref> Flexibility of execution is implemented via an emphasis on "[[Intent (military)|commander's intent]]" as a guiding principle for carrying out orders, specifying the end state but leaving open the method of execution.<ref name="Lind">{{Cite book |last1= Lind |first1= William S. |author-link= William S. Lind |first2=Michael|last2=Wyly |author-link2=Michael Wyly |title= Maneuver Warfare Handbook |publisher=Westview Press |year= 1985 |location=Boulder, Colorado |isbn= 0-86531-862-X}}</ref>

The amphibious assault techniques developed for World War II evolved, with the addition of [[air assault]] and [[maneuver warfare]] doctrine, into the current "''Operational Maneuver from the Sea''" doctrine of [[power projection]] from the seas.<ref name="OMFTS"/> The Marines are credited with developing helicopter insertion doctrine and were the earliest in the American military to widely adopt maneuver-warfare principles, which emphasize low-level initiative and flexible execution. In light of recent warfare that has strayed from the Corps's traditional missions,<ref name="2ndarmy"/> the Marines have renewed an emphasis on amphibious capabilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marines.mil/unit/iimef/Pages/Amphibiousroots.aspx|title=Marines return to their amphibious roots|last=Patrick|first=Capt Timothy|date=10 December 2010|work=[[II Marine Expeditionary Force]]|publisher=United States Marine Corps|access-date=22 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225055336/http://www.marines.mil/unit/iimef/Pages/Amphibiousroots.aspx|archive-date=25 December 2010|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:USS Tarawa operations.jpg|thumb|Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit depart {{USS|Tarawa|LHA-1}}, using both a Landing Craft Utility and CH-53E "Super Stallion" helicopters, during amphibious operations in Kuwait, 2003.]]
The Marine Corps relies on the Navy for [[sealift]] to provide its rapid deployment capabilities. In addition to basing a third of the [[Fleet Marine Force]] in Japan, [[Marine expeditionary unit]]s (MEU) are typically stationed at sea so they can function as first responders to international incidents.<ref name="ChenowethNihart">{{Cite book|last1= Chenoweth|first1= H. Avery|last2= Nihart|first2= Brooke|title= Semper fi: The Definitive Illustrated History of the U.S. Marines|publisher= Main Street|year= 2005|location= New York|isbn= 1-4027-3099-3}}</ref> To aid rapid deployment, the [[Military Sealift Command|Maritime Pre-Positioning System]] was developed: Fleets of [[container ship]]s are positioned throughout the world with enough equipment and supplies for a [[marine expeditionary force]] to deploy for 30 days.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Doctrine===
Two small manuals published during the 1930s established USMC doctrine in two areas. The ''[[Small Wars Manual]]'' laid the framework for Marine [[counterinsurgency]] operations from [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]] to [[Iraq War|Iraq]] and [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan]] while the ''Tentative Landing Operations Manual'' established the doctrine for the [[United States amphibious operations|amphibious operations of World War II]]. "''Operational Maneuver from the Sea''" was the doctrine of power projection in 2006.<ref name="OMFTS"/>

==History==
{{main|History of the United States Marine Corps}}
<!--This is a summary meant as an overview for general audiences. Please keep concise. Additions should be made to the main article linked above.-->

=== Foundation and American Revolutionary War ===
[[File:Portrait of First Leader of Marines, Maj. Samuel Nicholas.jpg|thumb|upright|Maj. [[Samuel Nicholas]], first Commandant of the Marine Corps, was nominated to lead the Continental Marines by [[John Adams]] in November 1775.]]

The United States Marine Corps traces its roots to the [[Continental Marines]] of the [[American Revolutionary War]], formed by Captain [[Samuel Nicholas]] by a resolution of the [[Second Continental Congress]] on 10 November 1775, to raise two [[battalion]]s of marines.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Marine Corps University > Research > Marine Corps History Division > People > Who's Who in Marine Corps History > Mackie - Ozbourn > Major Samuel Nicholas |url=https://www.usmcu.edu/Research/Marine-Corps-History-Division/People/Whos-Who-in-Marine-Corps-History/Mackie-Ozbourn/Major-Samuel-Nicholas/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=www.usmcu.edu}}</ref> This date is celebrated as the [[United States Marine Corps birthday|birthday of the Marine Corps]]. Nicholas was nominated to lead the Marines by [[John Adams]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Upton|first1=Stewart|date=6 November 2014|title=First Marine Corps Leader All About Institution, Not Self|url=https://www.imef.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/554000/first-marine-corps-leader-all-about-institution-not-self/|access-date=29 July 2020|website=www.imef.marines.mil|publisher=U.S. Marine Corps|quote=During this time of the late 1760s and into the 1770s leading up to the War for our Independence … Samuel Nicholas would spend time aboard super-cargo merchant ships traveling to and from China. At the time of his nomination by (future U.S. President) John Adams to lead the Continental Marines in Nov. of 1775, he would have been well known in the community of Philadelphia for his maritime knowledge and experience.|archive-date=25 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025112036/https://www.imef.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/554000/first-marine-corps-leader-all-about-institution-not-self/|url-status=live}}</ref> By December 1775, Nicholas raised one battalion of 300 men by recruitment in his home city of Philadelphia.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Marine Corps Birthday and Veterans Day – A Message from the NPS President |url=https://nps.edu/-/u.s.-marine-corps-birthday-and-veterans-day-a-message-from-the-nps-president |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=nps.edu |language=en-US}}</ref>

In January 1776, the Marines went to sea under the command of Commodore [[Esek Hopkins]] and in March undertook their first amphibious landing, the [[Raid of Nassau|Battle of Nassau]] in the Bahamas, occupying the British port of Nassau for two weeks.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Marines at the Battle of Princeton |url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/marines-battle-princeton |website=The American Battlefield Trust |date=30 January 2017 |publisher=American Battlefield Trust |access-date=28 July 2020 |archive-date=29 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729030644/https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/marines-battle-princeton |url-status=live }}</ref> On 3 January 1777, the Marines arrived at the [[Battle of Princeton]] attached to General [[John Cadwalader (general)|John Cadwalader]]'s brigade, where they had been assigned by General [[George Washington]]; by December 1776, Washington was retreating through New Jersey and, needing veteran soldiers, ordered Nicholas and the Marines to attach themselves to the [[Continental Army]]. The [[Battle of Princeton]], where the Marines along with Cadwalader's brigade were personally rallied by Washington, was the first land combat engagement of the Marines; an estimated 130 marines were present at the battle.<ref name="auto"/>

At the end of the American Revolution, both the [[Continental Navy]] and Continental Marines were disbanded in April 1783. The institution was resurrected on 11 July 1798; in preparation for the [[Quasi-War]] with [[French First Republic|France]], Congress created the United States Marine Corps.<ref>{{cite web |author= U.S. Congress |author-link= Congress of the United States |title= An Act for Establishing and Organizing a Marine Corps |date= 11 July 1798 |url= http://www.patriotfiles.com/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=7833&page=1 |access-date= 6 August 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100610134122/http://www.patriotfiles.com/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=7833&page=1 |archive-date= 10 June 2010 |url-status=live |df= dmy-all}}</ref> Marines had been enlisted by the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] as early as August 1797<ref>{{cite web |author= Captain John Barry |title= Muster Roll of Officers, Petty Officers, Seamen, and Marines, on the Frigate United States |date= 9 February 1798 |url= http://wardepartmentpapers.org/document.php?id=25096 |access-date= 16 May 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090827075735/http://wardepartmentpapers.org/document.php?id=25096 |archive-date= 27 August 2009 |url-status=live |df= dmy-all}}</ref> for service in the newly-built [[frigate]]s authorized by the Congressional "Act to provide a Naval Armament" of 18 March 1794,<ref>{{cite web |author= U.S. Congress |author-link= Congress of the United States |title= Act to provide a Naval Armament |date= 18 March 1794 |location= NARA |url= https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/new-us-navy/act-draft.html |access-date= 16 May 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110107211812/http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/new-us-navy/act-draft.html |archive-date= 7 January 2011 |url-status=live |df= dmy-all}}</ref> which specified the numbers of marines to recruit for each frigate.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003125-00/sec1.htm |title=A Different War: Marines in Europe and North Africa (Introduction) }}</ref>

The Marines' most famous action of this period occurred during the [[First Barbary War]] (1801–1805) against the [[Barbary pirates]],<ref>Richard Leiby, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A59720-2001Oct14 Terrorists by Another Name: The Barbary Pirates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810132404/https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A59720-2001Oct14 |date=10 August 2018}}, [[The Washington Post]], 15 October 2001</ref> when [[William Eaton (soldier)|William Eaton]] and First Lieutenant [[Presley O'Bannon]] led 8 marines and 500 [[mercenary|mercenaries]] in an effort to capture [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]]. Though they only reached [[Battle of Derna (1805)|Derna]], the action at Tripoli has been immortalized in the [[Marines' Hymn]] and the [[Mameluke sword]] carried by Marine officers.<ref name="Simmons">{{Cite book |last= Simmons |first= Edwin H. |title= The United States Marines: A History, Fourth Edition |publisher= Naval Institute Press |year= 2003 |location= Annapolis, Maryland |isbn= 1-59114-790-5 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesmari0000simm_r8b9}}</ref>

===War of 1812 and afterward===
[[File:Wiki Capture Penguin.jpg|thumb|British and U.S. troops garrisoned aboard ''Hornet'' and ''Penguin'' exchanging [[small arms]] musket fire with Tristan da Cuna in the background during the [[Capture of HMS Penguin|final engagement]] between British and U.S. forces in the [[War of 1812]]]]

During the [[War of 1812]], Marine detachments on Navy ships took part in some of the great frigate duels that characterized the war, which were the first and last engagements of the conflict. Their most significant contribution was holding the center of General [[Andrew Jackson]]'s defensive line at the 1815 [[Battle of New Orleans]], the final major battle and one of the most one-sided engagements of the war. With widespread news of the battle and the [[Capture of HMS Cyane and HMS Levant|capture of HMS ''Cyane'', HMS ''Levant'']] and [[Capture of HMS Penguin|HMS ''Penguin'']], the final engagements between British and U.S. forces, the Marines had gained a reputation as expert [[marksman|marksmen]], especially in defensive and ship-to-ship actions.<ref name="Simmons" /> They played a large role in the 1813 [[Second Battle of Sacket's Harbor|defense of Sacket's Harbor]], New York and [[Battle of Craney Island|Norfolk and Portsmouth]], Virginia,<ref>[[Theodore Roosevelt|Roosevelt, Theodore]], ''The Naval War of 1812'', Random House, New York, {{ISBN|0-375-75419-9}}</ref> also taking part in the 1814 [[Battle of Plattsburgh|defense of Plattsburgh]] in the [[Champlain Valley]] during one of the final British offensives along the Canadian-U.S. border. The [[Battle of Bladensburg]], fought 24 August 1814, was one of the worst days for American arms, though a few units and individuals performed heroic service. Notable among them were Commodore Joshua Barney's 500 sailors and the 120 marines under Captain Samuel Miller USMC, who inflicted the bulk of British casualties and were the only effective American resistance during the battle. A final desperate Marine counter attack, with the fighting at close quarters, however was not enough; Barney and Miller's forces were overrun. In all of 114 marines, 11 were killed and 16 wounded. During the battle Captain Miller's arm was badly wounded, for his gallant service in action, Miller was brevetted to the rank of Major USMC.<ref>Sharp, John G., ''Register of Patients at Naval Hospital Washington DC 1814 With The Names of American Wounded from the Battle of Bladensburg'', Naval History and Heritage Command, 2018, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/r/register-patients-naval-hospital-washington-dc-1814.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318070833/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/r/register-patients-naval-hospital-washington-dc-1814.html |date=18 March 2021 }}</ref>[[File:Chapultepec.jpg|thumb|Marines [[Battle of Chapultepec|storming Chapultepec Castle]] with a large American flag during the [[Mexican-American War]]]]

After the war, the Marine Corps fell into a malaise that ended with the appointment of [[Archibald Henderson]] as its fifth commandant in 1820. Under his tenure, the Corps took on expeditionary duties in the Caribbean, the [[Gulf of Mexico]], [[Key West]], West Africa, the [[Falkland Islands]], and [[Sumatra]]. Commandant Henderson is credited with thwarting President Jackson's attempts to combine and integrate the Marine Corps with the Army.<ref name="Simmons" /> Instead, Congress passed the ''Act for the Better Organization of the Marine Corps'' in 1834, stipulating that the Corps was part of the Department of the Navy as a sister service to the Navy.<ref>{{cite web|author=U.S. Congress |author-link=Congress of the United States |title=An Act for the Better Organization of the United States Marine Corps |date=30 June 1834 |url=http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/hd/Docs_Speeches/Establishingamarinecorps.htm |access-date=3 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007205958/http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Docs_Speeches/Establishingamarinecorps.htm |archive-date= 7 October 2010}}</ref> 

Commandant Henderson volunteered the Marines for service in the [[Seminole Wars]] of 1835, personally leading nearly half of the entire Corps (two battalions) to war. A decade later, in the [[Mexican–American War]] (1846–1848), the Marines made their famed [[Battle of Chapultepec|assault on Chapultepec Palace]] in Mexico City, which would be later celebrated as the "Halls of Montezuma" in the Marines' Hymn. In fairness to the U.S. Army, most of the troops who made the final assault at the Halls of Montezuma were soldiers and not Marines.<ref>Eisenhower, John S. D (26 September 2018). "So far from God: the U.S. war with Mexico 1846–1848". Easton Press. Retrieved 26 September 2018.</ref> The Americans forces were led by Army General [[Winfield Scott]]. Scott organized two storming parties of about 250 men each for 500 men total including 40 marines.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

In the 1850s, the Marines engaged in service in Panama and Asia and were attached to Commodore [[Matthew C. Perry|Matthew Perry's]] [[East India Squadron]] on its historic trip to the Far East.<ref name="Moskin">{{Cite book |last= Moskin |first= J. Robert |title= The U.S. Marine Corps Story |publisher= McGraw-Hill |year= 1987 |location= New York}}</ref>

===American Civil War to World War I===
[[File:Marines01.jpg|thumb|Five USMC privates with fixed [[bayonet]]s, and their NCO with his sword at the [[Washington Navy Yard]], 1864|alt=black & white photograph of six U.S. marines standing in line, five with Civil War-era rifles and one with an NCO sword.]]

