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By Root 1315 0

the Marine Corps (attempts at which have been made more than a dozen times during their history)—Marines ceaselessly push themselves to prove not only their relevancy, but their necessity. They pride themselves on their potency while always maintaining a culture of resourcefulness and frugality—doing “more with less”—ever innovative and willing to improvise. Marines feel that they exist not only because they are needed, but because America wants a U.S. Marine Corps. Harshly self-critical—almost to a fault—they live to adapt, to change, to never lie static, and always be not just ready, but ultraprepared and outfitted to defeat any threat America may face.

In the earliest days of the Continental Navy and Marine Corps, Marine and Navy commanders were tasked with carrying the will of the nation to destinations where they would fight incommunicado from their higher commanders, instilling out of necessity not only a lineage of independence, but a confidence in action to bolster that independence, as well as an ever-heightened sense of loyalty. While Marine commanders far from home have altered specific mission plans countless times during military expeditions—unknown to their superiors back in the United States until their return—Marines act solely for the success of the operation. Regardless of where on the planet a problem has arisen, U.S. presidents have always been able to maintain the highest levels of confidence in a mission’s success upon commanding: “Send in the Marines.”

Although historically a ship-based force, the U.S. Marine Corps of today can best be described as a compact and adaptable mobile military. Not just a small army with a proportionally sized supporting air force wrapped into and backed up by the world’s most powerful navy, the Marine Corps distinguishes itself through its synergy, an ethos-charged synergy of elements diverse in capabilities, but unified in mind-set—a mind-set ever evolving but always revolving about one component: Marine infantry. And those Marine infantry today can deploy by sea—on large ships, thunderous hovercraft, inside brusquely armed amphibious assault vehicles, or strapped to high-speed landing craft; by air—from ship-based helicopters, around the world on Marine Corps C-130J Hercules, even by parachute; and overland—in rumbling convoys of “7-Ton” troop carriers, speeding across a desert in a line of Humvees, tucked inside amphibious armored personnel carriers, light armored vehicles, or M1A1 Abrams tanks. With so many ways to move about the planet, the modern Marine Corps can simultaneously sustain numerous small- and medium-size campaigns while continuing to support large-theater efforts—throughout the entire globe.

Masters of light infantry maneuver warfare at all scales, the Marine Corps has at its disposal a full spectrum of weapons systems—60 mm and 81 mm mortars, vehicle-mounted TOW missiles, handheld SMAW and AT4 rocket launchers, 155mm howitzers, and M1A1 Abrams tanks, to name a few. Marine infantry must learn to fire and maintain with utmost precision such weapons as the tried-and-true “Ma Deuce” M2 .50-caliber machine gun, the MK19 40 mm automatic grenade launcher, the man-portable and devastating M240 light machine gun, and the M249 SAW (squad automatic weapon), which, chambered in 5.56 mm, is lightweight but lethal in the hands of a Marine.

In the skies above grunts on the move, USMC aviation ranks second to none in laying waste to enemies in close proximity to Marine infantry—a mission known as close air support. Utilizing both helicopter (rotary wing) assets that today include the AH-1W Super Cobra and the UH-1N Iroquois “Huey” and tactical air or TACAIR platforms—fixed-wing F/A-18 Hornets, both the single-seat and two-place versions, and the legendary AV-8B Harrier, one of the world’s most unique and versatile aircraft, capable of vertical/short takeoffs and landings, Marine aviators have time and again annihilated enemy positions in support of their on-the-ground brethren with gun runs, bombing strikes, guided missiles, and screaming volleys of rockets. Marine