Posted on 11/01/2005 4:46:52 PM PST by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2005 – The Marine Corps will soon officially join the special operations community with a new Marine Special Operations Command to become a component of U.S. Special Operations Command, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced here today. Rumsfeld announced his approval of the plan, part of a sweeping range of transformations under way to strengthen the U.S. military and its special operations forces, during a Pentagon news briefing.
The new command "will increase the number of special operations forces available for missions worldwide while expanding their capabilities in some key areas," Rumsfeld told reporters.
The new command will formalize a longstanding relationship between the Marine Corps and Special Operations Command, Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Douglas Powell told the American Forces Press Service.
It will increase Special Operations Command's ability to field highly skilled special operators in the numbers required to support of the war on terror and other missions, he said.
The command's members will train foreign military units and carry out other Marine Corps missions traditionally associated with special operations work: intelligence, logistics, fire-support coordination, direct action and special reconnaissance, among them, Powell said.
The 2,600-member command will have three subordinate elements: a special operations regiment, foreign military training unit and special operations support group.
A portion of the command will train and deploy with Marine expeditionary units, enhancing those units' special operations capability, officials said.
The command headquarters and nearly all its elements will be based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. One element of the Marine Special Operations Regiment will be stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
The activation date for the new command has not been set, and its elements are expected to phase in their operations. Some elements, including the Foreign Military Training Unit, are expected to assume missions almost immediately, officials said.
Marine Brig. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik will be the MARSOC's first commander, officials said. Hejlik previously served as deputy commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.
Marine Raiders Return
But how will this cut quality recruiting for the SEALs, I wonder...
It won't. SEALs have their standards and the Marines will have theirs.
Welcome back. I think this is a good thing. It gives SOCOM more resources to pull from and gives the Marines better access to the whole SOCOM pie. If anything it helps consolidate the management of special operators. That's one of the main reasons why SOCOM was organized and formed. I agree with you on the redundant layers of management in the military as a whole.
My point was that many SEAL recruits come from the Corps, don't they? Won't those recruits tend to stay Marine if given the option?
The SEALs are unique. They are the best. I will leave it up to those who want to join the best to join the SEALs.
The Marines are turning into experts in nation building and insurgent fighting. The Navy will stay as part of the Network Centric Warfare arm.
In the beginning of WW II the Marines set up a few battalions of "Marine Raiders" and "Paramarines" to carry out raids and other special ops.
They were disbanded after the brass figured out Marines didn't need elite units because the Marine Corps was already elite. I suspect MARSOC will see a similar fate in a few years.
You can't get a scarrier warrior than a devil dog.
BTTT
I knew BGen Hejlik when he was with 2d Marines... Good man...
Ole Chesty is doing 4 counts in his grave right now...Imagine some doggy giving orders to Chesty Puller or any Marine...bad idea.What about tradition?..Left alone the Marines could have the best special ops in the World.
No they don't.
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