INTRODUCTIO he first organized military forces were understandably armies as the earliest civilizations did not have the technology to fight on surfaces other than the land they occupied making land based warfare their only option With the development of specialized warships war fare moved to the seas with the advent of navies The two forces met in a way with the establishment of marines who first began service as naval infantries ready to attack the opposition residing either on enemy ships or ashore from sea vessels The fol lowing pages will examine the development of marine corps around the world their role in major military engagements and the indi viduals who have helped make them into the extraordinary forces they are today The earliest marine corps were slight variations on naval battalions with marines serving as infantry while in battle but as oars men or in other roles on a ship's crew while at sea Modern marine corps came into being in the 17th century and rose to prominence during the major global conflicts of the 20th century when amphibious warfare became The U S Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington Va at night The memorial designed after a famous photograph depicts members of the United States Marines and Navy raising an American flag on the island of Iwo Jima after their success in this notable battle of World War II Samuel Antonio Flickr Vision Getty Images
INTRODUCTION central to many military campaigns and a strong corps was a fundamental component of a victorious military In fact the most notorious war in the history of western civi lization World War II is believed by many military historians to have been decided in no small part by Germany’s inadequate amphibious capability So what is amphibious warfare Broadly defined it consists of military operations
THE HISTORY OF MARINES AROUND THE WORLD characterized by attacks launched from the sea by naval and landing forces against hos tile shores The main form is the amphibious assault which may be conducted for any of several purposes to serve as a prelude to further combat operations ashore to seize a site required as an advanced naval or air base or to deny the use of the site or area to the enemy Landing of expeditionary forces on a shore or at a port already secured by friendly forces is not usually included in the concept Although ostensibly tied to their respect tive navies marines across the globe today usually operate relatively independently as military forces in their own right In fact despite the name marines are in many ways removed from an explicit connection to the sea While landing operations are still inextricable features of corps marines also regularly go to battle in the air and in land locked battlegrounds Where once ships were the defining marine corps transport modern technology has made it possible to send marines into battle in among other vehicles ramphibious landing crafts tanks helicopters and jets and has even led to occa sionally removing the soldier entirely from confrontation as in the case of unmanned drone aircraft Io
INTRODUCTION In recent years the structure and demo graphics of marine corps around the world have changed drastically compared to the his toric makeup of corps The most noticeable change is perhaps the addition of women over the past century to what was an exclu sively male enterprise since the earliest corps of the Byzantine Empire Women primarily served clerical or other noncombat duties but by the early 21st century they were play ing full roles in all aspects of many marine corps throughout the world Similarly homo sexual individuals were allowed to serve in dozens of marine corps worldwide by the mid 201Os and the number of corps that allow openly homosexual soldiers to serve will surely grow in the approaching years No matter the advance in troop makeup technological innovation or other funda mental changes to marine corps in the future one constant promises to be that their sol diers will be used in every way possible and will continue to prove themselves among the most versatile and tenacious of any fighting force on Earth II
