Abstract

Marine Corps Takes A Thumping

Among career members of the U.S. Marine Corps, combat is accepted as a trade. The Corps itself is geared to immediate war. It trains on the theory that it may have to go to war today and that recruits now in the pipeline may be tomorrow's casualty replacements. As a result, and aside from the single mission Strategic Air Command, the Marine Corps exists to day as the nation's only combat- ready force-three self-contained infantry divisions and three tactical air wings for the close support of ground troops. To maintain this state of constant readiness, the Corps demands that the recruit depots at Parris Island, South Carolina and San Diego, California turn out physically fit, tautly disciplined men on a swift mass-production basis. The sole function of these depots is to teach discipline and to introduce the new marine to his basic weapon, the rifle. Real combat training is carried out elsewhere.