The Marine Corps played a small role in the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] (1861–1865); their most prominent task was [[blockade]] duty. As more and more states [[Ordinance of Secession|seceded]] from the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]], about a third of the Corps's officers left the United States to join the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] and form the [[Confederate States Marine Corps]], which ultimately played little part in the war. The battalion of recruits formed for the [[First Battle of Bull Run]] performed poorly, retreating with the rest of the Union forces.<ref name="ChenowethNihart"/> Blockade duty included sea-based amphibious operations to secure forward bases. In early November 1861, a group of sailors and Marines landed in the towns of Port Royal and Beaufort, South Carolina. A few days later that task force captured nearby Hilton Head Island. A couple of weeks later a reconnaissance in force group captured Tybee Island. This is where the Union set up the artillery barrage to bombard Fort Pulaski.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://shapiro.anthro.uga.edu/Lamar/images/PDFs/publication_127.pdf |title=Archaeological Reconnaissance at the Drudi Tract, Tybee Island, Chatham County, Georgia |publisher=LAMAR Institute Publication Series |first=Daniel T. |last=Elliott |location=Savannah, Georgia |year=2008 |page=9 |access-date=7 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001013945/http://shapiro.anthro.uga.edu/Lamar/images/PDFs/publication_127.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2011}}</ref> In April and May 1862, Marines participated in [[Capture of New Orleans|the capture and occupation of New Orleans]] and the occupation of Baton Rouge, Louisiana,<ref>Hoffman, Colonel Jon T., ''USMC: A Complete History'', Marine Corps Association, Quantico, VA, (2002), p. 92.</ref> key events in the war that helped secure Union control of the lower [[Mississippi River]] basin and denied the Confederacy a major port and naval base on the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

The remainder of the 19th century was marked by declining strength and introspection about the mission of the Marine Corps. The Navy's transition from [[sailing ship|sail]] to [[steamboat|steam]] put into question the need for Marines on naval ships. Meanwhile, Marines served as a convenient resource for interventions and landings to protect American interests overseas. The Corps was involved in over 28 separate interventions in the 30 years from the end of the American Civil War to the end of the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcu.usmc.mil/historydivision/pages/frequently_requested/Casualties.aspx|title=Marine Corps Casualties: 1775–2015|work=Frequently Requested|author=Reference Branch|publisher=USMC History Division|year=2016|access-date=23 April 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426035939/http://www.mcu.usmc.mil/historydivision/pages/frequently_requested/Casualties.aspx|archive-date=26 April 2016}}</ref> They were called upon to stem political and labor unrest within the United States.<ref name="Ellsworth">{{Cite book |last= Ellsworth |first= Harry Allanson |title= One Hundred Eighty Landings of United States Marines 1800–1934 |publisher= History and Museums Division, HQ, USMC |year= 1934 |location= Washington, D.C.}}</ref> Under Commandant [[Jacob Zeilin]]'s tenure, Marine customs and traditions took shape: the Corps adopted the [[Eagle, Globe, and Anchor|Marine Corps emblem]] on 19 November 1868. It was during this time that "The Marines' Hymn" was first heard. Around 1883, the Marines adopted their current motto "''[[Semper fidelis]]''" (''Always Faithful'').<ref name="Simmons" /> [[John Philip Sousa]], the musician and composer, enlisted as a Marine apprentice at age 13, serving from 1867 until 1872, and again from 1880 to 1892 as the leader of the [[United States Marine Band|Marine Band]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Philip Sousa |url=https://www.marineband.marines.mil/About/Our-History/John-Philip-Sousa/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=www.marineband.marines.mil}}</ref>

During the [[Spanish–American War]] (1898), Marines led American forces ashore in the Philippines, Cuba, and [[Puerto Rico]], demonstrating their readiness for deployment. At [[Guantánamo Bay]], Cuba, the Marines seized an [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|advanced naval base]] that remains in use today. Between 1899 and 1916, the Corps continued its record of participation in foreign expeditions, including the [[Philippine–American War]], the [[Boxer Rebellion]] in China, Panama, the Cuban Pacifications, the [[Perdicaris affair|Perdicaris incident]] in Morocco, [[United States occupation of Veracruz|Veracruz]], [[United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916–1924)|Santo Domingo]], and the [[Banana Wars]] in [[United States occupation of Haiti|Haiti]] and [[United States occupation of Nicaragua|Nicaragua]];{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} the experiences gained in counterinsurgency and [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla operations]] during this period were consolidated into the ''Small Wars Manual''.<ref>{{Cite report|title=Report on Marine Corps Duplication of Effort between Army and Navy |publisher= U.S. Marine Corps |date= 17 December 1932}} Contains a very detailed account of almost all the actions of the Continental Marines and USMC until 1932. It is available in scanned TIFF format from the archives of the Marine Corps University.</ref>{{Better source needed|date=March 2021}}

===World War I===
[[File:Scott Belleau Wood.jpg|thumb|alt=monochromatic artwork of marines fighting Germans in a forest|Georges Scott, [[Battle of Belleau Wood|''American Marines in Belleau Wood'']], 1918]]

During [[World War I]], Marines served as a part of the [[American Expeditionary Forces|American Expeditionary Force]] under General [[John J. Pershing]] when [[American entry into World War I|America entered into the war]] on 6 April 1917. The Marine Corps had a deep pool of officers and [[non-commissioned officer]]s with battle experience and thus experienced a large expansion. The U.S. Marine Corps entered the war with 511 officers and 13,214 enlisted personnel and by 11 November 1918 had reached a strength of 2,400 officers and 70,000 enlisted.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of Marine Corps Aviation – World War One |publisher=AcePilots.com |url=http://www.acepilots.com/usmc/hist2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060111063805/http://www.acepilots.com/usmc/hist2.html |archive-date=11 January 2006}}</ref> African-Americans were entirely excluded from the Marine Corps during this conflict.<ref>Chad L. Williams, ''Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I Era.'' Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 2010; p. 6.</ref> [[Opha May Johnson]] was the first woman to enlist in the Marines; she joined the [[Marine Forces Reserve|Marine Corps Reserve]] in 1918 during World War I, officially becoming the first female Marine.<ref name="History">{{cite book|last=Hewitt|first=Linda J.|title=Women Marines in World War I (1974)|year=1974|publisher=United States Marine Corps History and Museums Division|url=https://archive.org/details/WomenMarinesInWorldWarI|access-date=31 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315070622/https://archive.org/details/WomenMarinesInWorldWarI|archive-date=15 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> From then until the end of World War I, 305 women enlisted in the Corps.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usmcpress.com/heritage/women_marines.htm |title=Women Marines |publisher=Usmcpress.com |access-date=11 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150819072746/http://www.usmcpress.com/heritage/women_marines.htm |archive-date=19 August 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> During the [[Battle of Belleau Wood]] in 1918, the Marines and U.S. media reported that Germans had nicknamed them ''<!--Do not use a spell checker here-->Teufel Hunden,<!--Look at the hyperlink, before correcting the word, it is supposed to be misspelled--->'' meaning "[[Devil Dog]]s" for their reputation as [[shock troops]] and marksmen at ranges up to 900 meters; there is no evidence of this in German records (as ''Teufelshunde'' would be the proper German phrase). Nevertheless, the name stuck in U.S. Marine lore.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=Life |title=Teufel-Hunden |year=1918 |first=John Ames |last=Mitchell |volume=72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qahGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA759 |page=759 |access-date=7 October 2011 |archive-date=26 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026212033/https://books.google.com/books?id=qahGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA759 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Interwar period|Between the World Wars]], the Marine Corps was headed by Commandant [[John A. Lejeune]], and under his leadership, the Corps studied and developed amphibious techniques that would be of great use in World War II. Many officers, including Lieutenant Colonel [[Earl Hancock Ellis|Earl Hancock "Pete" Ellis]], foresaw a war in the Pacific with [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] and undertook preparations for such a conflict. Through 1941, as the prospect of war grew, the Corps pushed urgently for joint amphibious exercises with the Army and acquired amphibious equipment that would prove of great use in the upcoming conflict.<ref name="Ballendorf">{{Cite book
 |last= Ballendorf
 |first= Dirk Anthony
 |title= Pete Ellis: an amphibious warfare prophet, 1880–1923
 |publisher= Naval Institute Press
 |year= 1997
 |location= Annapolis, Maryland
}}</ref>

===World War II===
[[File:Peter Ortiz.jpg|thumb|upright|Former [[List of French Paratrooper Units|French Foreign Legion]] Lieutenant, and U.S. Marine Corps officer [[Peter J. Ortiz]], who served in the European theater, often behind enemy lines]]

In [[World War II]], the Marines performed a central role in the [[Pacific War]], along with the U.S. Army. The battles of [[Guadalcanal campaign|Guadalcanal]], [[Bougainville campaign|Bougainville]], [[Battle of Tarawa|Tarawa]], [[Second Battle of Guam|Guam]], [[Battle of Tinian|Tinian]], [[New Britain campaign|Cape Gloucester]], [[Battle of Saipan|Saipan]], [[Battle of Peleliu|Peleliu]], [[Battle of Iwo Jima|Iwo Jima]], and [[Battle of Okinawa|Okinawa]] saw fierce fighting between marines and the [[Imperial Japanese Army]]. Some 600,000 Americans served in the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/expanding-the-size-of-the-u-s-military-in-world-war-ii/|title=Expanding the Size of the U.S. Military in World War II|website=warfarehistorynetwork.com|access-date=13 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812194913/http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/expanding-the-size-of-the-u-s-military-in-world-war-ii/|archive-date=12 August 2018|url-status=live|date=26 June 2017}}</ref>

The Battle of Iwo Jima, which began on 19 February 1945, was arguably the most famous Marine engagement of the war. The Japanese had learned from their defeats in the [[Mariana and Palau Islands campaign|Marianas Campaign]] and prepared many fortified positions on the island including [[Pillbox (military)|pillboxes]] and network of tunnels. The Japanese put up fierce resistance, but American forces [[Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima|reached the summit]] of [[Mount Suribachi]] on 23 February. The mission was accomplished with high losses of 26,000 American casualties and 22,000 Japanese.<ref>Derrick Wright and Jim Laurier, ''Iwo Jima 1945: The Marines raise the flag on Mount Suribachi'' (2012)</ref>

The Marines played a comparatively minor role in the [[European theatre of World War II|European theater]]. Nonetheless, they did continue to provide security detachments to U.S. embassies and ships, contributed personnel to small [[Special operations|special ops]] teams dropped into [[German-occupied Europe|Nazi-occupied Europe]] as part of [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS, the precursor to the [[CIA]]) missions, and acted as staff planners and trainers for U.S. Army amphibious operations, including the [[Normandy landings]].<ref>Chenoweth (2005), pp. 270–71</ref><ref>Smith Jr., Thomas W., "Rivalry at Normandy", ''National Review'', 4 June 2004</ref> 

By the end of the war, the Corps had expanded from two brigades to six [[division (military)|divisions]], five [[Wing (military unit)|air wings]], and supporting troops, totaling about 485,000 marines. In addition, 20 [[Marine defense battalions|defense battalions]] and a [[paramarines|parachute battalion]] were raised.<ref>{{cite web|title=Marines in World War II Commemorative Series |publisher=Marine Corps Historical Center |url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/index.htm |access-date=17 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208103845/http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extcontent/usmc/index.htm |archive-date=8 February 2008}}</ref> Nearly 87,000 marines were casualties during World War II (including nearly 20,000 killed), and 82 were awarded the [[Medal of Honor]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Medal of honor: historical facts & figures |first=Ron |last=Owens |page=110|publisher =Turner Publishing Company|year=2004 |isbn =978-1-56311-995-8}}</ref>

[[File:2018-10-31 15 25 21 The west side of the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington County, Virginia.jpg|thumb|Photograph of the [[Marine Corps War Memorial]], which depicts the second U.S. flag-raising atop [[Mount Suribachi]], on Iwo Jima. The memorial is modeled on [[Joe Rosenthal]]'s famous [[Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima]].|alt=Color photo of the [[Marine Corps War Memorial]], a bronze statue of six marines raising a U.S. flag attached unto a Japanese pipe atop [[Mount Suribachi]].]]
In 1942, the Navy [[Seabee]]s were created with the Marine Corps providing their organization and military training. Many Seabee units were issued the USMC standard issue and were re-designated "Marine". Despite the Corps giving them their military organization and military training, issuing them uniforms, and redesignating their units, the Seabees remained Navy.{{NoteTag|See: [[17th Marines]], [[18th Marines]], [[19th Marines]], and [[20th Marines]]}}<ref>Battle Orders – US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1943–44, Gordon L Rottman, Osprey Publishing, [https://books.google.com/books?id=eCwVDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 p.&nbsp;13] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312130832/https://books.google.com/books?id=eCwVDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&source=bl&ots=5BxH0UdfEJ&sig=ZO95VT9M57BofYTQFW-AhcQwCmM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjikaeU7srSAhWo34MKHcSZB2c4ChDoAQg0MAc#v=onepage&f=false |date=12 March 2017}}.</ref><ref name="history.navy.mil">{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/museums/Seabee/Online%20Reading%20Room/Seabee%20FAQs/SeaBees%20and%20the%20US%20Marine%20Corps%20II.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525180137/https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/museums/Seabee/Online%20Reading%20Room/Seabee%20FAQs/SeaBees%20and%20the%20US%20Marine%20Corps%20II.pdf|title=Seabees with the Marines, U.S. Navy Seabee Museum Archives, Port Hueneme, CA 93043|archive-date=25 May 2017}}</ref> USMC historian Gordon L. Rottmann writes that one of the "Navy's biggest contributions to the Marine Corps during WWII was the creation of the Seabees."<ref>{{cite book |title=U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle: Ground and Air units in the Pacific War, 1939–1945 |first=Gordon L. |last=Rottman |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2002 |page=31 |isbn=978-0-31331-906-8}}</ref>

Despite [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]] [[James Forrestal]]'s prediction that the Marine flag raising at Iwo Jima meant "a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years",<ref name="Warren2007">{{cite book |last=Warren |first=James A. |title=American Spartans: The U.S. Marines: A Combat History from Iwo Jima to Iraq |url=https://archive.org/details/americanspartans00jame |url-access=registration |year=2007 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4165-3297-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/americanspartans00jame/page/70 70]}}</ref><ref name="Clancy1996">{{cite book |last=Clancy |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Clancy |title=Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wQG95Vd5iYYC&pg=PT670 |year=1996 |publisher=Penguin Group US |isbn=978-1-4295-2009-6 |page=670 |access-date=6 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708150644/http://books.google.com/books?id=wQG95Vd5iYYC&pg=PT670 |archive-date=8 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> the Corps faced an immediate institutional crisis following the war because of a suddenly shrunken budget. Army generals pushing for a strengthened and reorganized defense establishment attempted to fold the Marine mission and assets into the Navy and Army. Drawing on hastily assembled Congressional support, and with the assistance of the so-called "[[Revolt of the Admirals]]", the Marine Corps rebuffed such efforts to dismantle the Corps, resulting in statutory protection of the Marine Corps in the [[National Security Act of 1947]].<ref name="Krulak">{{Cite book |last= Krulak |first= Victor H. |author-link= Victor H. Krulak |title= First To Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps |publisher= Naval Institute Press |year= 1984 |location= Annapolis, Maryland |isbn= 0-87021-785-2}} Chapter 7, ''The Marines' Push Button'' pp. 113–119.</ref> Shortly afterward, in 1952 the Douglas–Mansfield Act afforded the commandant an equal voice with the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] on matters relating to the Marines and established the structure of [[List of United States Marine Corps divisions|three active divisions]] and [[List of United States Marine Corps aircraft wings|air wings]] that remain today.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Korean War===
[[File:Koreacloseairsupport1950.JPEG|thumb|[[Vought F4U Corsair|F4U Corsairs]] providing close air support to marines of the [[1st Marine Division (United States)|1st Marine Division]] fighting Chinese forces in North Korea, December 1950]]

The beginning of the [[Korean War]] (1950–1953) saw the hastily formed [[1st Provisional Marine Brigade|Provisional Marine Brigade]] holding the defensive line at the [[Battle of Pusan Perimeter|Pusan Perimeter]]. To execute a [[flanking maneuver]], General [[Douglas MacArthur]] called on United Nations forces, including U.S. Marines, to make an amphibious landing at [[Battle of Inchon|Inchon]]. The successful landing resulted in the collapse of North Korean lines and the pursuit of North Korean forces north near the [[Yalu River]] until the entrance of the People's Republic of China into the war. Chinese troops surrounded, surprised, and overwhelmed the overextended and outnumbered American forces. The U.S. Army's X Corps, which included the [[1st Marine Division (United States)|1st Marine Division]] and the Army's [[7th Infantry Division (United States)|7th Infantry Division]] regrouped and inflicted heavy casualties during their fighting withdrawal to the coast, known as the [[Battle of Chosin Reservoir]].

