"Sea soldiers" or marines have had an important role in naval warfare since the beginning of recorded history. Imperial Rome made particular use of marines as the fighting element of its navy. One of the oldest of modern marine corps is Britain's Royal Marines, which dates from the establishment of the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot in 1664. By the 18th century the duties of marines at sea had been well established. Marines maintained discipline among the often mutinous crews, provided musketmen and grenadiers for sea actions, and formed landing parties for forays ashore. On Nov. 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress authorized the raising of two battalions of American marines. These Continental Marines served at sea with the Continental Navy (under John Paul Jones, in particular), and on occasion ashore with the Continental Army, as at the Battle of Princeton (1777). After the war they were disbanded, as was the Continental Navy.
The U.S. Marines came back into being in 1794 when the United States began to rebuild its navy, and they were established as a distinct and separate corps, modeled after the British Marines, in 1798. The Quasi-War with France (1798-1801), actions against the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean, and the War of 1812 all saw Marines serving, afloat and ashore, in the same manner as they had during the American Revolution. The Marine Corps provided a regiment in the Seminole Wars, and in the Mexican War a marine battalion joined General Winfield Scott's army at Veracruz and fought its way to Mexico City. The marines also made important amphibious landings along the Gulf coast of Mexico and the California coast during the Mexican War. During the Civil War the U.S. Marine Corps made numerous landings to enforce the blockade of the Confederacy. The Confederacy had its own small Confederate States Marine Corps. Throughout the 19th century, ships' detachments of marines were used in small-scale punitive expeditions and interventions to protect American lives and property.
During the Spanish-American War (1898), a U.S. Marine battalion landed at Guantanamo to seize and defend an advance base in support of naval operations against Santiago de Cuba. From this experience came studies leading to formation of an Advance Base Force that landed as a brigade at Veracruz, Mexico, in 1914.
Interventions in Latin America and the Orient led to long-term garrisoning of marines in China (1905-41), Panama (1903-14), Nicaragua (1910-13, 1926-33), Haiti (1915-34), and the Dominican Republic (1916-24). During World War I, the Marine Corps sent two brigades (1917-18) to the American Expeditionary Force in France.
By 1933 the Advance Base Force had evolved into the Fleet Marine Force; the Marine Corps, through theoretical studies and fleet exercises, had developed an amphibious doctrine that would be used by all U.S. and Allied forces in World War II. During the course of that war the U.S. Marines grew to six divisions and five aircraft wings, with a peak strength of about 485,000. In the Korean War the marines had one division and an aircraft wing in active combat operations. Marine Corps unit involvement in the Vietnam War lasted from 1962 until 1975. At its peak in 1968, the III Marine Amphibious Force in northern South Vietnam had two divisions, two regimental landing teams, and a greatly enlarged aircraft wing. In 1983, Marines served as part of a multinational peacekeeping force in Lebanon and constituted most of the U.S. force that
invaded Grenada in October of that year. Substantial U.S. Marine forces served with distinction in the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Present Day
The post-Persian Gulf War Marine Corps was set at a strength of 190,000 officers and enlisted personnel. Marine Corps aviation had an inventory of about 1,300 aircraft, half of them fixed-wing, the other half helicopters. The Fleet Marine Force (Pacific) has its headquarters in Oahu, Hawaii, where a Marine Corps air-ground brigade is also based. The 1st Marine Division's home base is Camp Pendleton, Calif. Most of the 3d Marine Aircraft Wing is nearby at El Toro, Calif. When not at sea or elsewhere on exercises, two-thirds of the 3d Marine Division is stationed in Okinawa. Its supporting 1st Marine Aircraft Wing is divided between the Japanese home islands and Okinawa. On the U.S. East Coast, the Fleet Marine Force (Atlantic) is headquartered at Norfolk, Va. The 2d Marine Division is at Camp Lejeune, N.C., with the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing nearby at Cherry Point, N.C. Air-ground task forces from these two units are routinely maintained afloat in the Mediterranean. Marine Corps educational and developmental activities are centered on Quantico, Va. The corps' major logistical support bases are at Albany, Ga., and Barstow, Calif. A huge air-ground combined arms training area is maintained at Twenty-Nine Palms, Calif. The Marine Corps Reserve consists mainly of the 4th Marine Division and the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, with headquarters at New Orleans, La., and units scattered throughout the country.
The Marine Corps' familiar eagle, globe, and anchor emblem was adopted in 1868. The corps' motto since 1883 has been Semper Fidelis ("always faithful").
The term Leatherneck referring to a marine comes from the leather stocks or collars worn by marines from 1775 until 1875.
The more recent term Devil Dogs is a translation of the epithet Teufelhunden reportedly applied to the U.S. Marines by the Germans in World War I.
The Marine Corps has recruited under such slogans as "First to Fight," "...a Few Good Men," and "We Don't Promise You a Rose Garden." Career opportunities are comparable to those of the other U.S. armed services. Enlisted pay grades are the same as those of the other services, but there are some differences in rank titles; those of lance corporal and gunnery sergeant, for example, are unique to the Marine Corps. Officer ranks, from second lieutenant through general, are identical to those of the U.S. Army and Air Force. The commandant of the Marine Corps, whose title has been in use since 1798, is a four-star general and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Home