Marines do it their own way

MSNBC ^ | 9/30/01 | Sue Lackey

[kattracks]

A different approach to special forces
A Marine awaits orders during urban war training exercises last week at Camp Pendleton, California.
By Sue Lackey MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR

Sept. 30 —  For the average Marine, it is both amusing and a bit galling to hear all the talk about “special forces” and their capabilities. For while the Army, Navy and Air Force have created Special Operations Commands with a unique structure, the Marine Corps has taken its basic forward deployed unit — the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) — and trained every one in special operations tactics.

THE FAMED Delta Force is often celebrated as the nation’s most elite special operations team, but its position as a member of the the Army’s Joint Special Operations Command gives it a narrow focus restricted to counterterrorism and hostage rescue. In contrast, each MEU must be qualified in 18 separate mission areas, including counter terrorism. This broad focus in training and qualifications makes the Marine unit more versatile than any other service’s special operations forces.
       Gen. Alfred M. Gray, who served as Commandant of the Marine Corps in the early 1980s, helped create the Joint Special Operations Command. But while the command often requests Marines to flesh out its capability, the Corps is the only service which has refused to join the command at an organizational level. “It goes against the reason the Marine Corps was developed,” says a Marine officer who is a special operations specialist. “It would have forced the Corps to focus on one mission, when the nation needed an amphibious force for forcible entry, with much broader capabilities.”
       Under a recent reform of the system, traditional special operations forces forces are assigned to specific theater Commanders in Chief — for instance, the Commander in Chief, Europe or the Commander in Chief, Southern Command, which handles Latin America. East of these commands have units with specific specialties, and depend on that regional commander for support. MEU’s, however, an amphibious force that can be deployed at will to any theater. Their floating base of operations gives them the ability to sustain a mission longer than other special operations forces, which are traditionally used for short term insertions, or in the case of the Green Berets, specific insurgency training missions.
 

      The true strength of the MEUs lie in their ability to augment their forces with air and ground combat elements and combat service support. This means any given unit can call in tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, and fixed wing aircraft — all of which are part of standard MEU order of battle. Other special operations forces must rely on conventional service support when additional forces are needed.
       A perfect example of this versatility was in the 1983 Grenada invasion, where Army special forces were inserted to extract U.S. Embassy staff. The team was able to reach their target, but were then bottled up inside the embassy and unable to get out through enemy troops. The JSOC team then called for Marine support. An MEU which had been diverted to Grenada broke through with tanks and armored vehicles to extract their colleagues and the embassy personnel they had rescued.
       The way in which special operations training has been integrated into the basic structure of the Corps has changed the capabilities of the Corps as a whole. The other military services are large enough to allow their SF units to function in some degree of separation. Because the Marine Corps is so small in numbers, its SOC qualified personnel rotate on duty throughout the Corps, which has enhanced the overall quality of training and identification with special operations forces. Most of these men have now percolated to the top of the command structure. “It’s been in place so long now that a lot of the flag officers grew up with this-they’re Al Gray’s boys,” said one Marine special operations veteran. “That’s what you do not get in the other special forces, because they tend to stay in their own areas. When they do go into other units to further their careers, they have problems integrating within the conventional forces and its military bureaucracy. They don’t do well as staff officers; they want to go back to their unit.”
       That lack of experienced special forces officers at high levels to give special forces a voice allows other branches of the conventional forces to marginalize the effectiveness of special operations in budget battles and mission planning — a situation the Marine Corps has managed to avoid.

       

[walden]

I no what you mean-- my sweetie is a Marine. (I say "is", because he always tells me that there are no former Marines-- once a Marine, always a Marine.)

[usmcobra]

The Marines have been America's Special Forces since the begining of this nation.
Let the Naysayers break out the History books, and read of the Commando raid on Bermuda By the first Commandant.
The attack was so swift and overwhelming that the British literly got caught with their pants down around their ankles
And the Marines have been doing it ever since, Lt Presley O'Bannon Marched his Marines through 600 miles of the Sahara to capture a fort on "the shores of Tripoli",
The reason he did so President Jefferson sent him to stop the Barbary Pirates from terrorising American shipping.
Before the Green Berets, Delta, and the Seals, there were the Marine Raiders, which was disbanded because it couldn't do anymore than the average marine unit.
I known I am going to catch flak for that one but the reason does not have a special forces unit in it, is that by their actions Marines have always proven that they are America's premier go any where do anything force.
I'm rambling instead of reading again, Semper Fi out

[LadyX]

"(I say "is", because he always tells me that there are no former Marines-- once a Marine, always a Marine.)"

Every one of us says the same thing - it is so..:)))

[COB1]

"so long as you get the job done."

I'll tell you what, hotshot - if they don't "get the job done" why don't you fire 'em and do it yourself?