The fighting calmed after the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, but late in March 1953, the relative quiet of the war was broken when the [[People's Liberation Army]] launched a massive offensive on three outposts manned by the [[5th Marine Regiment]]. These outposts were codenamed "Reno", "Vegas", and "Carson". The campaign was collectively known as the Nevada Cities Campaign. There was brutal fighting on Reno Hill, which was eventually captured by the Chinese. Although Reno was lost, the 5th Marines held both Vegas and Carson through the rest of the campaign. In this one campaign, the Marines suffered approximately 1,000 casualties and might have suffered much more without the U.S. Army's [[Task Force Faith]]. Marines would continue a battle of attrition around the [[38th parallel north|38th Parallel]] until the [[Korean Armistice Agreement|1953 armistice]].<ref name="Fehrenbach">{{Cite book
 |last= Fehrenbach
 |first= T. R.
 |author-link= T. R. Fehrenbach
 |title= This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History
 |publisher= Brassey's
 |year= 1994
 |isbn= 1-57488-259-7}}</ref> During the war, the Corps expanded from 75,000 regulars to a force of 261,000 marines, mostly reservists; 30,544 marines were killed or wounded during the war, and 42 were awarded the [[Medal of Honor]].<ref>{{cite web
 |title= Fast Facts on the Korean War
 |publisher= History Division, U.S. Marine Corps
 |url= http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Special_Interests/KWC/Fast_Facts.htm
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070806010111/http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Special_Interests/KWC/Fast_Facts.htm
 |archive-date=6 August 2007
}}</ref>

===Vietnam War===
[[File:U.S. Marines in Operation Allen Brook (Vietnam War) 001.jpg|thumb|U.S. marines of "G" Company, [[2nd Battalion, 7th Marines]] in action during [[Operation Allen Brook]] in South Vietnam, 1968]]

The Marine Corps served in the [[Vietnam War]], taking part in such battles as the [[Battle of Huế|Battle of Hue]] and the [[Battle of Khe Sanh]] in 1968. Individuals from the USMC generally operated in the Northern I Corps Regions of [[South Vietnam]]. While there, they were constantly engaged in a guerrilla war against the [[Viet Cong]], along with an intermittent conventional war against the [[People's Army of Vietnam|North Vietnamese Army]], this made the Marine Corps known throughout Vietnam and gained a frightening reputation from the Viet Cong. Portions of the Corps were responsible for the less-known [[Combined Action Program]] that implemented unconventional techniques for counterinsurgency and worked as military advisors to the [[Republic of Vietnam Marine Division|Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps]]. Marines were withdrawn in 1971 and returned briefly in 1975 to evacuate [[Ho Chi Minh City|Saigon]] and attempt a rescue of the crew of the [[Mayaguez incident|SS ''Mayaguez'']].<ref name="Millet">{{Cite book |last= Millet |first= Alan R. |title= Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps |publisher= Simon & Schuster |year= 1991 |location= New York |page=605 |isbn=978-0-02-921596-8}}</ref> Vietnam was the longest war up to that time for the Marines; by its end, 13,091 had been killed in action,<ref>[http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq56-1.htm Casualties: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605234857/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq56-1.htm |date= 5 June 2007}}, United States Navy.</ref><ref name="CasualtiesTheWall">Official Navy figures number the marine deaths at 13,091. This source provides a number of 14,837. {{cite web |url=http://www.thewall-usa.com/summary.asp |date=31 March 1997 |title=U.S. Military Casualties in Southeast Asia |publisher=The Wall-USA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902063652/http://thewall-usa.com/summary.asp |archive-date=2 September 2006}}</ref> 51,392 had been wounded, and 57 Medals of Honor had been awarded.<ref name="CasualtiesUSN">{{cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq56-1.htm |title=Casualties: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Wounded in Wars, Conflicts, Terrorist Acts, and Other Hostile Incidents |date=7 August 2006 |publisher=Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605234857/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq56-1.htm |archive-date= 5 June 2007}}</ref><ref name="USMC-MOH">{{cite web|url=http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Historical/Frequently_Requested/Medal_of_Honor.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806030250/http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Historical/Frequently_Requested/Medal_of_Honor.htm|archive-date=6 August 2007 |title= Marines Awarded the Medal of Honor |publisher=United States Marine Corps}}</ref> Because of policies concerning rotation, more marines were deployed for service during Vietnam than World War II.<ref>Simmons, 247.</ref>

While recovering from Vietnam, the Corps hit a detrimental low point in its service history caused by [[court-martial|courts-martial]] and non-judicial punishments related partially to increased [[desertion|unauthorized absences and desertions]] during the war. Overhaul of the Corps began in the late 1970s, discharging the most delinquent, and once the quality of new recruits improved, the Corps focused on reforming the non-commissioned officer Corps, a vital functioning part of its forces.<ref name="Warren" />

===Interim: Vietnam War to the War on Terror===
[[File:Beirut Memorial 1.jpg|thumb|Beirut Memorial at [[Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune]]]]

After the Vietnam War, the U.S. Marines resumed their expeditionary role, participating in the failed 1980 [[Iran hostage crisis|Iran hostage]] rescue attempt [[Operation Eagle Claw]], the [[United States invasion of Grenada|Operation Urgent Fury]] and the [[United States invasion of Panama|Operation Just Cause]]. On 23 October 1983, the Marine barracks [[1983 Beirut barracks bombings|in Beirut was bombed]], causing the highest peacetime losses to the Corps in its history (220 marines and 21 other service members were killed) and leading to the American withdrawal from Lebanon. In 1990, Marines of the [[Operation Sharp Edge|Joint Task Force Sharp Edge]] saved thousands of lives by evacuating British, French and American nationals from the violence of the [[First Liberian Civil War|Liberian Civil War]].

During the [[Gulf War|Persian Gulf War]] of 1990 to 1991, Marine task forces formed for Operation Desert Shield and later liberated Kuwait, along with Coalition forces, in Operation Desert Storm.<ref name="Simmons"/> Marines participated in combat operations in Somalia (1992–1995) during Operations [[Unified Task Force|Restore Hope, Restore Hope II]], and [[Operation United Shield|United Shield]] to provide humanitarian relief.<ref>{{cite web|title=The preannounced landing of U.S. Marines was witnessed by millions of U.S. primetime television viewers |work=United States Naval Aviation, 1910–1995 |publisher=U.S. Navy |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/PART12.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011005191719/http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/PART12.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 October 2001}} (PDF file, see "1992, 9 December" on p. 16)</ref> In 1997, Marines took part in [[Operation Silver Wake]], the evacuation of American citizens from the U.S. Embassy in [[Tirana]], Albania.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Global War on Terrorism===
[[File:Marines in Saddams palace DM-SD-04-12222.jpg|thumb|alt=Color photograph of three U.S. marines entering a partially destroyed palace|U.S. marines from [[1st Battalion, 7th Marines]] entering [[As-Salam Palace|Saddam's Palace]] in [[Baghdad]], 2003]]

Following the [[September 11 attacks|attacks on 11 September 2001]], President [[George W. Bush]] announced the [[War on terror|Global War on Terrorism]]. The stated objective of the Global War on Terror is "the defeat of [[Al-Qaeda]], other terrorist groups and any nation that supports or harbors terrorists".<ref name=WhiteHouse>{{cite web
 |access-date=3 August 2008
 |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/print/20010920-8.html
 |title=Address to Congress
 |publisher=Whitehouse
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528020254/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/print/20010920-8.html
 |archive-date=28 May 2010
|url-status=live
}}</ref> Since then, the Marine Corps, alongside the other military services, has engaged in global operations around the world in support of that mission.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-07 |title=After 9/11, Camp Lejeune Marines recall being first responders in War on Terror |url=https://abc11.com/911-september-11-sept-2001-war-on-terror/10997075/ |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=ABC11 Raleigh-Durham |language=en}}</ref>

In spring 2009, President [[Barack Obama]]'s goal of reducing spending in the Defense Department was led by Secretary [[Robert Gates]] in a series of budget cuts that did not significantly change the Corps's budget and programs, cutting only the [[Lockheed Martin VH-71 Kestrel|VH-71 Kestrel]] and resetting the [[VXX]] program.<ref name=cut>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/06/gates.budget.cuts/index.html|title=Gates Announces Major Pentagon Priority Shifts|publisher=CNN|date=9 April 2009|access-date=14 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417041415/http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/06/gates.budget.cuts/index.html|archive-date=17 April 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYTimes Spending">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/us/politics/09gates.html|title=Gates Takes Aim at Pentagon Spending|last=Shanker|first=Thom|date=8 May 2010|work=The New York Times|access-date=9 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509101742/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/us/politics/09gates.html|archive-date=9 May 2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="WP Spending">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/08/AR2010050802495.html|title=Gates: Cuts in Pentagon bureaucracy needed to help maintain military force|last=Jaffe|first=Greg|date=9 May 2010|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=9 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509101556/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/08/AR2010050802495.html|archive-date=9 May 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the [[National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform]] singled the Corps out for the brunt of a series of recommended cuts in late 2010.<ref>{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Rich|url=http://www.themoneytimes.com/featured/20101113/marines-under-fire-pentagon-cuts-id-10141519.html|title=Marines Under Fire From Pentagon Cuts|work=Money Times|date=13 November 2010|access-date=14 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428134513/http://www.themoneytimes.com/featured/20101113/marines-under-fire-pentagon-cuts-id-10141519.html|archive-date=28 April 2011}}</ref> In light of [[United States budget sequestration in 2013|budget sequestration in 2013]], General [[James F. Amos|James Amos]] set a goal of a force of 174,000 Marines.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defenseone.com/management/2013/09/amos-america-needs-robust-crisis-response-force/70350/|title=Amos: America Needs a Robust Crisis Response Force|work=Defense One|date=16 September 2013 |access-date=1 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330025915/http://www.defenseone.com/management/2013/09/amos-america-needs-robust-crisis-response-force/70350/|archive-date=30 March 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> He testified that this was the minimum number that would allow for an effective response to even a single contingency operation, but it would reduce the peacetime ratio of time at home bases to time deployed down to a historical low level.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20130918/NEWS/309180016|title=Gen. Amos: 174,000 force would mean 11 fewer battalions, 14 fewer squadrons|work=Military Times|access-date=1 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123231509/http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20130918/NEWS/309180016|archive-date=23 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Afghanistan Campaign====
[[File:1st platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 24th MEU, Djibouti, 2010.jpg|thumb|U.S. marines dismounting from an [[Assault Amphibious Vehicle]] in Djibouti]]

Marines and other American forces began staging in Pakistan and Uzbekistan on the border of Afghanistan as early as October 2001 in preparation for [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Operation Enduring Freedom]].<ref>{{Cite news |access-date=27 April 2007 |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/07/sm.06.html |title=War Against Terror Will Involve Amorphous Front Lines |publisher=CNN |date=1 October 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114165807/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/07/sm.06.html |archive-date=14 November 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[15th Marine Expeditionary Unit|15th]] and [[26th Marine Expeditionary Unit]]s were some of the first conventional forces into Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in November 2001.<ref name=IHT>{{cite web |access-date=3 August 2008 |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2001/11/27/a1_46.php |title=Marines land in Afghanistan |work=International Herald Tribune |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080522074847/http://www.iht.com/articles/2001/11/27/a1_46.php <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date= 22 May 2008}}</ref>

After that, Marine battalions and squadrons rotated through, engaging the [[Taliban]] and Al-Qaeda forces. Marines of the [[24th Marine Expeditionary Unit]] flooded into the Taliban-held town of [[Battle of Garmsir|Garmsir]] in [[Helmand province campaign|Helmand Province]] on 29 April 2008, in the first major American operation in the region in years.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1907217/Marines-launch-attack-on-Taliban-in-Helmand.html|title=Marines launch attack on Taliban in Helmand|work=The Telegraph|access-date=13 December 2010|date=29 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428121746/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1907217/Marines-launch-attack-on-Taliban-in-Helmand.html|archive-date=28 April 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> In June 2009, 7,000 marines with the [[2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (United States)|2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade]] (2nd MEB) deployed to Afghanistan in an effort to improve security<ref name="CBS MEB-A">{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/7000-marines-join-fight-in-afghanistan/|title=7,000 Marines Join Fight in Afghanistan|date=8 June 2009|agency=Associated Press|publisher=[[CBS News]]|access-date=3 November 2009|location=Camp Leatherhead <sup>([[sic]])</sup>|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804083806/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/08/world/main5070688.shtml|archive-date=4 August 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> and began [[Operation Strike of the Sword]] the next month. In February 2010, the 2nd MEB launched the largest offensive of the Afghan Campaign since 2001, the [[Operation Moshtarak|Battle of Marjah]], to clear the Taliban from their key stronghold in Helmand Province.<ref>Gal Perl Finkel, [http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=14263 Back to the ground?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817075613/http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=14263 |date=17 August 2016}}, [[Israel Hayom]], 8 November 2015.</ref> After Marjah, marines progressed north up the [[Helmand River]] and cleared the towns of Kajahki and Sangin. Marines remained in Helmand Province until 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/last-of-u-s-marines-leave-afghanistans-helmand-province-1414410005 |title=Last of U.S. Marines Leave Afghanistan's Helmand Province |last=Stancati |first=Margherita |date=22 October 2014 |website=wsj.com |publisher=Wall Street Journal |access-date=19 May 2022 }}</ref>

====Iraq Campaign====
[[File:Second Battle of Fallujah, mosque firefight and house searches.ogv|thumb|U.S. marines during the [[Second Battle of Fallujah]] in 2004]]
U.S. Marines served in the [[Iraq War]], along with its sister services. The [[I Marine Expeditionary Force]], along with the U.S. Army's [[3rd Infantry Division (United States)|3rd Infantry Division]], spearheaded the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].<ref>{{Cite book |last= West |first= Bing |author-link= Bing West |author2= General Ray L. Smith |title= The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the 1st Marine Division |publisher= Bantam Books |date= September 2003 |location= New York |page= [https://archive.org/details/marchuptakingbag00west/page/17 17] |isbn= 0-553-80376-X |url= https://archive.org/details/marchuptakingbag00west/page/17}}</ref> The Marines left Iraq in the summer of 2003 but returned in the beginning of 2004. They were given [[Multi-National Force West|responsibility]] for the [[Anbar campaign (2003–2011)|Al Anbar Province]], the large desert region to the west of [[Baghdad]]. During this occupation, the Marines lead assaults on the city of [[Fallujah]] in April ([[First Battle of Fallujah|Operation Vigilant Resolve]]) and November 2004 ([[Second Battle of Fallujah|Operation Phantom Fury]]) and saw intense fighting in such places as [[Ramadi]], [[Al-Qa'im (town)|Al-Qa'im]] and [[Hit, Iraq|Hīt]].<ref>{{Cite book |last= West |first= Bing |author-link= Bing West |title= No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah |publisher= Bantam Dell |date= October 2005 |location= New York |pages= [https://archive.org/details/notruegloryfront00west/page/111 111–113] |isbn= 978-0-553-80402-7 |url= https://archive.org/details/notruegloryfront00west/page/111}}</ref> The service's time in Iraq courted controversy with events such as the [[Haditha massacre|Haditha killings]] and the [[Hamdania incident]].<ref>{{Cite news |access-date=27 April 2007 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/21/iraq.haditha/index.html |title=Marines face charges in Haditha killings |publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070124204653/http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/21/iraq.haditha/index.html |archive-date= 24 January 2007}}</ref><ref name=Post>{{Cite news |access-date=3 August 2008 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/21/AR2006062100887.html |title=8 Troops Charged in Death of Iraqi |publisher=CNN |first1=Josh |last1=White |first2=Sonya |last2=Geis |date=22 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428123414/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/21/AR2006062100887.html |archive-date=28 April 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Sons of Iraq|Anbar Awakening]] and [[Iraq War troop surge of 2007|2007 surge]] reduced levels of violence. The Marine Corps officially ended its role in Iraq on 23 January 2010 when it handed over responsibility for Al Anbar Province to the U.S. Army.<ref name="outofiraq?">{{cite news |url=http://www.military.com/news/article/are-marines-out-of-iraq-for-good.html?ESRC=marine-a.nl |title=Are Marines Out of Iraq for Good? |last=Burns |first=Robert |date=25 January 2010 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=[[Military.com]] |access-date=28 January 2010 |archive-date=27 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527000138/http://www.military.com/news/article/are-marines-out-of-iraq-for-good.html?ESRC=marine-a.nl |url-status=live }}</ref> Marines [[American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present)|returned to Iraq in the summer of 2014]] in response to growing violence there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ktla.com/2014/06/16/u-s-to-send-275-marines-to-iraq-wont-rule-out-cooperation-with-iran/|title=U.S. to Send 275 Marines to Iraq, Won't Rule Out Cooperation With Iran|work=KTLA|date=17 June 2014|access-date=1 April 2015|archive-date=4 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150804081001/http://ktla.com/2014/06/16/u-s-to-send-275-marines-to-iraq-wont-rule-out-cooperation-with-iran/|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Operations in Africa====
Throughout the Global War on Terrorism, the U.S. Marines have supported operations in Africa to counter Islamic extremism and piracy in the [[Red Sea]]. In late 2002, [[Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa]] was stood up at [[Camp Lemonnier]], Djibouti to provide regional security.<ref name="CJTF-HOA2">{{cite web |access-date= 3 August 2008 |url= http://www.hoa.centcom.mil/resources/english/facts.asp |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080103014254/http://www.hoa.centcom.mil/resources/english/facts.asp |archive-date= 3 January 2008 |title= Fact Sheet – CJTF-HOA |publisher= Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa}}</ref> Despite transferring overall command to the Navy in 2006, the Marines continued to [[Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa|operate in the Horn of Africa]] into 2007.<ref name="USMC2">{{cite web |access-date= 3 August 2008|url= http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/lookupstoryref/20072844311|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071210224157/http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/lookupstoryref/20072844311|archive-date= 10 December 2007|title= 26th MEU lands in Djibouti for deployment's first exercise |date=Feb 7, 2007 |first1=Jeremy |last1=Ross |publisher= United States Marine Corps}}</ref>

===Reshaped for China threat===
{{see also|Force Design 2030}}
In the 2020s, as the U.S. national strategy shifted from the war on terrorism to [[United States foreign policy toward the People's Republic of China|competition with China]], the Marine Corps abandoned its previous plan to focus on land operations and strengthened its firepower configuration in the [[Indo-Pacific]] region to defeat the [[Chinese People's Liberation Army]] in possible island operations.<ref>{{cite web |title=How US Marines are being reshaped for China threat |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64294915 |date=31 January 2023 |website=BBC |access-date=31 January 2023}}</ref> As part of this shift the USMC has established a [[Marine Rotational Force – Darwin|joint deployment]] with the Australian military in Darwin starting with 200 Marines in 2011.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-02-05 |title=Since soldiers moved to this former cattle station, a deeply respectful relationship has unfolded |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-06/back-roads-timber-creek-unlikely-friendship-adf-us-marines/103185138 |first1=Kristy |last1=O'Brien |work=ABC News |language=en-AU |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210003821/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-06/back-roads-timber-creek-unlikely-friendship-adf-us-marines/103185138 |archive-date= Feb 10, 2024 }}</ref>

==Organization==
{{main|Organization of the United States Marine Corps}}
[[File:Organization of U.S. Space Force.svg|thumb|Organization of the United States Marine Corps within the Department of Defense]]

===Department of the Navy===
The [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]], led by the [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]], is a military department of the cabinet-level U.S. Department of Defense that oversees the Marine Corps and the Navy. The most senior Marine officer is the [[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps|Commandant]] (unless a Marine officer is the [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff|Chairman of the Joint Chiefs]] or [[Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff|Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs]]), responsible to the Secretary of the Navy for organizing, recruiting, training, and equipping the Marine Corps so that its forces are ready for deployment under the operational command of the [[Unified combatant command|combatant commanders]]. The Marine Corps is organized into four principal subdivisions: [[Headquarters Marine Corps]] (HQMC), the Operating Forces, the Supporting Establishment, and the [[United States Marine Corps Reserve|Marine Forces Reserve]] (MARFORRES or USMCR).{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Headquarters Marine Corps===
{{main|Headquarters Marine Corps}}

The Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC) consists of the [[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps|Commandant of the Marine Corps]], the [[Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps]], the Director Marine Corps Staff, the several Deputy Commandants, the [[Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps]], and various special staff officers and Marine Corps agency heads that report directly to either the Commandant or Assistant Commandant. HQMC is supported by the Headquarters and Service Battalion, USMC providing administrative, supply, logistics, training, and services support to the Commandant and his staff.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} Additionally, Marine Corps' aircraft arm and intelligence arm are both organized under HQMC; those being the [[United States Marine Corps Aviation|Marine Corps Aviation]] and [[Marine Corps Intelligence]] respectively.

