Semper Fi!
Today is the 235th birthday of the Marine Corps. The Corps’ history, writes Frank Hoffman “reveals a track record of rigorous self-evaluation and steady adaptation.” As Hoffman notes, the Marines wrote the manual on irregular warfare in the 1920s, developed the amphibious techniques employed on D-Day, demonstrated the value of “vertical envelopment” in the Pusan Perimeter during the Korean War, and created the mobile-warfare doctrines that helped defeat Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War. As befitting its motto, “First to Fight,” the Marines also established the first conventional
See “The Marines: 235 Years of Individual Valor and Institutional Adaptation,” Foreign Policy Research Institute.
