An Elite Infantry
The word “elite” relative to modern military units gets thrown around a lot especially since the unprecedented expansion of special operations forces over the past two decades. In the United States military, SOF are indeed the “elite of the elite,” men and women trained and skilled on a tier well above competence.
But among all these highly specialized units, there is still room for a larger, more conventional force of hard-hitting assault troops. And Marine Corps infantry, in my view, stills fills that niche. It is, arguably, one of the best, if not the best, elite infantry shock forces in the world. Our combat history and our assault tactics testify to that honor. We attack and continue to attack in spite of the odds, the terrain, the casualties, until the objective is taken and the enemy is dead. We have been criticized for our direct methods, our frontal assaults, by those who contend that those tactics are too costly. And yet we have fought this way since World War One and have never lost a battle.
Unlike Army Rangers, we are not airborne. We don’t need to be. We are trained in amphibious assault, air assault, vertical envelopment, and direct ground attack. Our job is to get to the battlefield as rapidly as possible and go into action immediately, sustained by our support arms and air assets. And we do not retreat.
The Marines have typically been described as America’s elite fighting force for many decades. We are not ordinary infantry. We are also not a special operations force. We bring to the battlefield our pulverizing firepower, our espirit de corps, our supreme self-confidence in our fighting abilities and our unshakable faith in our brother Marines, both infantry and those who support us.
Our training is still among the toughest for “conventional” troops. And what we don’t learn in boot camp, infantry training and advanced infantry and weapons training, we learn in the fleet, in our rifle and weapons companies. I believe Marines are still the finest marksmen the United States military turns out.
Our officers come to us from one of the most demanding infantry officer’s courses ever devised. They don’t have Ranger tabs or jump wings or some of the other bells and whistles that are highly prized by our Army brethren, but they’ve proven themselves by earning the title “Officer of Marines.”
So can an infantry unit still be considered “elite” among the glittering array of special operations units so prevalent in Western militaries? Yes. Marine infantry is still unique and elite…and will continue to live up to its glorious battlefield legacy.
Ocoka
The word “elite” relative to modern military units gets thrown around a lot especially since the unprecedented expansion of special operations forces over the past two decades. In the United States military, SOF are indeed the “elite of the elite,” men and women trained and skilled on a tier well above competence.
But among all these highly specialized units, there is still room for a larger, more conventional force of hard-hitting assault troops. And Marine Corps infantry, in my view, stills fills that niche. It is, arguably, one of the best, if not the best, elite infantry shock forces in the world. Our combat history and our assault tactics testify to that honor. We attack and continue to attack in spite of the odds, the terrain, the casualties, until the objective is taken and the enemy is dead. We have been criticized for our direct methods, our frontal assaults, by those who contend that those tactics are too costly. And yet we have fought this way since World War One and have never lost a battle.
Unlike Army Rangers, we are not airborne. We don’t need to be. We are trained in amphibious assault, air assault, vertical envelopment, and direct ground attack. Our job is to get to the battlefield as rapidly as possible and go into action immediately, sustained by our support arms and air assets. And we do not retreat.
The Marines have typically been described as America’s elite fighting force for many decades. We are not ordinary infantry. We are also not a special operations force. We bring to the battlefield our pulverizing firepower, our espirit de corps, our supreme self-confidence in our fighting abilities and our unshakable faith in our brother Marines, both infantry and those who support us.
Our training is still among the toughest for “conventional” troops. And what we don’t learn in boot camp, infantry training and advanced infantry and weapons training, we learn in the fleet, in our rifle and weapons companies. I believe Marines are still the finest marksmen the United States military turns out.
Our officers come to us from one of the most demanding infantry officer’s courses ever devised. They don’t have Ranger tabs or jump wings or some of the other bells and whistles that are highly prized by our Army brethren, but they’ve proven themselves by earning the title “Officer of Marines.”
So can an infantry unit still be considered “elite” among the glittering array of special operations units so prevalent in Western militaries? Yes. Marine infantry is still unique and elite…and will continue to live up to its glorious battlefield legacy.
Ocoka