===Operating Forces===
The Operating Forces are divided into three categories: Marine Corps Forces (MARFOR) assigned to unified combatant commands, namely, the [[Fleet Marine Force]]s (FMF); [[Marine Corps Security Force Regiment|Security Forces]] guarding high-risk naval installations; and [[Marine Corps Security Guard|Security Guard]] detachments at [[list of American embassies|American embassies]]. Under the "Forces for Unified Commands" memo, in accordance with the [[Unified Command Plan]], Marine Corps Forces are assigned to each of the combatant commands at the discretion of the secretary of defense. Since 1991, the Marine Corps has maintained component headquarters at each of the regional unified combatant commands.<ref>{{cite book|title=Marine Corps Operations |author =United States Marine Corps|page=19|publisher =Cosimo, Inc|year=2007 |isbn =978-1-60206-062-3}}</ref>

Marine Corps Forces are divided into [[United States Marine Corps Forces Command|Forces Command]] (MARFORCOM) and [[United States Marine Corps Forces, Pacific|Pacific Command]] (MARFORPAC), each headed by a [[Lieutenant general (United States)|lieutenant general]] dual-posted as the commanding general of either [[Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic|FMF Atlantic (FMFLANT)]] or [[Fleet Marine Force, Pacific|FMF Pacific (FMFPAC)]], respectively. MARFORCOM/FMFLANT has operational control of the [[II Marine Expeditionary Force]]; MARFORPAC/FMFPAC has operational control of the [[I Marine Expeditionary Force]] and [[III Marine Expeditionary Force]].<ref name="ChenowethNihart"/>

Additional service components under the Marine Corps Forces includes: the [[United States Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa|Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa]] (MARFOREUR/AF) under [[United States European Command|U.S. European Command]] (EURCOM) and [[United States Africa Command|U.S. Africa Command]] (AFRICOM); the [[United States Marine Corps Forces Central Command|Marine Corps Forces Central Command]] (MARFORCENT) under [[United States Central Command|U.S. Central Command]] (CENTCOM); the [[United States Marine Corps Forces, South|Marine Corps Forces South]] (MARFORSOUTH) under [[United States Southern Command|U.S. Southern Command]] (SOUTHCOM); the [[Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command]] (MARFORCYBER) under [[United States Cyber Command|U.S. Cyber Command]] (CYBERCOM); the [[United States Marine Corps Forces Space Command|Marine Corps Forces Space Command]] (MARFORSPACE) under [[United States Space Command|U.S. Space Command]] (SPACECOM); and the [[United States Marine Corps Forces Strategic Command|Marine Corps Forces Strategic Command]] (MARFORSTRAT) under [[United States Strategic Command|U.S. Strategic Command]] (STRATCOM).

====Marine Air-Ground Task Force====
{{main|Marine Air-Ground Task Force}}

The basic framework for deployable Marine units is the [[Marine Air-Ground Task Force]] (MAGTF), a flexible structure of varying size. A MAGTF integrates a [[ground combat element]] (GCE), an [[aviation combat element]] (ACE), and a [[logistics combat element]] (LCE) under a common [[Command element (United States Marine Corps)|command element]] (CE), capable of operating independently or as part of a larger coalition. The MAGTF structure reflects a strong preference in the Corps toward self-sufficiency and a commitment to [[combined arms]], both essential assets to an [[Expeditionary warfare|expeditionary force]].<ref name="Warren"/>

===Supporting Establishment===
The Supporting Establishment includes the [[Marine Corps Combat Development Command|Combat Development Command]], the [[Marine Corps Logistics Command|Logistics Command]], the [[Marine Corps Systems Command|Systems Command]], the [[United States Marine Corps Training and Education Command|Training and Education Command]] (including [[Marine Corps Recruiting Command|Recruiting Command]]), the [[Marine Corps Installations Command|Installations Command]], the [[United States Marine Band|Marine Band]], and the [[United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps|Marine Drum and Bugle Corps]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

====Marine Corps bases and stations====
{{main|List of United States Marine Corps installations}}

The Marine Corps operates many major bases, 14 of which host operating forces, seven support and training installations, as well as satellite facilities.<ref name="BGenWilliams">{{Cite news |last= Williams |first= BGen Willie J. |title= Bases and Stations Are They Relevant? |journal= Marine Corps Gazette |volume= 88 |issue= 10 |pages= 12–16 |publisher= Marine Corps Association |date=October 2004}}</ref> Marine Corps bases are concentrated around the locations of the Marine Expeditionary Forces, though reserve units are scattered throughout the US. The principal bases are [[Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton|Camp Pendleton]] on the West Coast, home to I Marine Expeditionary Force,<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.imef.marines.mil/About/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=www.imef.marines.mil}}</ref> [[Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune|Camp Lejeune]] on the East Coast, home to II Marine Expeditionary Force,<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is II MEF? |url=https://www.iimef.marines.mil/About/What-is-II-MEF/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=www.iimef.marines.mil}}</ref> and [[Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler|Camp Butler]] in [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa, Japan]], home to III Marine Expeditionary Force.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.okinawa.usmc-mccs.org/about |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=www.okinawa.usmc-mccs.org |language=en}}</ref>

Other important bases include air stations, recruit depots, logistics bases, and training commands. [[Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms]] in California is the Marine Corps's largest base and home to the Corps's most complex combined-arms live-fire training.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} [[Marine Corps Base Quantico]] in Virginia is home to [[Marine Corps Combat Development Command]] and nicknamed the "Crossroads of the Marine Corps".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/activities/display.aspx?PID=1685&Section=BaseInfo |title=About MCB Quantico |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428123457/http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/activities/display.aspx?PID=1685&Section=BaseInfo |archive-date=28 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= About Marine Corps University |publisher= U.S. Marine Corps |url= http://www.mcuf.org/about.asp |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070927174929/http://www.mcuf.org/about.asp |archive-date=27 September 2007 |access-date=27 September 2007}}</ref>
The Marine Corps maintains a significant presence in the [[National Capital Region (United States)|National Capital Region]], with [[Headquarters Marine Corps]] scattered amongst [[the Pentagon]], [[Henderson Hall (Arlington, Virginia)|Henderson Hall]], [[Washington Navy Yard]], and [[Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.]] Additionally, Marines operate [[Detachment (military)|detachments]] at many installations owned by other branches to better share resources, such as specialty schools. Marines are also present at and operate many forward bases during expeditionary operations.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Marine Forces Reserve===
{{main|Marine Forces Reserve}}

The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES/USMCR) consists of the [[Force Headquarters Group]], [[4th Marine Division (United States)|4th Marine Division]], [[4th Marine Aircraft Wing]], and the [[4th Marine Logistics Group]]. The MARFORRES/USMCR is capable of forming a 4th Marine Expeditionary Force or reinforcing/augmenting active-duty forces.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

==Special operations==
{{main|United States Marine Forces Special Operations Command}}
{{See also|Marine Raider Regiment|United States Marine Corps Special Operations Capable Forces}}
[[File:MARSOC are shooting with M4 at Washoe Coutny Reginal Shooting Facility.jpg|thumb|Marine Raiders conducting [[Close-quarters combat|CQB]] training]]

Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) includes the [[Marine Raider Regiment]], the Marine Raider Support Group, and the Marine Raider Training Center (MRTC). Both the Raider Regiment and the Raider Support Group consist of a headquarters company and three operations battalions. MRTC conducts screening, assessment, selection, training and development functions for MARSOC units. Marine Corps Special Operations Capable forces include: [[Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO)|Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Companies]], the [[Chemical Biological Incident Response Force]], the [[United States Marine Corps Reconnaissance Battalions|Marine Division Reconnaissance Battalions]], [[United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance|Force Reconnaissance Companies]], [[Maritime Special Purpose Force]], and [[United States Marine Corps Special Operations Capable Forces#Special Reaction Teams|Special Reaction Teams]]. Additionally, all deployed MEUs are certified as "[[Marine expeditionary unit (special operations capable)|special operations capable]]", namely, "MEU(SOC)".

Although the notion of a Marine special operations forces contribution to the [[United States Special Operations Command]] (USSOCOM) was considered as early as the founding of USSOCOM in the 1980s, it was resisted by the Marine Corps. Commandant [[Paul X. Kelley]] expressed the belief that marines should only support marines and that the Corps should not fund a special operations capability that would not directly support Marine Corps operations.<ref name="WThomasSmith">{{cite web |last=Smith |first=W Thomas Jr. |title= Marines, Navy SEALs Forge New Special Operations Team; An exclusive interview with U.S. Navy SEAL Commander Mark Divine |publisher= Military.com |year= 2005 |url= http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,082205_Marines,00.htm?ESRC=marine.nl |access-date= 3 August 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081008003921/http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,082205_Marines,00.htm?ESRC=marine.nl |archive-date= 8 October 2008 |url-status=live |df= dmy-all}}</ref> However, much of the resistance from within the Corps dissipated when Marine leaders watched the Corps' 15th and 26th MEU(SOC)s "sit on the sidelines" during the very early stages of [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] while other conventional units and special operations units from the Army, Navy, and Air Force actively engaged in operations in Afghanistan.<ref name="Priddy" /> After a three-year development period, the Corps agreed in 2006 to supply a 2,500-strong unit, Marine Forces Special Operations Command, which would answer directly to USSOCOM.<ref name="Bradley Graham">{{Cite news |last= Graham |first= Bradley |title= Elite Marine Unit to Help Fight Terrorism, Force to Be Part of Special Operations |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= 2 November 2005 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/01/AR2005110102069.html |access-date= 3 August 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081010175717/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/01/AR2005110102069.html |archive-date= 10 October 2008 |url-status=live |df= dmy-all}}</ref>

==Personnel==
{{See also|List of United States Marines|List of historically notable United States Marines}}

===Leadership===
{{Multiple image
| align= right
| direction= horizontal
| width= 125
| image1= Gen Smith Official Photo V1.jpg
| width1 =
| alt1= color photograph of Eric M. Smith
| caption1= [[Eric Smith (general)|Eric M. Smith]], <br />Commandant of the Marine Corps
| image2= Gen Christopher J. Mahoney (2).jpg
| width2 =
| alt2= color photograph of Christopher J. Mahoney
| caption2= [[Christopher J. Mahoney]], <br />Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps
| image3= SMMC Carlos A. Ruiz.jpg
| width3 =
| alt3= color photograph of Carlos A. Ruiz
| caption3= [[Carlos A. Ruiz]], <br />[[Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps]]
| total_width =
}}

The [[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps|Commandant of the Marine Corps]] is the highest-ranking officer of the Marine Corps, unless a Marine is either the chairman or vice chairman of the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]]. The commandant has the [[Title 10 of the United States Code|U.S. Code Title 10]] responsibility to staff, train, and equip the Marine Corps and has no command authority. The commandant is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and reports to the [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]].<ref>Estes (1986), p. 60</ref>

The [[Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps]] acts as the chief deputy to the commandant. The [[Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps]] is the senior enlisted Marine and acts as an adviser to the commandant. Headquarters Marine Corps comprises the rest of the commandant's counsel and [[staff (military)|staff]], with deputy commandants that oversee various aspects of the Corps assets and capabilities. The 39th and current Commandant is [[Eric Smith (general)|Eric M. Smith]], while the 20th and current Sergeant Major is [[Carlos A. Ruiz]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hqmc.marines.mil/smmc/Biography/|title=Biography|website=www.hqmc.marines.mil|access-date=15 October 2021|archive-date=16 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716010153/https://www.hqmc.marines.mil/smmc/Biography/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Women===
{{main|Women in the United States Marines}}
[[File:Opha Johnson and Katherine Towle in 1946.png|thumb|upright|Sargeant [[Opha May Johnson|Opha Johnson]] (far right) in 1946, with Colonel [[Katherine Towle]] (far left). They are looking at Opha Johnson's uniform being worn by PFC Muriel Albert.]]
[[File:First three female Marines graduate Infantry training course 131121-M-JR212-076.jpg|thumb|Two of the first female graduates of the School of Infantry-East's Infantry Training Battalion course, 2013]]

Women have served in the United States Marine Corps since 1918.<ref>{{cite web |title= Women Marines Association |access-date= 29 July 2017| url= https://www.womenmarines.org/wm-history |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170712001021/https://www.womenmarines.org/wm-history |archive-date= 12 July 2017 |url-status=live |df= dmy-all}}</ref> The first woman to have enlisted was [[Opha May Johnson]] (1878–1955).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1918-08-14/ed-1/seq-1/|title=Girl Joins Devil Dogs|date=14 August 1918|work=Evening Star|access-date=24 October 2019|archive-date=24 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024135659/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1918-08-14/ed-1/seq-1/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/09/22/the-first-woman-marine-in-1918-she-couldnt-vote-but-rushed-to-serve/|title=The first woman Marine: In 1918, she couldn't vote but rushed to serve|last=Dvorak|first=Petula|date=22 September 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=24 October 2019|archive-date=30 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630141407/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/09/22/the-first-woman-marine-in-1918-she-couldnt-vote-but-rushed-to-serve/|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2017, three women joined an infantry battalion at Camp Lejeune. Women had not served as infantry marines prior to this.<ref>{{cite news|last= Tatum |first= Sophie |title= Military welcomes first women infantry Marines |publisher= CNN |access-date= 29 July 2017 |url= http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/05/politics/women-infantry-marines-join-unit/index.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170729132252/http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/05/politics/women-infantry-marines-join-unit/index.html |archive-date= 29 July 2017 |url-status=live |df= dmy-all}}</ref> In 2017, the Marines released a recruitment advertisement that focused on women for the first time.<ref>{{cite news |title= Marines Release First-Ever Ad Spotlighting Woman in Combat Position |newspaper= NPR |date= 12 May 2017 |access-date= 29 July 2017 |url= https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/12/528129573/marines-release-first-ever-ad-spotlighting-woman-in-combat-position |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170729093716/http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/12/528129573/marines-release-first-ever-ad-spotlighting-woman-in-combat-position |archive-date= 29 July 2017 |url-status=live |df= dmy-all|last1= Domonoske |first1= Camila }}</ref> {{As of|2019|October}}, female Marines make up 7.8% of the personnel.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

