Following the war, the Corps endured the same downsizing as the other military services. The hollow shells of just two divisions remained: the 1st at Camp Pendleton, California, and the 2nd at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The year 1950 saw a rapid Marine response to the outbreak of war in Korea. Once President Truman committed ground troops to help the beleaguered South Koreans, Marines were among the first reinforcements to arrive. Unfortunately, after the brilliant landing at Inchon (September 15th, 1950) by Marine and Army forces and the drive to the Yalu River, the Marines settled down to a miserable routine of trench warfare. They spent the next twenty- two months fighting as 'leg' infantry alongside the other UN forces. This misuse of the Marines' unique amphibious capabilities made a deep impression on the leadership of the Corps, who determined it would never happen again. Their response to the problems of Korea was a new organizational doctrine, the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF). The idea was to keep the air, land, and logistical elements of Marine units together, as an integrated team. In this way, Marines on the ground would not have to depend upon the Air Force for close air support (CAS) or the Army for supplies. They would be able to shape their own tactics and doctrine. Half a century later, Marines always go to fight in MAGTFs.
The election of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President brought a new respect for the capabilities of the Marine Corps. Eisenhower and his successors began a tradition of sending highly mobile MAGTFs to trouble spots around the world for pacification, peacekeeping, or plain old-fashioned gunboat diplomacy. Some, like the landing operation in Beirut in 1958, were highly successful. Others, like the 1965 Dominican Republic operation, were widely viewed as repressive mistakes. Direct U.S. military intervention in Vietnam in 1964 began as a series of landings designed to prop up the government of South Vietnam. Marines served in Vietnam from the first to the very last in 1975, usually assigned to the I Corps area in the northern sector of South Vietnam.
For the Corps, the tendency of Presidents to 'send the Marines' simply affirms their 'first to fight' reputation, as well as the inherent flexibility of the MAGTF concept. Willingness to move first and fast, and being ready to do so, is part of the Marine ethos — when you want something done right, give the job to the Corps!
Ribbon Creek: Remaking the Corps
The postwar years were busy for the Marines, as they were often called upon to support U.S. interests overseas. But with the coming of the Cold War, the Corps sought to make itself ready for its part in America's defense mission. Thus, Marines endured atomic battlefield tests in Nevada and began to absorb new equipment and tactics. All of this came from a general view that the Corps was remaking itself into a high-technology force that was ready to fight on the nuclear battlefield. Then came the tragedy at Ribbon Creek. In 1956, a drunken drill instructor at the recruiting depot at Parris Island, South Carolina, marched a group of seventy-four recruits into a tidal swamp called Ribbon Creek. Six of them died. The tragedy led to a total reform of Marine recruit training.
Ribbon Creek brought on a strong Congressional and public reaction. This came from genuine concern for the welfare of individual Marines and the Corps as a whole. Clearly, Americans wanted the Corps to be a reflection of their values and ideals. Several hundred instructors were relieved of duty as a result of investigations into their conduct in training Marines. In addition, Ribbon Creek led to a profound transformation in the way the Corps viewed and trained its recruits. The shift reinforced the attitude that all Marines are brothers or sisters to their fellow Marines. Even today, the memory of Ribbon Creek influences the way new recruits are handled — not with kid gloves, but with respect for their safety and dignity. This too is part of the Marine ethos: to take care of their brother and sister Marines.
From Desert One to Desert Storm
November 1975 found the Corps celebrating its two hundredth birthday…and again fighting for its life in Congress. This time the issues were manpower, and the question of the Marines' capability to fight on modern battlefields. The 1980s and 1990s provided ample proof that they were capable. Meanwhile, two events in this period would have a fundamental effect on the Corps. The first was the failed embassy hostage rescue in Iran, in which Marine helicopter pilots took part. A result of this disaster was a
The election of President Reagan in 1981 led to renewed growth for the Marine Corps, as it did for the other services. Programs like the CH-53E Super Stallion transport helicopter and the AV-8B Harrier II fighter bomber, starved for funding during the Carter Administration, now were fully funded for production. Navy amphibious shipping, which had dropped to only sixty-seven units, was built up as well. The next few years were good ones for the Corps, with a steady influx of new equipment, personnel, and doctrine. Key among these was the development of the Maritime Prepositioning Force, groups of prepositioned ships loaded with equipment and supplies to support a Marine Expeditionary Brigade of 16,500 men in the field for a month. Based at three locations around the world, MPS allows a rapid response to an emerging crisis by a Marine force with serious teeth. The other major development was the creation of the MEU (SOC). Created by General Alfred Gray (the future 29th Commandant), the MEU (SOC) was a response to the terrorism of the 1980s and the need to deal with fast-breaking situations in hours, not days or weeks. It was this force that the Marines took into the last days of the Cold War and the beginning of the New World Order of the 1990s.
When Iraq invaded Kuwait, the 7th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) immediately deployed to Saudi Arabia from its home at Twenty-nine Palms, California. There, at the port of A1 Jubayl, they joined up with the supplies and equipment of the MPS dispatched from Diego Garcia. Some of these supplies even helped to sustain an early arriving brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division. By the start of the ground war, the Marine force ashore had grown to two full divisions, an air wing with over 450 aircraft, and two combat service support groups, totaling over seventy thousand Marines and sailors.
When the ground war began on February 24th, 1991, two divisions of Marines drove north into Kuwait, while other units of the Corps were busy offshore in the Persian Gulf. The combined 4th and 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigades, with seventeen thousand men embarked in thirty-one amphibious ships, threatened an assault on the Kuwaiti coast. This had the effect of freezing seven Iraqi divisions in place, guarding against an invasion that never came. Meanwhile, elements of the 4th MEB, while waiting to play their part in Desert Storm, carried out a daring rescue of the American embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia, in January 1991. Using in-flight refueling, CH-53Es evacuated the entire embassy staff and other civilians from that war-torn city.
It was a very busy time! It still is. Since 1991, Marines have gone wherever American interests were on the line — peacekeeping in Somalia, disaster relief in Florida, riots in California, or rescuing a downed pilot in Bosnia. The key to the Marines' flexibility is a strong sense of their chosen roles and assigned missions. By clearly understanding who they are, where they have been, what they have done, and what they are capable of doing in the future, Marines will remain America's premier shock troops, the 'first to fight.' This is the Marine Ethos.
Forward From the Sea: The Marine Corps Mission
