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.

       

[JoeSixPack1]

I heard through a secretive source that the really really tough army guys get to wear a rainbow beret.....the source said it was decided upon at their annual tea party while listening to Johnny Cash's "A boy named sue". The thought was they might get a tougher soldier because of it but decided to nix the pink TuTu idea.

INCOMING...................hehehehe :-)

[sneakypete]

As I recall there were linen tablecloths and napkins, and real silverware. Not too hard to handle.

One of the first things I learned as a young soldier is that the army would provide all the discomfort neccessary. There was no reason for you to add to this yourself.

Words to live by for those of you who are still young enough to be "in the game".

Never stand when you can sit,and never sit when you can lay down. Never run when you can walk,and never walk when you can ride. Never be awake when you can be sleeping. Never refuse to eat when you have the chance because there is no telling when you will get this chance again. The army/USMC will provide you with all the exahustion,hunger,and discomfort you will ever need.

[sneakypete]

I was a bit more specialized. I used the 308 SR mounted with a Redfield (military spec.)4X12. (The results are still classified.)

ROFLMAO! "Classified" shooting scores? HOO,BOY!

[JoeSixPack1]

Thank you ...Semper Fidelis

[sneakypete]

BAR's,

Ahhhh,BAR's! (best Homer Simpson drooling voice). Be still my beating heart!

[Snow Bunny]

Thank you with all my heart!

[conservonator]

I was a "track mac" (M60 A1 tank mechanic MOS 2145), but I was the most dangerous track mac in the world!

Semper Fi!

[sneakypete]

I have only one question, fellow "old Viet-Vet"

I'm not who you addressed,but please allow me to answer.

Since when did Charlie use 50's as ordinance,

Hard to narrow it down for certain,but probably sometime in the mid to late 1940's on a regular basis. They probably had a few captured M-2's they got from the French or other sources even earlier. This doesn't even begin to address the FACT that most people refered to the 12.7's as "50 Cal",oddly enough because they ARE "50 Cal's". 52 Caliber to be exact,if I remember right.

or did I miss something?

I'd say "several somethings". Especially if you are trying to claim you are a old VN SF vet.

BTW,chances are the guy driving the airboat he was talking about was from the SF camp in that area. Most others didn't have that much freedom of movement or the ability to act without receiving 17 layers of permission. He MIGHT be able to find out who it was if he goes to the URL below and leaves a message on their message board.

http://teamhouse.tni.net

[jo6pac]

BTW, have they decided on the correct "hue" yet?

Uh, I dunno. The one on the Perfume River?

[jo6pac]

"As I recall there were linen tablecloths and napkins, and real silverware. Not too hard to handle."

One of the first things I learned as a young soldier is that the army would provide all the discomfort neccessary. There was no reason for you to add to this yourself.

LOL! If the SF dining hall was army 'discomfort', what was comfort?

[sneakypete]

Guys that wore them spilled the same color blood as the guys that wore a pisscutter with an eagle, globe and anchor.

Don't let him worry you. He is just jealous because they had to wear that "Band Conductors" hat with their dress uniform.

[JoeSixPack1]

Thank you Snow Bunny. You have an impressive military history yourself. And I Thank you for being there.

[jo6pac]

.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"Thank you with all my heart!"

I'm sure my Brothers and Sisters won't mind me thanking you from all of us
for your 2 USO tours with Bob Hope in Viet Nam.
You cared, and still do, when so many did not and/or have forgotten.

[sneakypete]

Re 205. Eloquent and true. Wish I had said that.

Thanks.

[sneakypete]

LOL! If the SF dining hall was army 'discomfort', what was comfort?

Well,IF I remember correctly,we didn't even have waitresses until I went to VN,never mind maids. The damn camp cook wouldn't even get out of bed to cook us steaks at night unless we had just been pulled out of the jungle! If we were hungry after midnight or so and the NCO club at the camp was closed,we either had to raid our teamhouse refrigerators or go hungry until morning! I know,I know. That's hard to believe,but why do you think so many people say "War is heck!"

[Tailback]

Amen to the rescue swimmers. I grew up near a Coast Guard base on the Oregon coast and personally know 3 people who were saved by rescue swimmers. While the combat forces are training for the possibility of battle, the Coast Guard is saving lives every single day.