In December 2020, the Marine Corps began a trial program to have females integrated into the training companies at their [[Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego|recruit depot in San Diego]] as Congress has mandated an end to the male-only program there. For the 60 female recruits, scheduled to begin training in San Diego in February 2021, the Corps will transfer female drill instructors from their [[Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island|recruit depot in Parris Island]], which already has a [[Mixed-sex education|coed]] program.<ref name=femalenow>{{cite news|url=https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/12/14/female-recruits-train-marines-all-male-san-diego-boot-camp-historic-first.html|title=Female Recruits to Train at Marines' All-Male San Diego Boot Camp in Historic First|first=Gina|last=Harkins|publisher=Military.com|date=14 December 2020|access-date=14 December 2020|archive-date=14 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214224438/https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/12/14/female-recruits-train-marines-all-male-san-diego-boot-camp-historic-first.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Fifty-three of these recruits successfully graduated from boot camp in April 2021 and became marines.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/04/22/53-women-officially-become-marines-formerly-all-male-boot-camp.html|title=53 Women Officially Become Marines at Formerly All-Male Boot Camp|first=Gina|last=Harkins|publisher=Military.com|date=23 April 2021|access-date=3 May 2021|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503231156/https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/04/22/53-women-officially-become-marines-formerly-all-male-boot-camp.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/04/23/Marines-femal-e-bootcamp-SanDiego/7321619196164/|title=First female recruits complete San Diego Marine boot camp|first=Ed|last=Adamczyk|publisher=UPI|date=23 April 2021|access-date=3 May 2021|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503230403/https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/04/23/Marines-femal-e-bootcamp-SanDiego/7321619196164/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Minorities===
{{main|Desegregation in the United States Marine Corps|Hispanics in the United States Marine Corps}}
[[File:Howard P. Perry, the first African-American US Marine Corps recruit.tiff|thumb|Howard P. Perry, the first black recruit in the U.S. Marine Corps, 1942.]]
In 1776 and 1777, a dozen [[African American]] marines served in the [[American Revolutionary War]], but from 1798 to 1942, the Marine Corps followed a racially discriminatory policy of denying African Americans the opportunity to serve.<ref name="ShawDonnelly">{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pAaMOuliPT4C|title=Blacks in the Marine Corps |last1=Shaw |first1=Henry I. Jr. |last2=Donnelly |first2=Ralph W. |publisher=History and Museums Division, Headquarters USMC |location=Washington, DC |year=1975|accessdate=19 May 2022}}</ref> The Marine Corps was the last of the services to recruit African Americans, and its own history page acknowledges that it was a presidential order that "forced the Corps, despite objections from its leadership, to begin recruiting African American Marines in 1942.<ref>Military.com [https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/08/03/marines-will-finally-have-their-first-black-four-star-general.html "Marines Will Finally Have Their First Black Four-Star General]", 3 August 2022</ref> It accepted them as recruits into segregated all-black units.{{r|ShawDonnelly}} For the next few decades, the incorporation of black troops was not widely accepted within the Corps, nor was [[Desegregation in the United States|desegregation]] smoothly or quickly achieved. The integration of non-white Marine Corps personnel proceeded in stages from segregated battalions in 1942, to unified training in 1949, and finally full integration in 1960.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Ebony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7qA975ldsm4C&pg=PA58 |pages=55–58 |last=Morris |first=Steven |title=How Blacks Upset The Marine Corps: 'New Breed' Leathernecks are Tackling Racist Vestiges |date=December 1969 |volume=25 |number=2 |issn=0012-9011 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company}}</ref>

Today the Marine Corps is a desegregated force, made up of Marines of all races working and fighting alongside each other. As of 2020, African Americans are currently underrepresented in the Marine Corps as compared to their overall percentage of the U.S. population. Concurrently, the Marine Corps is the only service where Hispanics are overrepresented per the same metric.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/demographics-us-military |title=Demographics of the U.S. Military |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=13 July 2020 |website=cfr.org |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |access-date=19 May 2022 |quote=}}</ref>

===Rank structure===
{{main|United States Marine Corps rank insignia}}

As in the rest of the United States Armed Forces (excluding the Air Force and Space Force, which do not currently appoint warrant officers), Marine Corps [[military rank|ranks]] fall into one of three categories: [[officer (armed forces)|commissioned officer]], [[Warrant officer (United States)|warrant officer]], and enlisted, in decreasing order of authority. To standardize compensation, each rank is assigned a [[pay grade]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/ |title=DoD Defense Insignia |access-date=28 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831150912/http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/ |archive-date=31 August 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Commissioned officers====
Commissioned officers are distinguished from other officers by their [[Commission (document)|commission]], which is the formal written authority, issued in the name of the President of the United States, that confers the rank and authority of a Marine officer. Commissioned officers carry the "special trust and confidence" of the President of the United States.<ref name="Estes"/> Marine Corps commissioned officers are promoted based on an "[[up or out]]" system in accordance with the [[Defense Officer Personnel Management Act]] of 1980.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Shane III|first=Leo|date=25 July 2018|title=Congress is giving the officer promotion system a massive overhaul|url=https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/07/25/how-officers-are-promoted-will-get-its-biggest-overhaul-in-decades-heres-what-that-means-for-the-military/|access-date=31 October 2021|website=Military Times|language=en}}</ref>
{{USMC Officer}}

====Warrant officers====
{{See also|Warrant officer (United States)}}
Warrant officers are primarily formerly enlisted experts in a specific specialized field and provide leadership generally only within that speciality.
{{USMC Warrant Officer}}

====Enlisted====
Enlisted marines in the pay grades E-1 to E-3 make up the bulk of the Corps's ranks. Although they do not technically hold leadership ranks, the Corps's ethos stresses leadership among all marines, and junior marines are often assigned responsibilities normally reserved for superiors. Those in the pay grades of E-4 and E-5 are non-commissioned officers (NCOs).<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Marine Corps Ranks|url=http://www.marines.mil/Marines/Ranks.aspx|access-date=|website=|archive-date=18 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118172620/http://www.marines.mil/Marines/Ranks.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> They primarily supervise junior Marines and act as a vital link with the higher command structure, ensuring that orders are carried out correctly. Marines E-6 and higher are staff non-commissioned officers (SNCOs), charged with supervising NCOs and acting as enlisted advisers to the command.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bajza|first=Stephen|title=Enlisted Marine Corps Ranks|url=https://www.military.com/marine-corps/enlisted-ranks.html|access-date=8 July 2021|website=Military.com|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185615/https://www.military.com/marine-corps/enlisted-ranks.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The E-8 and E-9 levels have two and three ranks per pay grade, respectively, each with different responsibilities. The first sergeant and sergeant major ranks are command-oriented, serving as the senior enlisted marines in a unit, charged to assist the commanding officer in matters of discipline, administration, and the morale and welfare of the unit. Master sergeants and master gunnery sergeants provide technical leadership as occupational specialists in their specific MOS. The [[Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps]] is a billet conferred on the senior enlisted marine of the entire Marine Corps, personally selected by the commandant, and is given a special pay grade above E-9. It is possible for an enlisted marine to hold a position senior to Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps which was the case from 2011 to 2015 with the appointment of Sergeant Major [[Bryan B. Battaglia]] to the billet of [[Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman]], who is the most senior enlisted member of the United States military, serving in the Joint Chiefs of Staff.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SEAC - Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman |url=https://www.jcs.mil/About/The-Joint-Staff/Senior-Enlisted-Advisor-to-the-Chairman/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=www.jcs.mil}}</ref>
{{USMC Enlisted}}

===Military Occupational Specialty===
{{main|Military Occupational Specialty|List of United States Marine Corps MOS}}

The Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) is a system of job classification. Using a four digit code, it designates what field and specific occupation a Marine performs. Segregated between officer and enlisted, the MOS determines the staffing of a unit. Some MOSs change with rank to reflect supervisory positions; others are secondary and represent a temporary assignment outside of a Marine's normal duties or special skill.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Initial training===
{{main|United States Marine Corps Recruit Training|Officer Candidates School (United States Marine Corps)}}
[[File:Marine recruits.jpg|thumb|Marine recruits at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego]]
Every year, over 2,000 new Marine officers are commissioned, and 38,000 recruits are accepted and trained.<ref name="ChenowethNihart"/> All new marines, enlisted or officer, are [[military recruitment|recruited]] by the [[Marine Corps Recruiting Command]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Marine: a guided tour of a Marine expeditionary unit|first=Tom|last=Clancy|author-link=Tom Clancy|page=[https://archive.org/details/marineguidedtour00clan/page/46 46]|publisher=Penguin|year=1996|isbn=978-0-425-15454-0|url=https://archive.org/details/marineguidedtour00clan/page/46}}</ref>

Commissioned officers are commissioned mainly through one of three sources: [[Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps]], [[Officer Candidates School (United States Marine Corps)|Officer Candidates School]], or the [[United States Naval Academy]]. Following commissioning, all Marine commissioned officers, regardless of accession route or further training requirements, attend [[The Basic School]] at Marine Corps Base Quantico. At The Basic School, second lieutenants, warrant officers, and selected foreign officers learn the art of infantry and [[combined arms]] warfare.<ref name="Estes" />

Enlisted marines attend [[United States Marine Corps Recruit Training|recruit training]], known as ''boot camp'', at either Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego or Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. Historically, the [[Mississippi River]] served as a dividing line that delineated who would be trained where, while more recently, a [[Marine Corps Recruiting Command#Structure|district system]] has ensured a more even distribution of male recruits between the two facilities. All recruits must pass a fitness test to start training; those who fail will receive individualized attention and training until the minimum standards are reached.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marine Corps Initial Strength Test - MarinesBootCampHQ.com|url=https://www.marinesbootcamphq.com/marine-corps-initial-strength-test/|access-date=22 November 2021|language=en-US}}</ref> Marine recruit training is the longest among the American military services; it is 13 weeks long including processing and out-processing.<ref>{{cite book |title=Recruit Medicine: Textbooks of Military Medicine |editor= Bernard L. DeKoning |page=33 |publisher=Government Printing Office|year=2006 |isbn=978-0-16-076718-0}}</ref>

Following recruit training, enlisted marines then attend [[United States Marine Corps School of Infantry|The School of Infantry]] at [[Camp Geiger]] or [[Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton|Camp Pendleton]]. Infantry marines begin their combat training, which varies in length, immediately with the Infantry Training Battalion. Marines in all other MOSs train for 29 days in Marine Combat Training, learning common infantry skills, before continuing on to their MOS schools, which vary in length.<ref>{{cite book|title= Making the Corps: 10th Anniversary Edition with a New Afterword by the Author |first= Thomas E. |last= Ricks |author-link= Thomas E. Ricks (journalist) |page=239 |edition=10 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4165-4450-0}}</ref>

==Uniforms==
{{main|Uniforms of the United States Marine Corps}}
[[File:USMC uniforms.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|An illustration of U.S. marines in various uniform setups. From left to right: A U.S. marine in a [[Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform]] with full combat load {{Circa|2003}}, a U.S. marine in a (full) [[Full dress uniform|blue dress uniform]], a U.S. Marine officer in a service uniform, and a U.S. Marine general in an [[Mess dress uniform|evening dress uniform]].]]

The Marine Corps has the most stable and most recognizable uniforms in the American military; the Dress Blues dates back to the early 19th century<ref name="ChenowethNihart"/> and the service uniform to the early 20th century. Only a handful of skills (parachutist, air crew, explosive ordnance disposal, etc.) warrant [[Badges of the United States Marine Corps|distinguishing badges]], and rank insignia is not worn on uniform headgear (with the exception of an officer's garrison service cover).

Marines have four main uniforms: dress, service, utility, and physical training. These uniforms have a few minor but very distinct variations from enlisted personnel to commissioned and non-commissioned officers. The Marine Corps '''[[Full dress uniform|dress uniform]]''' is the most elaborate, worn for formal or ceremonial occasions. There are four different forms of the dress uniform. The variations of the dress uniforms are known as "Alphas", "Bravos", "Charlies", or "Deltas". The most common being the "Blue Dress Alphas or Bravos", called "Dress Blues" or simply "Blues". It is most often seen in recruiting advertisements and is equivalent to [[black tie]]. There is a "Blue-White" Dress for summer, and Evening Dress for formal ([[white tie]]) occasions, which are reserved for SNCO's and officers. Versions with a khaki shirt in lieu of the coat (Blue Dress Charlie/Delta) are worn as a daily working uniform by Marine recruiters and NROTC staff.<ref name="uniform">{{cite web |title= Mco p1020.34g |publisher= United States Marine Corps |url= http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/sites/mcub/PAGES/Uniform%20Regs%20Chapters/Uniform%20Regs%20Index.asp|access-date= 27 November 2005|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091008135448/http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/sites/mcub/pages/uniform%20regs%20chapters/Uniform%20Regs%20Index.asp|archive-date= 8 October 2009|df= dmy-all}}</ref>

The '''service uniform''' was once the prescribed daily work attire in garrison; however, it has been largely superseded in this role by the utility uniform. Consisting of olive green and khaki colors. It is roughly equivalent in function and composition to a [[suit (clothing)|business suit]].<ref name="uniform" />{{Failed verification|date=March 2021}}

The '''utility uniform''', currently the [[Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform]], is a camouflage uniform intended for wear in the field or for dirty work in garrison, though it has been standardized for regular duty. It is rendered in [[MARPAT]] pixelated [[camouflage]] that breaks up the wearer's shape. In garrison, the woodland and desert uniforms are worn depending on the marine's duty station.<ref>[http://www.marines.mil/news/messages/Pages/MESSAGES198.aspx ALMAR 007/08] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813032114/http://www.marines.mil/news/messages/Pages/MESSAGES198.aspx |date=13 August 2008}} directing seasonal uniform changes</ref>{{Better source needed|date=March 2021}} Marines consider the utilities a working uniform and do not permit their wear off-base, except in transit to and from their place of duty and in the event of an emergency.<ref name="uniform" />

==Culture==
{{main|Culture of the United States Marine Corps}}

===Official traditions and customs===
As in any military organization, the official and unofficial traditions of the Marine Corps serve to reinforce camaraderie and set the service apart from others. The Corps's embrace of its rich culture and history is cited as a reason for its high ''esprit de corps''.<ref name="Estes"/> An important part of the Marine Corps culture is the traditional seafaring [[Glossary of nautical terms|naval terminology]] derived from its history with the Navy. "Marines" are not "soldiers" or "sailors".<ref name="DCNT925052">{{cite news|date=25 September 2005|title=Don't call a Marine a soldier or sailor|work=The News-Times|location=Danbury, CT|url=http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Don-t-call-a-Marine-a-soldier-or-sailor-62554.php|url-status=live|access-date=26 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525180208/http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Don-t-call-a-Marine-a-soldier-or-sailor-62554.php|archive-date=25 May 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Flags, USMC.png|thumb|alt=color artwork of an Eagle, Globe, and Anchor over crossed American and Marine flags|The Eagle, Globe and Anchor along with the U.S. flag, the Marine Corps flag and the Commandant's flag]]
The ''Marine Corps emblem'' is the [[Eagle, Globe, and Anchor]], sometimes abbreviated "EGA", adopted in 1868.<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. Marine Corps Emblem|publisher=U.S. Marine Corps|url=http://www.uspharmd.com/usmc/mcega.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107114803/http://www.uspharmd.com/usmc/mcega.htm|archive-date= 7 January 2008}}</ref> The Marine Corps seal includes the emblem, also is found on the [[flag of the United States Marine Corps]], and establishes scarlet and gold as the official colors.<ref name=Customs_EmblemSeal>{{cite web|access-date= 11 October 2008|url=http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Customes_Traditions/Emblem_Seal.htm|title= Marine Corps Emblem and Seal|work= Customs and Traditions|publisher= Reference Branch, History Division, United States Marine Corps|url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219202302/http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Customes_Traditions/Emblem_Seal.htm|archive-date= 19 February 2007|df= dmy-all}}</ref> The Marine motto ''[[Semper Fidelis]]'' means ''Always Faithful'' in [[Latin]], often appearing as ''Semper Fi''. The ''[[Marines' Hymn]]'' dates back to the 19th century and is the oldest official song in the United States armed forces. ''Semper Fi'' is also the name of the [[Semper Fidelis (march)|official march of the Corps]], composed by [[John Philip Sousa]]. The mottos ''"Fortitudine"'' (With Fortitude); ''By Sea and by Land'', a translation of the [[Royal Marines]]' ''Per Mare, Per Terram''; and ''To the Shores of Tripoli'' were used until 1868.<ref name="Customs2">{{cite web|title=USMC Customs and Traditions|url=http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/hd/historical/Customs_and_Traditions.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304212218/http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/hd/historical/Customs_and_Traditions.htm|archive-date=4 March 2007|publisher=History Division, U.S. Marine Corps}}</ref> {{listen|filename=Marines' Hymn (1944), by the Boston Pops.ogg|title=Marines' Hymn|description=The "Marines' Hymn" performed in 1944 by the Boston Pops.}}

