If not the Marines, then who?

Every time there's a military money problem, the Big 3 question the need for a Marine Corps. Since they've basically been used lately as conventional infantry who talk funny, it's no wonder.

Roger S. Galbraith* in the Blowback section of the LATimes

*director of public affairs for the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Development Command. The fix is in. Heh.

In this age of sophisticated, cheap anti-ship missiles, I understand why one might question the need to assemble hundreds of ships for an Inchon-style beach assault or thousands of ships for another D-Day. As The Times reported in its June 21 article, "U.S. rethinks a Marine Corps specialty: storming beaches," assaulting a defended beach is seen as a thing of the past. If that is the only perceived mission for the Marine Corps, then why do we even need a Corps?

Our nation — a maritime nation — will always need to be involved with populations and crises across seas. What kind of crises and what kind of crisis response force (CRF, for the purposes of this article) will be required to carry out our nation's interests?

So we have done it. We have created a new crisis response force that economically transports itself over the sea, can provide humanitarian assistance and security, can provide for its own transportation and resupply until more help arrives, and can connect the lowest levels of command in the field with national goals and objectives.

Humanitarian assistance is worthy, but sometimes the door to providing it needs to be kicked in.

For over sixty years that I know of, there have been reinforced Marine infantry battalions on ships at various places in the world, which come and go and change locations with need. I went on two of those 'floats' or 'cruises', called 'deployments' now lest folks think there are buffets and waterslides and lounging in deck chairs in tropical breezes. The only 'tropical breezes' I remember were below deck and you could light them.

Don't worry too much about the Marine Corps. They went through a huge battle for their existence in 1947 and won Congressional legislation as a mandate for them to be. Their mission changes from time to time, but basically they come from the sea and fuck evildoers up.