Who would have figured, who could have figured, that the few, the proud, the Marines, joined in a bar ? The Continental Army also used bars for recruitment offices.
I am going to the bar tonight, to thank a Marine.
Semper Fi and thanks !
Question. There is a Secretary of the Navy, the Army, the Air Force, but not the Marines, ... if I am correct. They, uh, I hate to use the word fall speaking about Marines, but I think the Marines are represented by the Navy.
I know maryjane served the Marines, then the Navy. I have always wondered why.
Who would have figured, who could have figured, that the few, the proud, the Marines, joined in a bar ? The Continental Army also used bars for recruitment offices.
I am going to the bar tonight, to thank a Marine.
Semper Fi and thanks !
Question. There is a Secretary of the Navy, the Army, the Air Force, but not the Marines, ... if I am correct. They, uh, I hate to use the word fall speaking about Marines, but I think the Marines are represented by the Navy.
I know maryjane served the Marines, then the Navy. I have always wondered why.
Historically, marines serve as a navy’s ground troops. In fact, the word "marine" is the French word for sea, which may be why the French military historically called English troops — who all had to arrive by sea — "marines."
Back in the day, there wasn’t much difference between a sailor and a soldier on a ship. After all, most sea battles ended with the ships tangled together and the crews fighting each other hand to hand. So, if you were on a ship, you had to be able to fight. But you also had to be able to fight once your ship got where it was going.
Italy was the first country to use specially trained sailors as naval infantry. Back in the 1200s, the chief magistrate of Venice put 10 companies of specialized troops on a bunch of ships and sent them off to conquer Byzantium in present-day Greece. That went well for the Italians, so they decided that having marines was a good idea and kept them around, later calling them "sea infantry."
The idea of marines eventually caught on with other naval powers. The Spanish marine corps was founded in 1537 and is the oldest still-active marine corps in the world, while the Netherlands marine corps, founded in 1665, is the second-oldest. But, even today, marines in most countries are specially trained sailors who are part of the navy.
The British Royal Marines, which is what the U.S. Marine Corps was modeled on, were probably the first naval infantry to not actually be sailors. During the 1600-1700s, marine regiments would be formed by taking soldiers from the British Army, and disbanded when they weren’t needed. This practice continued until 1755, when England’s parliament made the Corps of Royal Marines permanent.
When the Continental Marines were founded in 1775, the Continental Congress recognized the importance "that particular care be taken, that no persons be appointed to office, or enlisted into said Battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve to advantage by sea when required."
So, maritime knowledge has always been a critical part of being a marine, but the U.S. Marine Corps hasn’t always been part of the U.S. Navy.
Until 1834, the Marines were an independent service. President Andrew Jackson wanted to make the Corps part of the Army. However, the Marine Corps commandant at the time, Archibald Henderson, had proven that Marines were important in landing party operations, not just ship-to-ship battles, so Congress decided to put the Navy and Marine Corps into one department, forever linking these two "sister services."
Originally posted by cliffw: I know maryjane served the Marines, then the Navy. I have always wondered why.
This, is why. I entered the Marines in '69 and troop strength was over 300,000 Marines. A 4 year enlistment.
When it came time to re-enlist in 1973, the Marines were downsizing because Vietnam was pretty much done with. My last year and 1/2 in the Marines was spent in instructor duty at NAS Millington Tn and it was boring as hell. The Corps offered me a few thousand $$ re-enlistment bonus and... Embassy school and a change of MOS to match it. (Back in the 70s, huge re-enlistment bonuses were almost unheard of outside of nuclear propulsion.) Embassy duty is great for a military resume but there is WAY more to embassy duty than guarding the embassy. I'll just say there is a lot of politics involved, it's 'spit and polish' and dealing with too many civilians from dark sectors of the US Govt.
And I was told, it was pretty much a given I would serve duty at an embassy in either Europe or the Mid East and I desperately wanted to see more of the oceanic world both Caribbean and especially go back to West Pacific. I had zero desire to go to Europe forseveral years, especially not Italy, France or Germany. I politely accepted my honorable discharge from the USMC, enlisted in the US Navy and within a week, I was on a plane that went straight to Guantanamo Bay Cuba, then served in PCola, then went LM2500 gas turbine school and caught a brand new fast tin can in Subic Bay the Philippines...west bound. Home again! The countries were great, the work relatively easy and technically professional but...the Navy itself tho, I found almost insufferable. A more UNdisciplined bunch of drunks and dopeheads you'll never find.