{{listen|filename=John_Philip_Sousa_-_U.S._Marine_Band_-_Semper_Fidelis_March.ogg|title=Semper Fidelis March
|description=[[John Philip Sousa]]'s "[[Semper Fidelis (march)|Semper Fidelis March]]", the official march of the U.S. Marine Corps. Performed by the U.S. Marine Band in June 1909.}}

Two styles of swords are worn by marines: the officers' [[Mameluke Sword]], similar to the Persian [[shamshir]] presented to Lt. [[Presley O'Bannon]] after the [[Battle of Derna (1805)|Battle of Derna]], and the [[United States Marine Corps noncommissioned officer's sword|Marine NCO sword]].<ref name="ChenowethNihart" /> The [[United States Marine Corps birthday ball|Marine Corps Birthday]] is celebrated every year on 10 November in a cake-cutting ceremony where the first slice of cake is given to the oldest marine present, who in turn hands it off to the youngest marine present. The celebration includes a reading of Commandant [[John A. Lejeune|Lejeune's]] Birthday Message.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.mcu.usmc.mil/historydivision/Pages/Customs_Traditions/Birthday_Celebration.aspx |title= Marine Corps Birthday Celebration |publisher= USMC History Division |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070806095953/http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Historical/Customes_Traditions/Birthday_Celebration.htm |archive-date= 6 August 2007 |df= dmy-all}}</ref> Close Order Drill is heavily emphasized early on in a marine's initial training, incorporated into most formal events, and is used to teach discipline by instilling habits of precision and automatic response to orders, increase the confidence of junior officers and noncommissioned officers through the exercise of command and give marines an opportunity to handle individual weapons.<ref>{{cite web
 |title=Drill a Platoon Sized Unit
 |work=Student Handout
 |publisher=Marine Corps University
 |url=http://www.iiimef.usmc.mil/medical/FMF/FMFE/FMFEref/SC_0503_SH_Drill_(Platoon).doc
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710044843/http://www.iiimef.usmc.mil/medical/FMF/FMFE/FMFEref/SC_0503_SH_Drill_%28Platoon%29.doc
 |archive-date=10 July 2007
 |url-status=dead
}}</ref>

===Unofficial traditions and customs===
[[File:Teufel Hunden US Marines recruiting poster.jpg|thumb|upright|A recruiting poster making use of the "Teufel Hunden"{{sic}} nickname|alt=cartoon of a bulldog wearing a Marine helmet chasing a dachshund wearing a German helmet, the poster reads "Teufel Hunden: German nickname for U.S. Marines. Devil Dog recruiting station, 628 South State Street"]]

Marines have several generic nicknames:
* ''[[Devil Dog]]:'' German soldiers during the First World War reportedly said at [[Battle of Belleau Wood|Belleau Wood]] that the marines were so vicious that the German infantrymen called them Teufelshunde – 'devil dogs'.<ref>{{cite book |title=U.S. Marine Guidebook |page=37 |publisher=United states Marine Corps |year=2010|chapter=Marine Corps History, Customs, and Courtesies|isbn=978-1-60239-941-9 |quote=Marines fought like teufel hunden, legendary wild, devil dogs that at one time roamed the forests of northern Germany}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Walking Point: American Narratives of Vietnam |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/walkingpointamer0000myer |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Myers|first=Thomas|page=[https://archive.org/details/walkingpointamer0000myer/page/114 114] |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|year=1988|chapter=Hearts of Darkness|isbn=978-0-19-505351-7 |quote=He reminds his charges that "at Belleau Wood the Marines were so vicious that the German infantrymen called them Teufel-Hunden – 'devil dogs'}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=To Lead by the Unknowing, to Do the Unthinkable|page= 5|first=Michael|last= Waseleski|year=2009|quote=the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments earned the nickname of "Teufel Hunden" (devil dog) by the Germans in World War I during the 1918 Château-Thierry campaign near the French village of Bouresches, the Battle of Belleau Wood|isbn=978-1-4389-5676-3|publisher=AuthorHouse}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.6thmarines.marines.mil/Units/1st-Battalion/History/|title=6th Marine Regiment > Units > 1st Battalion > History|website=www.6thmarines.marines.mil|access-date=20 May 2019|archive-date=4 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804164709/https://www.6thmarines.marines.mil/Units/1st-Battalion/History/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''Gyrene:'' commonly used between fellow marines.<ref>{{cite book|title=FUBAR F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition: Soldier Slang of World War II |last=Rottman|first=Gordon |page=49|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=2011|chapter=GI and Gyrene Jargon US Army and Marine Corps Slang|isbn= 978-1-84908-653-0 |quote=based on Chinese pronunciation of Marine}}</ref>
* ''[[Leatherneck]]:'' refers to a leather collar formerly part of the Marine uniform during the Revolutionary War period.<ref>{{cite book|title=U.S. Marine Guidebook |page=37 |publisher=United states Marine Corps|year=2010|chapter=Marine Corps History, Customs, and Courtesies|isbn=978-1-60239-941-9 |quote=In 1804 the Secretary of the Navy ordered Marines to wear black leather stock collars when on duty}}</ref>
* ''Jarhead'' has several oft-disputed explanations.<ref>{{cite book|title=FUBAR F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition: Soldier Slang of World War II |last=Rottman|first=Gordon |page=51|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=2011|chapter=GI and Gyrene Jargon US Army and Marine Corps Slang|isbn= 978-1-84908-653-0 |quote=Most likely it was the pillbox cap and high stiff collar making a Marine appear similar to a Mason jar}}</ref>
* ''[[Crayon-eater]]:'' A self-deprecating term originating in the 2010s, playing off of a stereotype of Marines as unintelligent.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hauptman |first1=Max |date=5 January 2023 |title=When did Marines really start eating crayons: An investigation |work=[[Task & Purpose]] |url=https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/marines-eat-crayons-joke-history/ |access-date=19 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Snow |first1=Shawn |title=Hey, crayon eaters, these M27 rifles are built to be 'Marine proof' Heckler & Koch says in viral post |url=https://www.militarytimes.com/newsletters/good-news-report/2019/02/21/hey-crayon-eaters-these-m27-rifles-are-built-to-be-marine-proof-heckler-koch-says-in-viral-post/ |access-date=20 August 2023 |work=[[Military Times]] |date=21 February 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

Some other unofficial traditions include mottos and exclamations:
* ''[[Oorah]]'' is common among marines, being similar in function and purpose to the Army, Air Force, and Space Force's [[hooah]] and the Navy's [[hooyah]] cries. Many possible [[Etymology|etymologies]] have been offered for the term.<ref>{{cite web
 |last=Hiresman III
 |first=LCpl. Paul W
 |title=The meaning of 'Oorah' traced back to its roots
 |work=Marine Corps News
 |publisher=United States Marine Corps
 |url=http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/0/5e9ec5069a2612df85256fea0055d070?OpenDocument&Highlight=2,Oorah
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224075640/http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/0/5e9ec5069a2612df85256fea0055d070?OpenDocument&Highlight=2%2COorah
 |archive-date=24 December 2007
 |url-status=dead
}}</ref>
* ''[[Semper fidelis|Semper Fi]]'' is a common greeting among serving and veteran marines.
* ''Improvise, Adapt and Overcome'' has become an adopted mantra in many units.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Marine Corps Way: Using Maneuver Warfare to Lead a Winning Organization |last1=Santamaria|first1=Jason A.|last2= Martino|first2=Vincent |last3= Clemons|first3=Eric K. |page=149|publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional|year=2005|isbn= 978-0-07-145883-2 |quote=Long before Hollywood popularized it, Marines used the phrase to reflect their preference for being a fluid, loosely reined force that could spontaneously react to rapidly changing situations, rather than a rigid outfit that moved in a specific direction with a precise plan.}}</ref>

=== Negative associations ===
In spite of any association or tangible evidence of extremism in the current culture of the Marine Corps, the Marines had two short associations in their ranks, particularly with [[White supremacy]]. In 1976 the Camp Pendleton Chapter of the [[Ku Klux Klan]], which had over 100 members, was headed by an active duty marine. In 1986, a number of Marines were implicated in the theft of weapons for the [[White Patriot Party]]. While the sale of the weapons was to a supremacist organization it was never verified that the Marines were actual members of the organization. Although similar affiliation there is not evidence of correlation from the event in the 1976 to the events recorded in 1986. The USMC, along with the rest of the military, has since made an effort to address extremism in the ranks.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Askew |first1=Simone |last2=Lowe |first2=Jack |last3=Monaus |first3=Nette |last4=Cooper |first4=Kirsten L. |title=We've Been Here Before: Learning From the Military's History with White Nationalism |url=https://warontherocks.com/2021/04/weve-been-here-before-learning-from-the-militarys-history-with-white-nationalism/ |website=War on the Rocks |date=27 April 2021 |access-date=18 May 2021 |archive-date=18 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518002136/https://warontherocks.com/2021/04/weve-been-here-before-learning-from-the-militarys-history-with-white-nationalism/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Veteran marines===
The Corps encourages the idea that "marine" is an earned title, and most Marine Corps personnel take to heart the phrase, "Once a marine, Always a marine". They reject the term "ex-marine" in most circumstances. There are no regulations concerning the address of persons who have left active service, so a number of customary terms have come into common use.<ref name="Krulak"/>

===Martial arts program===
{{Main|Marine Corps Martial Arts Program}}
[[File:Marine martial arts.jpg|thumb|Marines training in martial arts]]

In 2001, the Marine Corps initiated an internally designed martial arts program, called Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP). Because of an expectation that urban and police-type [[peacekeeping]] missions would become more common in the 21st century, placing marines in even closer contact with unarmed civilians, MCMAP was implemented to provide marines with a larger and more versatile set of less-than-lethal options for controlling hostile, unarmed individuals. It is a stated aim of the program to instill and maintain the "Warrior Ethos" within marines.<ref name="Yi">Yi, Capt. Jamison, USMC. "MCMAP and the Warrior Ethos", ''Military Review'', November–December 2004.</ref> The MCMAP is an eclectic mix of different styles of martial arts melded together. MCMAP consists of punches and kicks from [[Taekwondo]] and [[Karate]], opponent weight transfer from [[Jujutsu|Jujitsu]], ground grappling involving [[joint lock]]ing techniques and [[chokehold|chokes]] from [[Brazilian jiu-jitsu]], and a mix of knife and baton/stick fighting derived from [[Arnis|Eskrima]], and elbow strikes and kick boxing from [[Muay Thai]]. Marines begin MCMAP training in boot camp, where they will earn the first of five available [[Marine Corps Martial Arts Program#Structure and belt system|belts]]. The belts begin at tan and progress to black and are worn with standard utility uniforms.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Few and the Proud: A Tradition of Excellence Fuels the US Marine Corps Martial Arts Program |first=Loren |last=Franck |journal=Black Belt |year=2003 |page=70 |volume=41 |issue=7}}</ref>

==Equipment==
{{main|:Category:United States Marine Corps equipment|List of United States Marine Corps individual equipment}}

As of 2013, the typical infantry rifleman carries $14,000 worth of gear (excluding [[night vision device|night-vision goggles]]), compared to $2,500 a decade earlier. The number of pieces of equipment (everything from radios to trucks) in a typical infantry battalion has also increased, from 3,400 pieces of gear in 2001 to 8,500 in 2013.<ref>[http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/09/26/corps-to-industry-prepare-for-the-worst/ Corps to Industry: Prepare for the Worst] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928004549/http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/09/26/corps-to-industry-prepare-for-the-worst/ |date=28 September 2013}} – DoDBuzz.com, 26 September 2013</ref>

===Infantry weapons===
{{main|List of weapons of the United States Marine Corps}}
[[File:FORECON CQB trng -001-.jpg|thumb|Marines firing [[MEU(SOC) pistol]]s while [[garrison]]ed aboard a ship]]

The infantry weapon of the Marine Corps is the [[M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle|M27 IAR]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=PM Infantry Weapons undergoing largest modernization effort in decades |url=https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/2191327/pm-infantry-weapons-undergoing-largest-modernization-effort-in-decades/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marines.mil%2FNews%2FNews-Display%2FArticle%2F2191327%2Fpm-infantry-weapons-undergoing-largest-modernization-effort-in-decades%2F |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=United States Marine Corps Flagship |language=en-US}}</ref> service rifle. Most non-infantry marines have been equipped with the [[M4 carbine|M4 Carbine]]<ref>{{cite web |title= Top Marine Glad to Have M16A4 Standard |work= Kit Up! |publisher= Military.com |url= http://kitup.military.com/2010/03/top-marine-glad-to-have-m16a4-standard.html |date= 25 March 2010 |access-date= 27 April 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100328044510/http://kitup.military.com/2010/03/top-marine-glad-to-have-m16a4-standard.html |archive-date= 28 March 2010 |url-status=live |df= dmy-all}}</ref> or [[Colt 9mm SMG]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://marines.mil/news/publications/Documents/NAVMC%20DIR%203500.90.pdf |title=NAVMC Directive 3500.90: Marine Corps Security Guard Battalion Training and Readiness Manual, (Short Title: MSGBN T&R Manual) |publisher=Headquarters Marine Corps |date=4 April 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110131959/http://www.marines.mil/news/publications/Documents/NAVMC%20DIR%203500.90.pdf |archive-date=10 January 2009 |access-date=11 June 2014}}</ref> The standard [[Sidearm (weapon)|side arm]] is the [[SIG Sauer M17]]/M18<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marine Corps fields first new service pistol in 35 years |url=https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/2358194/marine-corps-fields-first-new-service-pistol-in-35-years/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marines.mil%2FNews%2FNews-Display%2FArticle%2F2358194%2Fmarine-corps-fields-first-new-service-pistol-in-35-years%2F |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=United States Marine Corps Flagship |language=en-US}}</ref> The M18 will replace all other pistols in the Marine Corps inventory, including the [[Beretta M9|M9]], M9A1, [[MEU(SOC) pistol|M45A1]] and M007, as the [[MEU(SOC) pistol|M45A1]] Close Quarter Battle Pistol (CQBP) in small numbers. [[Suppressive fire]] is provided by the, [[M249 light machine gun|M249 SAW]], and [[M240 machine gun|M240]] machine guns, at the squad and company levels respectively. In 2018, the M27 IAR was selected to be the standard-issue rifle for all infantry squads.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hodge Seck|first=Hope|date=5 January 2018|title=M27s and 'Head-to-Toe' Gear Overhaul on the Way for Marine Grunts|url=https://www.military.com/kitup/2018/01/05/m27s-and-head-toe-gear-overhaul-way-marine-grunts.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107233105/https://www.military.com/kitup/2018/01/05/m27s-and-head-toe-gear-overhaul-way-marine-grunts.html|archive-date=7 January 2018|access-date=11 September 2021|website=Military.com}}</ref> In 2021, the Marine Corps committed to fielding [[Silencer (firearms)|suppressors]] to all its infantry units, making it the first branch of the U.S. military to adopt them for widespread use.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hambling|first=David|date=5 January 2021|title=Stealth Fighters: Why U.S. Marine Corps Is Issuing Silencers To All Infantry Units|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2021/01/05/stealth-fighters-why-all-marine-infantry-are-getting-silencers/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128025625/https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2021/01/05/stealth-fighters-why-all-marine-infantry-are-getting-silencers/|archive-date=28 January 2021|access-date=11 September 2021|website=Forbes}}</ref>

