Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that he had ordered a review of the future role of the Marine Corps amid “anxiety” that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had turned the service into a “second land army.”
So, again we see many questioning the need for a Marine Corps. They uninformed always claim that there has not been another amphibious landing since WW II. This is nonsense and is a prime example of those ignorant of history and espousing their independent political persuasion and their preconceived notions.
The last major amphibious operation was the start of the Afghanistan invasion and then before that was the Gulf War.
Amphibious operations can be classified as follows:
- Amphibious Assault (Afghan, Vietnam, Korea, etc.)
- Amphibious Demonstration or Feint (Gulf War, Vietnam, etc.)
- Amphibious Raid (Gulf War, Mogadishu (NEO Op), Vietnam, etc.)
- Amphibious Withdrawal (Korea, WW II, etc.)
Too soon today’s writers, political pundits and arm chair generals have forgotten the first major amphibious assault into The Republic of Vietnam – Operation Starlite (18-24 Aug 1965). The operation was a combined attack from land and an amphibious assault form naval shipping – Amphibious Squadron 7 and embarked Battalion Landing Team 3/7. This major military operation destroyed the Viet Cong 1st Regiment. Google “Operation Starlite” if you do not want to believe me.
In 1969 alone we had 14 amphibious operations in Vietnam.
We had a major amphibious operation in the Gulf War – the demonstration or feint off Kuwait which tied down 7 Iraqi divisions while the Coalition forces invaded from the south.
The first major attack into Afghanistan was an amphibious operation that landed Marines in Afghan from amphibious ships in the Indian Ocean. Brigadier General James Mattis, newly appointed CENTCOM Commander, was the commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Commander of Task Force 58 during the first major strike in Operation Enduring Freedom in southern Afghanistan. Mattis became the first Marine ever to command a Naval Task Force in combat.
Read Amphibious Assault: Manoeuver from the Sea. This is a British publication that is in most military libraries in America
Some question why Marines go to the US Naval Academy. Mariners come out of all Service academies. Maries are an integral part of the Navy and usually 17% of the graduating USNA class is Marine – percent of all those in the Naval Service.
The Marines have their own “air force” because it is their long range artillery. No armed force in the world, except the British, use close air support like the Marine Corps. The US Air Force and the Navy do not practice CAS and have made many mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan hitting the wrong targets.
Everyone needs to study what a Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) is all about – land-air-log. Then one may learn that the MAGTYF combined arms team, fully self sufficient, is a unique capability that no other country in the world posses.
