Question: What kinds of operations did John W. "Jack" Eskridge perform when he joined the United States Marine Corps?
Context: Donald Nathan Aldrich (24 October 1917 – 3 May 1947) was a United States Marine Corps Reserve captain and World War II flying ace.  With 20 victories, Aldrich was the fifth-highest-scoring Marine Corps ace of the war.  He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force after the United States Army Air Corps refused him because he was married.  Aldrich became an instructor pilot and transferred to the United States Marine Corps in late 1942.  He joined VMF-215 in the Solomon Islands campaign in June 1943, flying the Vought F4U Corsair.  Aldrich added to his 20 victories in three combat tours with six probables, the highest total number of probables in the Marine Corps.  Postwar, Aldrich continued to serve in the Marine Corps and was killed in a 1947 plane crash. The Royal Thai Marine Corps (Thai: นาวิกโยธินแห่งราชอาณาจักรไทย) are the marines of the Royal Thai Navy.  The Royal Thai Marine Corps was founded in 1932, when the first battalion was formed with the assistance of the United States Marine Corps.  It was expanded to a regiment in 1940 and was in action against communist guerrillas throughout the 1950s and 1960s.  During the 1960s the United States Marine Corps assisted in its expansion into a brigade.  The Royal Thai Marine Corps saw action on the Malaysian border in the 1970s, and has now been increased to two brigades. The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also known as the United States Marines, is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting amphibious operations with the United States Navy.  The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the four armed service branches in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. 3d Light Antiaircraft Missile Battalion (3d LAAM Bn) was a United States Marine Corps air defense unit equipped with the medium range surface-to-air MIM-23 HAWK Missile System.  During World War II, the battalion was known as the 3rd Defense Battalion and took part in combat operations at Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guadalcanal and Bougainville.  The unit was deactivated in late 1944 but was brought back into service as the Marine Corps began to transition to surface to air missiles for their air defense needs in the early 1950s.  During the mid to late 1950s, the battalion was based at Marine Corps Training Center 29 Palms, California and was one of two Marine Corps units that operated the land-based version of the RIM-2 Terrier Missile.  In January 1963 3d LAAM battalion was moved to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina and would eventually fall under the command of Marine Air Control Group 28 (MACG-28) and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (2nd MAW).  3d LAAM Battalion's final combat tour saw it providing air defense for the Marine Corps area of operations during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.  3d LAAM Battalion was deactivated on 30 September 1994 as part of the post-Cold War draw down of forces and because the Marine Corps had made the decision to divest itself of its medium-range air defense. The Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) is normally the highest-ranking officer in the United States Marine Corps and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  The CMC reports directly to the United States Secretary of the Navy and is responsible for ensuring the organization, policy, plans, and programs for the Marine Corps as well as advising the President, the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the Secretary of the Navy on matters involving the Marine Corps.  Under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, the CMC designates Marine personnel and resources to the commanders of Unified Combatant Commands.  The Commandant performs all other functions prescribed in Section 5043 in Title 10 of the United States Code or delegates those duties and responsibilities to other officers in his administration in his name.  As with the other joint chiefs, the Commandant is an administrative position and has no operational command authority over United States Marine Corps forces. John W. "Jack" Eskridge (January 21, 1924 – February 11, 2013) was a professional basketball player who spent one season in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) as a member of the Chicago Stags and the Indianapolis Jets (1948–49).  Eskridge was born on January 21, 1924 in Independence, Missouri.  He attended William Chrisman High School where he played on the school's basketball team.  After graduating high school he began attending Graceland University where he played on the football and basketball teams.  He was later inducted into the college's athletic hall of fame.  He joined the United States Marine Corps during World War II where he served in the Pacific Theater.  After Eskridge was relieved of duty he started attending the University of Kansas and played on the school's basketball team.  Once his professional playing career was over he coached the Atchison High School (Kansas) basketball team to win a state championship before he joined the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team as their equipment manager and assistant coach under "Phog" Allen from 1954–59.  During his tenure, he recruited Wilt Chamberlain.  In 1959, he joined the Dallas Cowboys football team as their equipment manager.  He was credited with designing the Cowboys' star logo. 2d Light Antiaircraft Missile Battalion (2d LAAM Bn) was a United States Marine Corps air defense unit equipped with the medium range surface-to-air MIM-23 HAWK Missile System.  2nd LAAM was based at Chu Lai during the Vietnam War and was responsible for providing air defense for the Marine Corps in the northern part of the I Corps sector.  After Vietnam, the battalion was based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona and fell under the command of Marine Air Control Group 38 (MACG-38) and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (3rd MAW).  2d LAAM Battalion's last combat tour saw it providing air defense for the Marine Corps area of operations during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.  2d LAAM Battalion was deactivated on 1 September 1994 as part of the post-Cold War draw down of forces and because the Marine Corps had made the decision to divest itself of its medium-range air defense.  The battalions personnel and equipment were transferred to 1st Light Antiaircraft Missile Battalion (1st LAAM). Marines, also known as a marine corps or naval infantry, are typically an infantry force that specializes in the support of naval and army operations at sea and on land, as well as the execution of their own operations.  In the majority of countries, the marine force is part of the navy, but it can also be under the army like the "Troupes de marine" (French Marines) and "Givati Brigade" (Israeli Marines), or form an independent service branch like the United States Marine Corps (although the United States Marine Corps is under the United States Department of the Navy). United States Marine Corps Recruit Training (commonly known as "boot camp") is a 12-week program of initial training that each recruit must successfully complete in order to serve in the United States Marine Corps.  All enlisted individuals entering the Marine Corps, regardless of eventual active or reserve duty status, will undergo recruit training at one of the two Marine Corps Recruit Depots (MCRD): Parris Island, South Carolina, or San Diego, California.  Male recruits from the 8th, 9th and 12th recruiting districts (areas west of the Mississippi River except Louisiana, and including parts of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan) are sent to MCRD San Diego.  All recruits from the 1st, 4th and 6th recruiting districts and all female recruits are sent to Parris Island.  Those desiring to become officers attend training at Officer Candidates School at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. The U.S. Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command (abbreviated as MARFORCYBER) is a functional formation of the United States Marine Corps to protect critical infrastructure from cyberattack.  Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command is the Marine Corps component to U.S. Cyber Command.  It comprises a command element, the Marine Corps Cyber Operations Group, and a company from the Marine Corps Cryptologic Support Battalion (MCSB), a total of approximately 800 personnel.  MARFORCYBER was established on January 21, 2010 under the command of LtGen George J. Flynn, and as of September 8, 2015, it is commanded by MGen Loretta E. Reynolds.
Answer: The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also known as the United States Marines, is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting amphibious operations with the United States Navy.