The USMC infantry issued grenade launcher is the M320, which shoots a 40&nbsp;mm grenade,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marines test grenade launcher during fielding event |url=https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/2103936/marines-test-grenade-launcher-during-fielding-event/ |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=United States Marine Corps Flagship |language=en-US}}</ref> such as the M67 fragmentation grenade.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Service Members Throw M-67 Fragmentation Grenades |url=https://www.marines.mil/News/Marines-TV/videoid/297637/dvpTag/fragmentation/ |access-date=2024-02-09 |website= marines.mil |language=en-US}}</ref> Indirect fire is also provided by the [[M203 grenade launcher]] and the [[Milkor MGL|M32 grenade launcher]] in fireteams, [[M224 mortar|M224 60&nbsp;mm mortar]] in companies, and [[M252 mortar|M252 81&nbsp;mm mortar]] in battalions. The [[M2 Browning|M2 .50&nbsp;caliber heavy machine gun]] and [[Mk 19 grenade launcher|MK19 automatic grenade launcher (40&nbsp;mm)]] are available for use by dismounted infantry, though they are more commonly vehicle-mounted. Precision firepower is provided by the [[M40 rifle|M40 series]]<ref>{{cite web|title= M40A1 Sniper Rifle |work= USMC Fact File |publisher= U.S. Marine Corps|url= http://www.hqmc.usmc.mil/factfile.nsf/7e931335d515626a8525628100676e0c/03ae5c82962bc0f48525627b006d3126?OpenDocument |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070225004953/http://www.hqmc.usmc.mil/factfile.nsf/7e931335d515626a8525628100676e0c/03ae5c82962bc0f48525627b006d3126?OpenDocument |archive-date=25 February 2007}}</ref> and the [[Barrett M82|Barrett M107]], while [[Designated marksman|designated marksmen]] use the [[United States Marine Corps Designated Marksman Rifle|DMR]] variant of the M27, known as the M38, and the [[Squad Advanced Marksman Rifle|SAM-R]].{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

[[File:AAV-australia.jpg|thumb|Marine [[Amphibious Assault Vehicle]]s emerge from the surf onto the sand of Freshwater Beach, Australia]]
The Marine Corps utilizes a variety of direct-fire rockets and missiles to provide infantry with an offensive and defensive anti-armor capability. The [[Mk 153 Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon|SMAW]] and [[AT4]] are unguided rockets that can destroy armor and fixed defenses (e.g., bunkers) at ranges up to 500&nbsp;meters. The smaller and lighter [[M72 LAW]] can destroy targets at ranges up to 200 meters.<ref>John Antal "Packing a Punch: America's Man-Portable Antitank Weapons" page 88 Military Technology 3/2010 {{ISSN|0722-3226}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fbo.gov/index?tab=core&s=opportunity&mode=form&id=6aea0552c87c7c9afb20167e1b193acc|title=Light Assault Weapon (LAW)|publisher=FBO.gov|access-date=20 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214055038/https://www.fbo.gov/index?tab=core&s=opportunity&mode=form&id=6aea0552c87c7c9afb20167e1b193acc|archive-date=14 February 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[FGM-172 SRAW|Predator SRAW]], [[FGM-148 Javelin]] and [[BGM-71 TOW]] are [[anti-tank guided missile]]s. The Javelin can utilize top-attack profiles to avoid heavy frontal armor. The Predator is a short-range [[fire-and-forget]] weapon; the Javelin and TOW are heavier missiles effective past 2,000 meters that give infantry an offensive capability against armor.<ref>{{cite web |title= Tube Launched, Optically Tracked, Wire Guided (TOW) Missile Weapon System |work= USMC Fact File |publisher= U.S. Marine Corps |url= http://www.hqmc.usmc.mil/factfile.nsf/7e931335d515626a8525628100676e0c/4ba8f1e3958ca16d8525628100789abb?OpenDocument
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070211021126/http://www.hqmc.usmc.mil/factfile.nsf/7e931335d515626a8525628100676e0c/4ba8f1e3958ca16d8525628100789abb?OpenDocument
 |archive-date=11 February 2007}}</ref>

===Ground vehicles===
{{main|List of vehicles of the United States Marine Corps}}

The Corps operates the same [[Humvee|HMMWV]] as does the Army, which is in the process of being replaced by the [[Joint Light Tactical Vehicle]] (JLTV). However, for its specific needs, the Corps uses a number of unique vehicles. The [[LAV-25]] is a dedicated wheeled armored personnel carrier, similar to the Army's [[Stryker]] vehicle, used to provide strategic mobility.<ref>{{cite web |title= Light Armored Vehicle-25 (LAV-25) |work= USMC Fact File |publisher= U.S. Marine Corps |url= http://www.hqmc.usmc.mil/factfile.nsf/7e931335d515626a8525628100676e0c/b54eb957c0d3b17a852562830058111b?OpenDocument |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030428184054/http://www.hqmc.usmc.mil/factfile.nsf/7e931335d515626a8525628100676e0c/b54eb957c0d3b17a852562830058111b?OpenDocument|archive-date=28 April 2003}}</ref> Amphibious capability is provided by the [[Assault Amphibious Vehicle|AAV-7A1 Assault Amphibious Vehicle]], an armored tracked vehicle that doubles as an [[Armoured personnel carrier|armored personnel carrier]], due to be replaced by the [[Amphibious Combat Vehicle]], a faster vehicle with superior armor and weaponry. The threat of [[land mine]]s and [[improvised explosive device]]s in Iraq and Afghanistan has seen the Corps begin purchasing heavily armored vehicles that can better withstand the effects of these weapons as part of the [[MRAP|Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle program]].<ref>{{cite web|title= U.S. Marine Corps Orders More Force Protection Vehicles|work= Force Protection, Inc. – In the News|publisher= Force Protection, Inc.|date= August 2006|url= http://www.forceprotection.net/news/news_article.html?id=142|access-date= 3 January 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090503120706/http://www.forceprotection.net/news/news_article.html?id=142|archive-date= 3 May 2009|df= dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="LVSR">{{cite web|url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/10/marine_lvsr_102209w/#|title=First LVSR truck arrives in Afghanistan|last=Lamothe|first=Dan|date=22 October 2009|work=[[Marine Corps Times]]|access-date=23 October 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428155003/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/10/marine_lvsr_102209w/|archive-date=28 April 2011}}</ref>

The Marines also operate the [[M777 howitzer|M777 155&nbsp;mm howitzer]] and the [[M142 HIMARS|High Mobility Artillery Rocket System]] (HIMARS), a truck-mounted rocket artillery system. Both are capable of firing guided munitions.<ref name="JCLewis">{{Cite journal|last= Lewis|first= Maj. J Christopher|title= The Future Artillery Force... Today|journal= Marine Corps Gazette|issue= July 2006|pages= 24–25|publisher= Marine Corps Association|date=July 2006}}</ref> In 2020, the Marine Corps retired its [[M1 Abrams|M1A1 Abrams]] tanks and eliminated all of its tank units. General David Berger explained the decision describing the long-serving Marine weapons system as "operationally unsuitable for our highest-priority challenges." The move leaves the Army as the sole American operator of tanks.<ref>{{Cite web|title=A farewell to armor: Marine Corps shuts down tank units, hauls away M1A1s|url=https://www.stripes.com/news/marine-corps/a-farewell-to-armor-marine-corps-shuts-down-tank-units-hauls-away-m1a1s-1.639355#:~:text=After%20serving%202nd%20MARDIV%20for,the%20Marine%20Corps%27%20modernization%20plan.&text=A%20U.S.%20Marine%20with%202nd,N.C.,%20July%2027,%202020.|access-date=23 November 2020|website=Stars and Stripes|archive-date=4 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204030021/https://www.stripes.com/news/marine-corps/a-farewell-to-armor-marine-corps-shuts-down-tank-units-hauls-away-m1a1s-1.639355#:~:text=After%20serving%202nd%20MARDIV%20for,the%20Marine%20Corps%27%20modernization%20plan.&text=A%20U.S.%20Marine%20with%202nd,N.C.,%20July%2027,%202020.|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Aircraft===
[[File:Aircraft.osprey.678pix.jpg|thumb|alt=color photo of four parachutists jumping from the open ramp of an MV-22 Osprey in flight|Marine parachutists jumping from an [[Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey|MV-22 Osprey]] at 10,000 feet]]
{{main|List_of_active_United_States_military_aircraft#Marine_Corps|l1= List of active United States Marine Corps military aircraft}}

The [[Organic unit|organic]] aviation capability of the Marine Corps is essential to its amphibious mission. [[Marine Corps Aviation]] operates both [[helicopter|rotary-wing]] and [[fixed-wing aircraft]] mainly to provide [[Assault Support]] and [[close air support]] to its ground forces. Other aircraft types are used in a variety of support and special-purpose roles. The light transport and attack capabilities are provided by the [[Bell UH-1Y Venom]] and [[Bell AH-1Z Viper]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hqmc.usmc.mil/factfile.nsf/7e931335d515626a8525628100676e0c/a251c8116905c4b98525626d00777b4b?OpenDocument |title=AH-1W Super Cobra Helicopter |work=USMC Fact File |publisher=U.S. Marine Corps |access-date=3 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205090648/http://www.hqmc.usmc.mil/factfile.nsf/7e931335d515626a8525628100676e0c/a251c8116905c4b98525626d00777b4b?OpenDocument |archive-date=5 February 2007}}</ref> Medium-lift squadrons utilize the [[Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey|MV-22 Osprey]] [[tiltrotor]]. Heavy-lift squadrons are equipped with the [[Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion|CH-53E Super Stallion]] helicopter, which are being replaced with the upgraded [[Sikorsky CH-53K|CH-53K]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Marine Corps Rotary Wing|publisher=[[Federation of American Scientists]]|url=https://fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/vision/Corpsr.htm|access-date=29 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105060424/http://fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/vision/Corpsr.htm|archive-date=5 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Marine attack squadrons fly the [[McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II|AV-8B Harrier II]]; while the fighter/attack mission is handled by the single-seat and dual-seat versions of the [[McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet|F/A-18 Hornet]] strike-fighter aircraft. The AV-8B is a [[V/STOL]] aircraft that can operate from [[amphibious assault ship]]s, land air bases and short, expeditionary airfields, while the F/A-18 can only be flown from land or [[aircraft carrier]]s. Both are slated to be replaced by 340 of the [[STOVL]] B version of the [[Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II|F-35 Lightning II]]<ref>{{cite web|title=F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program|publisher=[[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]|url=http://www.jsf.mil/|access-date=3 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027111123/http://www.jsf.mil/|archive-date=27 October 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> and 80 of the carrier [[F-35C]] versions for deployment with Navy [[carrier air wing]]s.<ref>{{cite web|last=Daniel |first=Lisa |url=http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=63158 |title=Plan Improves Navy, Marine Corps Air Capabilities |work=[[American Forces Press Service]] |publisher=United States Department of Defense |date=14 March 2011 |access-date=23 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110529052624/http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=63158 |archive-date=29 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/03/navy-more-marines-to-fly-f35c-031411w/ |title=More Marines to fly carrier-variant JSFs |last=Cavas |first=Christopher P. |date=14 March 2011 |work=Marine Corps Times |access-date=23 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428154152/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/03/navy-more-marines-to-fly-f35c-031411w/ |archive-date=28 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/News/NewsArticleDisplay/tabid/3488/Article/78874/marine-corps-continues-flying-with-joint-strike-fighter-program.aspx |title=Marine Corps continues flying with Joint Strike Fighter program |first=Michael S. |last=Cifuentes |publisher=Headquarters Marine Corps |date=14 March 2011 |access-date=11 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301031003/http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/News/NewsArticleDisplay/tabid/3488/Article/78874/marine-corps-continues-flying-with-joint-strike-fighter-program.aspx |archive-date=1 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/news/defence-news/year-2015-news/january-2015-navy-naval-forces-defense-industry-technology-maritime-security-global-news/2374-us-marine-corps-received-its-first-f-35c-lightning-ii-carrier-variant.html |title=U.S. Marine Corps Received Its First F-35C Lightning II Carrier Variant |date=29 January 2015 |access-date=4 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204044303/http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/news/defence-news/year-2015-news/january-2015-navy-naval-forces-defense-industry-technology-maritime-security-global-news/2374-us-marine-corps-received-its-first-f-35c-lightning-ii-carrier-variant.html |archive-date=4 February 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:US Navy 111003-N-ZZ999-002 An F-35B Lightning II makes the first vertical landing on a flight deck at sea aboard the amphibious assault ship USS W.jpg|thumb|right|A Marine Corps F-35B, the vertical-landing version of the [[Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II|F-35 Lightning II]] [[Multirole combat aircraft|multirole fighter]] landing aboard {{USS|Wasp|LHD-1|6}}]]
The Corps operates its own organic [[aerial refueling]] assets in the form of the [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules|KC-130 Hercules]]; however, it also receives a large amount of support from the U.S. Air Force. The Hercules doubles as a ground refueler and tactical-airlift transport aircraft. The USMC electronic warfare plane, the [[Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler|EA-6B]], was retired in 2019. The Marines operate [[unmanned aerial vehicle]]s: the [[AAI RQ-7 Shadow|RQ-7 Shadow]] and [[Boeing ScanEagle|Scan Eagle]] for tactical reconnaissance.<ref>{{cite web|last=Talton|first=Trista|title=U.S. Marines' Shadow UAV Sees First Combat|publisher=Defensenews.com|url=http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=3117663&C=airwar|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731190354/http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=3117663&C=airwar|archive-date=31 July 2012|access-date=3 August 2008}}</ref>

Marine Fighter Training Squadron 401 ([[VMFT-401]]), operates [[Northrop F-5|F-5E, F-5F and F-5N Tiger II]] aircraft in support of air combat adversary ([[dissimilar air combat training|aggressor]]) training. Marine Helicopter Squadron One ([[HMX-1]]) operates the [[Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King|VH-3D Sea King]] and [[Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk|VH-60N Whitehawk]] helicopters in the VIP transport role, most notably [[Marine One]], but are [[VXX|due to be replaced]] with the [[Sikorsky VH-92 Patriot|VH-92 Patriot]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trevithick |first=Joseph |date=2023-03-14 |title=New VH-92 Presidential Helicopter Deploys To Las Vegas |url=https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/vh-92-patriot-presidential-helicopter-deployed-to-las-vegas |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=The Drive |language=en}}</ref> A single Marine Corps [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules|C-130 Hercules]] aircraft, "Fat Albert", is used to support the U.S. Navy's flight demonstration team, the "[[Blue Angels]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Trevithick |first1=Joseph |title=Check Out The Blue Angels' New Fat Albert C-130J In All Its Glory |url=https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/34507/here-is-our-first-look-at-the-blue-angels-new-fat-albert-c-130j-in-all-its-glory |website=www.thedrive.com |date=30 June 2020 |publisher=The Drive |access-date=22 May 2021 |archive-date=22 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522220231/https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/34507/here-is-our-first-look-at-the-blue-angels-new-fat-albert-c-130j-in-all-its-glory |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Relationship with other services==
In general, the Marine Corps shares many resources with the other branches of the [[United States Armed Forces]]. However, the Corps has consistently sought to maintain its own identity with regard to mission, funding, and assets, while utilizing support available from the larger branches. While the Marine Corps has far fewer installations both in the U.S. and worldwide than the other branches, many [[List of United States Army installations|Army posts]], [[List of United States Navy installations|Naval stations]], and [[List of United States Air Force installations|Air Force bases]] have a Marine presence. They also cross-train with other countries.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===United States Navy===
{{more citations needed|section|date=November 2017}}<!--3 paragraphs have no citations-->
[[File:USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) welldeck.jpg|thumb|alt=color photo of swimming AAVs approaching the well deck of an amphibious assault ship|[[Assault Amphibious Vehicle]]s approaching the [[well deck]] of {{USS|Bonhomme Richard|LHD-6|6}}]]

The Marine Corps's counterpart under the Department of the Navy is the United States Navy. As a result, the Navy and Marine Corps have a close relationship, more so than with other branches of the military. [[White paper]]s and promotional literature have commonly used the phrase "Navy-Marine Corps Team",<ref name="Seapower21">{{Cite journal
|last1= Clark
|first1= Adm. Vern
|author-link= Vern Clark
|title= Sea Power 21
|journal= Proceedings
|volume =130
|issue= October 2002
|page =3005
|publisher= Naval Institute Press
|date=October 2002
|url= http://www.usni.org/proceedings/Articles02/proCNO10.htm
|doi =10.1090/S0002-9939-02-06392-X
|access-date= 28 July 2006
|last2= Hinton
|first2= Don
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070303223546/http://www.usni.org/Proceedings/Articles02/PROcno10.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date= 3 March 2007|doi-access= free|issn=0002-9939}}</ref><ref name="EnduringFreedomVid">{{cite video |people= Lt. Col. James Kuhn |title= Enduring Freedom |medium= Film |publisher= Department of the Navy |url= http://www.nuwc.navy.mil/hq/video/enduringfreedom/video.html |date= 2 November 2005 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060724224601/http://www.nuwc.navy.mil/hq/video/enduringfreedom/video.html |archive-date= 24 July 2006 |df= dmy-all}}</ref> or refer to "the Naval Service". Both the [[Chief of Naval Operations]] (CNO) and Commandant of the Marine Corps report directly to the Secretary of the Navy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=United States Navy > Leadership > Chief of Naval Operations > Chief of Naval Operations |url=https://www.navy.mil/Leadership/Chief-of-Naval-Operations/Chief-of-Naval-Operations/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617004043/https://www.navy.mil/Leadership/Chief-of-Naval-Operations/Chief-of-Naval-Operations/ |archive-date=17 June 2024 |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=www.navy.mil}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Commandant of the Marine Corps |url=https://www.hrom.marines.mil/New-Employees/About-the-Marine-Corps/Organization/CMC/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240828010442/https://www.hrom.marines.mil/New-Employees/About-the-Marine-Corps/Organization/CMC/ |archive-date=28 August 2024 |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=www.hrom.marines.mil}}</ref>

Operationally, the Marine Corps provides the [[Fleet Marine Force]]s for service with the Navy's fleets, including the forward-deployed Marine Expeditionary Units embarked aboard Navy amphibious warships. The Corps also contributes some Marine Aviation fixed-wing fighter/attack assets (aircraft squadrons and related aircraft maintenance augmentation units) as part of the Carrier Air Wings deployed aboard aircraft carriers. The [[Marine Corps Security Force Regiment]] provides infantry-based security battalions and Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team companies to guard and defend high-priority and overseas Navy bases. Security for the Presidential Retreat located aboard the [[Camp David|Naval Support Activity Thurmont, aka ''Camp David'']] is provided by the Marine infantry battalion stationed as part of the garrison aboard Marine Barracks Washington.

