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 really hard look at joint warfare, leading to the Goldwater-Nichols reform act of 1986. The second was the creation of the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF) for use in the Middle East. First commanded by Lieutenant General Paul X. Kelley (the future 28th Commandant), it was not very rapid, could not deploy, and was not much of a force. But it was a step on the road to the creation of the U.S. Central Command — the force that would later emerge victorious in Desert Storm.
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
Book IV of Julius Caesar's War Commentaries describes his amphibious invasion of Britain with two Roman Legions in 55 B.C. The details would be familiar to any Marine who has ever hit a beach. Though Marines are capable of conducting many other missions, storming ashore is the role most associated with the Corps. These include guarding U.S. embassies and diplomatic personnel overseas, helicopter transportation for the President and senior Administration leaders, and security for "special" (i.e., nuclear) weapons and their storage sites. Marines have also excelled in peacekeeping operations in Somalia and Haiti, riot control in Los Angeles, security operations at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and disaster relief almost anywhere an earthquake, hurricane, or other natural catastrophe strikes. Finally, just ask Marines themselves what they think their mission is. I can guarantee that they will give you an icy look, square their shoulders, and respectfully tell you that they are riflemen, first and last, whatever their actual job specialty. Keep that in mind as we look at the real roles and missions of the Corps that follow.
All the missions we mentioned above are surely important, but going over enemy shorelines and winning battles is what defines the mission of the Marine Corps today. Following the end of the Cold War and Desert Storm in the early 1990s, the Navy published a white paper called From the Sea, which redefined American seapower for the 21st century. From the Sea, and a revised edition called Forward…From the Sea, have been controversial. The Navy has backed away from its traditional "blue water" combat role,[7] now that the Soviet naval threat has, in effect, disappeared. With no real blue-water threat on the horizon, Navy leaders see the roles and missions of the sea services increasingly tied to operations in the "littoral" or coastal zones of the world. Littoral zones in the Middle East, Indian Ocean, and Asia probably offer the highest likelihood of conflict in the coming years. The majority of the world's population centers are within these areas, along with vast industrial, energy, and mineral resources. Since the end of World War II, most of the U.S. Navy's operations have taken place in littoral areas, notably the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Tonkin, and the Mediterranean Sea.
7
Note, "Blue water" is generally understood to mean naval operations on. above, or under the ocean, beyond the continental shelf, which is nominally defined as the 200-fathom (1200-foot/600-meter) depth-contour line. "Blue water" may also be viewed as ocean areas beyond the direct influence of enemy land-based airpower.