A Marine recently insisted that the USMC “are the 1st to go an fight and have been throughout American history”
I’m curious, where is my history of ‘firsts’ wrong:
Current Iraq War – Army 3rd, 82nd & 101st IDs invade at same time as 1st MD.
First Iraq War – Army 82nd ID has DRF in Saudi first.
Panama – Army 5th, 7th & 82nd IDs invade with some Marines.
Grenada – Army 24th & 82nd IDs invade with some Marines.
Vietnam – Army conducts operations in RVN from 1961, Marines after the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964.
Korea – Army 24th ID’ (TF Smith).
World War II – Army in Philippines, Marines in Guam, Navy in Hawaii attacked simultaneously.
World War I – Army 1st ID in October 1917.
(For the sake of space, I’ve left out units < division and single service conflicts, like the Marines in Lebanon or the Army in Mogadishu.)
The claim that Marines are the 'first to fight' is frequent and said in a literal way in this forum. Can anyone support it with facts?
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You are refering to a “motto”. It is a literal translation from a General who ordered the Marines into the Pacific islands. It involves invasions from the sea. The Marines (and Navy Corpsmen) are the first in-then the army comes in and occupies while the Marines move to the next one! USMC 60-68
Go Army!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry I didn’t have the answer you were looking for. You kind of did alot on your own. (way to research)
Support ALL our Troops
Does it really matter? Most americans don’t fight anything, other than going into the military.
USMC, 1967-69.
Marine Force Recon and counter intelligence are often the first boots in country before anything happens and when we know something has the potential to start getting a little hairy. They operate in smaller teams that Army rangers and can remain concealed more easily. They will primarily watch, record and report. Counter intel operatives operate in small teams or alone and report to their chain of command. Both collect intel (information about the enemy) and report back to higher echelon which sends this information to bigwigs and decision makers. The president has complete control of the Marines and can send them into ARMED CONFLICT before we actually declare war on another country without congressional approval. Generally we deploy from the sea where our Navy will transport us to within range of the objective. We have a 24-hour response time and position ourselves around the world, as Marine Detachments (MARDETS) as in Lebanon and Marine Expeditionary Units or MEUs (who probably hit sand by September 15, 2001) so we are often the closest US force to anything that may happen. Once Marines establish a foothold with superior firepower, we move to the next objective and the Army, being an occupational force comes in and sets up shop for the long haul. For example, the Army only came to Mogadishu after Marines had stabilized the situation. The Somalis called us “white-sleeves” because of the way we rolled our sleeves up differed from the Army’s. Many times our presence alone would be enough to stop ambushes and raids on convoys. It was only after we pulled out and left the army there that Mohamed Farrah Aidid started getting froggy again. The Army may be the first wave with superior numbers, but only AFTER war is declared, which is where your research starts to cover things. The air force may do flybys and reconnaissance passes, but I wouldn’t call that fighting. The first shots fired from a handheld weapon will most likely always be fired by a US Marine. Then again, we are trigger happy, blood thirsty, territorial and aggressive, but who better to defend our nation and prevent you from being drafted?
Ooh-Rah!
Actually, the Air Force is usually first in the fight with airstrikes.
Or maybe even some SEALS or Combat Controllers are first in before the ground invasion begins but you arent going to hear about it.
I think the statement is being taken out of context as explained in the first reply.
They are the first to fight, not the first to be on land where the Marines will be fighting..Huge difference..Fighting as in major tough battles are the Marine Corps specialty..Also Marines are on constanst MEU’s floating around every part of the word awaiting for the call..within 24 hours a Marine Corps MEU can be in battle anywhere in the world while other services can not and never will..If we want to get technical then the White House would be the first to fight, wouldnt they? These are facts not my opinion..Semper Fi
Well I don’t have facts, but I can tell you that the Marines do have to “hitch a ride” with other branches of the service because they are mainly ground troops. So they will fly with the Army or sail with the Navy. I think the 1st to fight is about them being the first on the ground in battle. So they might first alongside some army, navy or airforce.
No there not first to fight EXCEPT in a bar, then they are ready to go. The Marines have some great PR, as all branches have their own PR. As you show, the Army generally is first in, the marines come in and clean up, which can be just as bad as first in. Army rangers are generally first in, but there is not written rule. God Bless all the branches, and that includes the Coast Guard for those that don’t know.