Cooperation between the two services includes the training and instruction of some future Marine Corps officers (most are trained and commissioned through Marine Corps OCS), all Marine Corps Naval Aviators (aircraft pilots) and Naval Flight Officers (airborne weapons and sensor system officers), and some Navy and Marine Corps enlisted personnel. The Corps receives a significant portion of its officers from the [[United States Naval Academy]] (USNA) and [[Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps]] (NROTC). USNA and NROTC staff and faculty includes Marine Corps instructors. [[United States Marine Corps Aviation#Aviators and flight officers|Marine Corps aviators and flight officers]] are trained in the [[Naval Air Training Command]] (NATRACOM) and are designated, or ''winged'' as [[United States Naval Aviator|Naval Aviators]] or [[Naval Flight Officer]]s. The Marine Corps provides flight instructors to the Naval Air Training Command as well as [[drill instructor]]s to the [[Officer Candidate School (United States Navy)|Navy's Officer Candidate School]]. Many enlisted marines, particularly those in the aviation maintenance specialties, are trained at Navy technical training centers. The Marine Corps also provides ground combat training support to various Navy field medical (Hospital Corpsmen), Naval Construction Force (Seabee), and Navy Expeditionary Warfare personnel, units, and commands.

Training alongside each other is viewed as critical, as the Navy provides transport, logistical, and combat support to put Marine units into the fight, such as [[Strategic sealift ships|maritime prepositioning ships]] and [[naval gunfire support]]. Most Marine aviation assets ultimately derive from the Navy, with regard to acquisition, funding, and testing, and Navy aircraft carriers typically deploy with a Marine squadron alongside Navy squadrons. Marines do not recruit or train noncombatants such as chaplains or medical/dental personnel; naval personnel fill these roles. Some of these sailors, particularly [[Hospital corpsman|Hospital corpsmen]] and [[Religious program specialist]]s, generally wear Marine uniforms emblazoned with Navy insignia. Conversely, the Marine Corps is responsible for conducting land operations to support naval campaigns, including the seizure of naval bases. Both services operate a network security team in conjunction.

Marines and sailors share many naval traditions, especially terminology and customs. Marine Corps [[Medal of Honor]] recipients wear the Navy variant of this and other awards;<ref name="Lawliss"/> and with few exceptions, the awards and badges of the Navy and Marine Corps are identical. Much of testing for new Marine Corps aircraft is done at [[Naval Air Station Patuxent River]]. The Navy's Blue Angels flight demonstration team is staffed by both Navy and Marine officers and enlisted personnel.<ref name="Lawliss"/>

In 2007, the Marine Corps joined with the Navy and Coast Guard to adopt a new maritime strategy called ''[[A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower]]'' that raises the notion of prevention of war to the same [[Philosophy of war|philosophical]] level as the conduct of war.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=32655 |title=Sea Services Unveil New Maritime Strategy |publisher=Navy News Service |date=17 October 2007 |access-date=3 August 2008 |author=Jim Garamone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305040311/http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=32655 |archive-date=5 March 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> This new strategy charts a course for the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps to work collectively with each other and international partners to prevent regional crises, human-made or natural, from occurring or reacting quickly should one occur to avoid negative impacts to the United States.

===United States Army===
[[File:CSA-2006-01-12-095303 M249SAW.jpg|thumb|A soldier from the [[1st Infantry Regiment (United States)|1st Infantry Regiment]] provides security for a joint Army-Marine patrol in [[Rawa (Iraq)|Rawa]] in 2006. The [[shoulder sleeve insignia]] has the logo of the [[2nd Marine Division (United States)|2nd Marine Division]].]]

The Marine Corps capabilities overlap with those of the United States Army, historically creating competition for funding and missions. The competition dates back to the founding of the Continental Marines, when General George Washington refused to allow the initial Marine battalions to be drawn from among his Continental Army. In the aftermath of World War II, Army leadership made efforts to restructure the American defense establishment including the dissolution of the Marine Corps and the folding of its capabilities into the other services. Leading this movement were such prominent Army officers as General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] and [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Army Chief of Staff]] [[George C. Marshall]].<ref name="Krulak"/> The [[Goldwater-Nichols Act]] significantly reshaped the services roles and relationships with each other, enforcing more joint decision making.<ref>{{cite web|title=Goldwater-Nichols Act |url=https://history.defense.gov/Portals/70/Documents/dod_reforms/Goldwater-NicholsDoDReordAct1986.pdf|website=DOD|accessdate=30 December 2021}}</ref> Department of Defense Directive 5100.01 tasks both the Army and Marine Corps with expeditionary and amphibious operations.<ref>{{cite web|title=DODD 5100.01 |url=https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodd/510001p.pdf|website=DOD|accessdate=30 December 2021}}</ref> With most of the 2000s spent in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Secretary of Defense [[Robert Gates]] voiced concerns that the Marine Corps are becoming a "second Army".<ref name="2ndarmy">{{cite web |author=Kevin Baron |title=Gates: Time has come to re-examine future of Marine Corps |date=12 August 2010 |url=http://www.stripes.com/news/gates-time-has-come-to-re-examine-future-of-marine-corps-1.114465 |access-date=20 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100916071214/http://www.stripes.com/news/gates-time-has-come-to-re-examine-future-of-marine-corps-1.114465 |archive-date=16 September 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Since these comments, the Marine Corps has shed its main battle tanks, reduced its size, and focused more on operations in littoral areas where the Army is not explicitly tasked to operate.<ref>{{cite web|title=Marine Corps Restructure |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/marines-are-joining-the-army-as-corps-sheds-tank-battalions-2021-4|website=Business Insider|accessdate=30 December 2021}}</ref>

The Army maintains much larger and diverse combat arms, special operations, and logistics forces. The Army has much lighter and expeditionary forces in its infantry and airborne infantry brigade combat teams. The Army also maintains heavier and more logistically taxing armored brigade combat teams.<ref>{{cite web|title=FM 3–96|url=https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN31505-FM_3-96-000-WEB-1.pdf|website=DA Pubs|accessdate=30 December 2021}}</ref> The Marine Corps, in comparison, maintains forces between these two extremes of mobility and protection. The Marine Corps organizes much smaller deployable units with integrated aviation support. The Marine Corps was historically hesitant to provide forces to U.S. Special Operations Command, instead making specialty units available to its division commanders. The Army has maintained Special Forces, Rangers, civil affairs, psychological operations, special operations aviation, and special missions units for decades. In 2003, the Marine Corps<ref name="Donald Rumsfeld">{{cite news |author= Bradley Graham |title= Elite Marine Unit to Help Fight Terrorism |newspaper= [[The Washington Post]] |date= 3 November 2005 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/01/AR2005110102069.html |access-date= 17 September 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170525191505/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/01/AR2005110102069.html |archive-date= 25 May 2017 |url-status=live |df= dmy-all}}</ref> created the present-day successors to the [[Marine Raiders]] and provided them to [[United States Special Operations Command|Special Operations Command]] starting with the establishment of [[Det One|MCSOCOM Detachment One]]. The modern Marine Raider training pipeline was based on input from U.S. Army Ranger and Special Forces units.<ref name="Priddy">{{cite news|last= Priddy |first= Maj. Wade |title= Marine Detachment 1: Opening the door for a Marine force contribution to USSOCom |journal=Marine Corps Gazette |volume= 90|issue=6 |pages= 58–59 |publisher=Marine Corps Association |year= 2006}}</ref>

Culturally, marines and soldiers share most of the common U.S. military slang and terminology, but the Corps utilizes a large number of naval terms and traditions incompatible with Army lifestyle, as well as its own [[List of United States Marine Corps acronyms and expressions|unique vernacular]]. As the Army Reserve and Army National Guard is much larger than the Marine Corps's Reserve, many more former active duty marines continue their service in the Army's reserve components.<ref>{{cite web|title=Marine to Guard|url=https://www.nationalguard.com/m2gl|website=National Guard|accessdate=30 December 2021}}</ref> The Army does not require transfers from the Marines, [[Air Force Security Forces]], or special operations of any branch to attend Army Basic Combat Training.<ref>{{cite web|title=Go Army|url=https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/current-and-prior-service/continue-serving/transitioning-services/inter-service-transfer-program.m.html|website=Go Army|accessdate=30 December 2021}}</ref> Due to the requirement that all inter-service transfers attend Marine Corps Recruit Training, very few former soldiers serve in the Marine Corps.

===United States Air Force===
[[File:C-5 CH-46.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=color photo of marines pushing carted equipment from the open bay of a large cargo jet|Marines unloading [[Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight|CH-46 Sea Knight]] helicopters from an Air Force [[C-5 Galaxy]]]]

While some of [[United States Marine Corps Aviation|Marine Corps Aviation]] assets ultimately derive from the Navy, a large amount of support is drawn from the United States Air Force. The Marine Corps makes extensive use of the USAF [[Air Mobility Command]] to [[airlift]] marines and equipment, along with utilizing close air support from the Air Force. The Air Force may also attach [[Tactical Air Control Party]] units to conventional Marine ground forces to provide coordination for close air support.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.airforce.com/careers/detail/tactical-air-control-party-specialist-tacp|title=U.S. Air Force – Career Detail – Tactical Air Control Party Specialist (TACP)|website=airforce.com|access-date=21 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822015335/https://www.airforce.com/careers/detail/tactical-air-control-party-specialist-tacp|archive-date=22 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Air Force traditionally provides the [[Joint Force Air Component Commander]] (JFACC) who controls "sorties for air defense, and long range interdiction and reconnaissance" while the MAGTF commander retains control of the Marines' organic aviation assets, however Marine Aviation missions not directly in the support of the MAGTF will be typically controlled by the JFACC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apc.au.af.mil/text/oap/purpose.htm |title=Purpose of JFACC (archived) |access-date=28 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051119110547/http://www.apc.au.af.mil/text/oap/purpose.htm |archive-date=19 November 2005}} U.S. Air Force</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Expeditionary Operations (Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 3) |author =United States Marine Corps|page=83|publisher= Willside Press LLC|year=2005 |isbn =978-1-55742-371-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/new_pubs/jp3_30.pdf |title=Command and Control of Joint Air Operations |access-date=18 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222114848/http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/new_pubs/jp3_30.pdf |archive-date=22 December 2014}}</ref>

===United States Coast Guard===
The Marine Corps shares a sphere of operation with units of the United States Coast Guard, including operation of the [[Joint Maritime Training Center]] (JMTC) (previously known as the Special Missions Training Center (SMTC)), a joint Coast Guard, Navy, and Marine Corps training facility located on the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.<ref>{{cite web |date=16 March 2009 |title=Joint Maritime Training Center |url=http://www.security-guard.ca/maritime-security-jobs/ |access-date=19 May 2011 |publisher=Uscg.mil.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=8 December 2010 |title=Joint Maritime Training Center website |url=http://www.uscg.mil/smtc/Default.asp |access-date=19 May 2011 |publisher=Uscg.mil}}</ref>

==Budget==
According to the Department of the Navy (from whence the Marine Corps receives its funding), for FY 2019, the Marine Corps received $43.2B in funding.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.secnav.navy.mil/fmc/fmb/Documents/19pres/Highlights_book.pdf|title=Highlights of the Department of the Navy FY 2019 Budget|date=23 May 2017|url-status=live|access-date=5 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412083530/https://www.secnav.navy.mil/fmc/fmb/Documents/19pres/Highlights_book.pdf|archive-date=12 April 2019}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Appropriation Summary – United States Marine Corps (in millions of dollars)<ref>{{cite report |author1=Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Budget) |title=Highlights of the Department of the Navy – FY 2020 Budget |url=https://www.secnav.navy.mil/fmc/fmb/Documents/20pres/Budget%20Highlights%20Book.pdf |website=[[United States Department of the Navy]] |access-date=8 December 2020 |section=Resource Summary |page=11 |date=12 March 2019 |archive-date=23 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201223180530/https://www.secnav.navy.mil/fmc/fmb/Documents/20pres/Budget%20Highlights%20Book.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
!Area
!FY2018
!FY2019
|-
|Military Personnel
|13,197
|13,888
|-
|Reserve Personnel
|763
|785
|-
|Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Fund Contribution
|903
|831
|-
|Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Fund Contribution, Reserves
|81
|74
|-
|Operation and Maintenance
|8,118
|7,843
|-
|Operation and Maintenance, Reserve
|287
|275
|-
|Procurement
|2,019
|2,858
|-
|Procurement of Ammunition, Navy/Marine Corps
|1,038*
|1,182*
|-
|Military Construction, Navy and Marine Corps
|1,993*
|2,593*
|-
|Total Appropriated
|28,399
|30,329
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> not exact since certain fields are combined with Navy expenditures{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

In 2013, the USMC became the first American military branch to ever have a fully audited annual budget.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dodbuzz.com/2014/02/07/corps-becomes-first-service-to-pass-audit/ |title=Corps Becomes First Service to Pass Audit |last1=Sisk |first1=Richard |date=7 February 2014 |website=dodbuzz.com |publisher=Military Advantage, A Monster Company. |access-date=7 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207164754/http://www.dodbuzz.com/2014/02/07/corps-becomes-first-service-to-pass-audit/ |archive-date=7 February 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[:Category:Ad hoc units and formations of the United States Marine Corps]]
* [[Marine Corps Key Volunteer Network]]
* [[Marine Corps Planning Process]]
* [[United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve]]
* [[List of United States Marine Corps acronyms and expressions]]

==Notes==
{{NoteFoot}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
* {{Marine Corps}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Library resources box}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last= Foster|first= Douglas|title= Braving the Fear: The True Story of Rowdy US Marines in the Gulf War|publisher= PublishAmerica|year= 2006|location= Frederick, Maryland|url= http://www.DouglasFosterBooks.com|isbn= 1-4137-9902-7|access-date= 12 May 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180420134128/http://www.douglasfosterbooks.com/|archive-date= 20 April 2018|df= dmy-all}}
* {{cite book|last= Martinez|first= Marco|title= Hard Corps: From Gangster to Marine Hero|publisher= Crown Forum|year= 2007|location= New York|isbn= 978-0-307-38304-4}}
* {{cite book|last= Ricks|first= Thomas E.|title= Making the Corps|url= https://archive.org/details/makingcorps00rick_1|url-access= registration|publisher= Scribner|year= 1997|location= New York|isbn= 1-4165-4450-X}}
* {{cite book |title=Preparing for Victory: Thomas Holcomb and the Making of Modern Marine Corps, 1935–1943 |first=David J. |last=Ulbrich |publisher= [[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]] |location=Annapolis, Maryland |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-59114-903-3
}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|en-wikivoice-okso-20070417.ogg|date=17 April 2007}}
{{Sister project links|wikt= no|b= no|q= United States Marine Corps |s= United States Marine Corps |commons= United States Marine Corps |n= no|v= no|species= no|display= United States Marine Corps |author= no |voy=no}}
* [http://www.marines.mil/ Marines.mil&nbsp;– Official site]
* [https://archive.today/20121212034559/http://www.mcu.usmc.mil/historydivision/ Marine Corps History Division]
* [http://www.usmcmuseum.org/ Marine Corps Heritage Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502131727/http://www.usmcmuseum.org/ |date=2 May 2006 }}

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[[Category:United States Marine Corps| ]]
[[Category:1775 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies]]
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[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1775]]
[[Category:Uniformed services of the United States|Marine Corps]]
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