This, is why. I entered the Marines in '69 and troop strength was over 300,000 Marines. A 4 year enlistment.
When it came time to re-enlist in 1973, the Marines were downsizing because Vietnam was pretty much done with. My last year and 1/2 in the Marines was spent in instructor duty at NAS Millington Tn and it was boring as hell. The Corps offered me a few thousand $$ re-enlistment bonus and... Embassy school and a change of MOS to match it. (Back in the 70s, huge re-enlistment bonuses were almost unheard of outside of nuclear propulsion.) Embassy duty is great for a military resume but there is WAY more to embassy duty than guarding the embassy. I'll just say there is a lot of politics involved, it's 'spit and polish' and dealing with too many civilians from dark sectors of the US Govt.
And I was told, it was pretty much a given I would serve duty at an embassy in either Europe or the Mid East and I desperately wanted to see more of the oceanic world both Caribbean and especially go back to West Pacific. I had zero desire to go to Europe forseveral years, especially not Italy, France or Germany. I politely accepted my honorable discharge from the USMC, enlisted in the US Navy and within a week, I was on a plane that went straight to Guantanamo Bay Cuba, then served in PCola, then went LM2500 gas turbine school and caught a brand new fast tin can in Subic Bay the Philippines...west bound. Home again! The countries were great, the work relatively easy and technically professional but...the Navy itself tho, I found almost insufferable. A more UNdisciplined bunch of drunks and dopeheads you'll never find.
That's pretty cool! It was at NAS Pensacola I assume? That would have been in the mid to late 70s then I suppose? It's probably quite a bit different, though a lot still the same. Fort Barancas probably looked just the same, maybe just not as painted, haha. How many total years were you in? Were you able to get the 20 years they need to get a military pension?
It was the Naval Sta side of NAS Pensacola. Where USS Lexington CVS 16 spent her in port time. It has changed a lot, especially after Lex left and a hurricane caused some serious damage back a decade ago. I ran the engine shop (left arrow) that took care of some LCMs and 50 foot utility boats for about8 months, then transferred over to the tugs that brought Lex in and out. (right arrow) The engine shop building is no longer there and there is no training carrier in Pensacola since Navy decided to do all their carrier quals on active service carriers in the Caribbean. That area where Lex and the small craft used to be is now used by the Coasties. My tug was built in 1947. The circular area upper right is the old blimp field of Chevalier Field.The seaplane base and Naval Air museum would be off to the left of where my shop is pictured. I got out of the Navy in '78 when I became a single parent of 4 kids all under 12 yrs old. 9 years total.
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 11-11-2021).]
There are relatively few Marines Security Guards at each embassy, depending where it may be located. They rarely interact with the public, usually aren't even visible from the street and their work is predominantly 'internal' and of a classified nature. By international agreement, all embassies are protected externally by the host nation, then the US Dept of State generally provides a private security company to monitor and restrict physical access to the compound fromnstreet level. The MSGs' job is to provide security for sensitive documents, electronics, and 'other' stuff as well as security for embassy personel.
A common misconception. ...The MSGs' job is to provide security for sensitive documents, electronics, and 'other' stuff as well as security for embassy personel.
There are about 1800 Marines in the MSG program, spread out over about 180 different embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions worldwide. The math speak for itself. There is a Fast Force, officially called an Incident Response Force (Delta type force) which is supposed to quickly augment the internal security force but they are usually at least several hours away. Paul Rand loudly & publicly asked "Where the hell were the Marines?" after ambassador Stevens was killed in Benghazi but at the time of the initial attacks, there were no MSGs assigned there because it was a small and temporary diplomatic outpost that had no high security communications or classified material. There was tho, a CIA contingent. Stevens had already been killed before the small IRF from Tripoli arrived the next morning.
The public misconception comes from days long gone by when large Marine units were posted at places like the US Chinese (Bejing) legation back in the late 1800s and from WW2 days when there were about 100 US Marines stationed at the US embassy in London. That is really when the modern MSG program began, the late 1940s.
Still, the public perception is that all US diplomatic posts and missions world wide are protected by US Marines. The Marines and Dept of State are fine with that. Perceptions alone, accurate or otherwise, 'can' be a deterrent.
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 11-12-2021).]