[dpa5923]

The Marines also have a more streamlined procurement system, and they consistently develop better and more practical gear for their soldiers.

The army has soliders, the air force has airmen, the navy has sailors, and the Marines have Marines. Please get it right!

[TheGoodDoc]

May God protect you brave Marines, Seals, and Special Forces as you move into the evil snakepit of Afghanistan on your scared mission.

[LadyX]

Wonderful rant!
Thanks.

[The KG9 Kid]

Yes, there were a lot of changes going on in the Corps at that time. I remember a lot of things that Marines a few stripes over me were saying that were brand new, and tougher than they remember it. It was a rare time in the Corps when people *weren't* saying that 'it was a lot tougher in the Old Corps'. Heheh...

I still have nightmares about this one event: A 5-mile hauling-butt run over gravel that was the consistency of greasy marbles carrying a full combat load: Flak jacket, full load of blank ammo, weapons (I carried an M2 receiver with the bolt inside plus my rifle), helmet, ALICE pack, and two MREs in my cargo pockets.

It was just horrible. Running too fast to drink water, and I was dying for just a drop. When we were through, just about everyone was flipping around on the deck like a fish out of water. I think I drank two gallons of hot water from one of those plastic salmon-colored jerry cans that had been baking in the sunlight all day. It was the second to the last day of MCT, and as a 'reward' for graduating, we got three whole days leave before we reported to SOI (restricted to immediate area), except for time to pack our trash. I spent the entire first day of leave in Mainside Camp LeJeune at the Navy hospital. After the Doc looked my legs over for shin splints, a nurse just gave me a bottle of Motrin and told me to rest in the straggler's area watching TV. They know you're messed up if you're a sick-bay commando with a 72-hour pass.

I came back to Camp Geiger on the bus later that night, and everyone -- I mean everyone -- was asleep in their racks. Not one person requested an off-base pass. Our new troophandler just threw me my bedding, and told me to find a rack and not wake anyone. Some officer came by and told him 'All these Marines are on a three-day leave. No duty for them. Just leave them alone.'

[Illbay]

I think you need an alternate channel for your aggressive tendencies. Maybe it's sexual frustration. Try a girlfriend.

[Illbay]

Amen.

[E.Allen]

I'd be honored if you'd accept a Semper Fi from an Ex-USAF type.

[Illbay]

How very true, but what some people do not understand is that when the fighting takes place all military, regardless of what branch, stand together as one.

I think the problem is, the adolescents that want to make an issue of this NOW of all times, don't really care about this. And in that light, I have to conclude that they don't really care about the primary mission of the USMC (which happens to be the mission of all the uniformed services): PROTECT FREEDOM AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION.

Their pissant little diatribes are simply an embarrassment to themselves. REAL American fighting men know when it's time to cut the chatter and get to work. I suspect most of those ranting on about this are just USMC wannabes anyhow.

[usmcobra]

Six cents on every dollar spent for defence goes to the Marines
When you get less than any other service you learn to do more with what you get!
Quite A bargin if you ask me!

The Apache is so overated, and expensive!

[LadyX]

Questions of the Night:

Did you or did you not serve in the military?

If so, what branch and what years?
Any combat experience?

Enquiring minds want to know.

[RightOnline]

As an old AF flyer, all I can say about the Marines, in the context of current events, is the following.......

I damned near feel sorry for those poor, dumb Taliban bastards in Afghanistan once the Marines are turned loose on 'em.

[COB1]

"I think you need an alternate channel for your aggressive tendencies."

That's one thing we Gyrenes have in common which you wouldn't know anything about - "aggressive tendencies".
We eat people like you for breakfast!
If it weren't for the "aggressive tendencies", you'd be speaking German right now.
Look at the face of that Gyrene from Camp Pendleton and tell me you don't see "aggressive tendencies".
That's the way you look when you're ready to kick some ass!
But then a wuss like you wouldn't know anything about that.

While your at it, look at that hill behind that Gyrene.
I've duckwalked up that hill with a full pack and rifle.
Think you could do it, wuss?

[Illbay]

So, you're saying that it is the dream of the average Marine to kill a U.S. citizen? Or what? You ramble so, it is difficult to pick out your exact meaning.

FWIW, I expect our fighting men to show "aggression" toward the enemy, but not toward citizens of his own nation. Is that a difficult concept for you? Are you, like, gone over the edge like the grunt in "Full Metal Jacket"?

[Illbay]

Oh, I don't feel sorry for them at all! In fact, aren't we granting them the greatest favor they could attain: To be snuffed out while fighting enemies of Allah?

Don't they go straight to paradise, with two or more score of Virgins to attend their every need?

I mean, this is a "win-win" situation if there ever was one!

[The Right Stuff]

Awesome and patriotic bump to our brave Marines. From the homefront. We love you guys!

[harpo11]