ABSTRACT
Before 1916, the US Marine Corps’ traditional missions included performing as naval infantry on board ships and naval stations and behaving as colonial infantry guarding American interests in the Caribbean and Far East. United States naval forces had conducted unopposed landings at Santiago, Cuba, and Manila, Philippines (1898), but World War I experiences – in particular the British debacle at Gallipoli – provided strong evidence that an opposed landing could result in untenable losses and even failure. By 1940, however, the Marine Corps had transformed into a Fleet Marine Force, a potent new naval warfighting arm capable of assaulting and defending advance naval bases.
