The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1917-10-31
Marine Corps History.

bh the land as ON the sea-
Marine Corps History.
Strength OF the Marine corps has
been based TO a great extent upon the
needs Of the state department. II has
been increased from time to time as
the result Of the intimate connection
between the nations foreign policy in
+ d certain particular and che necessary
! work connected herewith.
The Marine corps is the only branch
of our military service whose strength
Ia times of peace has been based
on specific state policy There
las scarcely been a year since the
war Of 0S that large expedtionary
force Of marines has not been sent TO
some revolutionary-ridden country 10
the south Of u.s.
Its mission, in short is to quell such
Instructions, bring about the reign Of
law, order ana good government, there
by denying TO any foreign power the
least possible excuse to violate the
Monroe doctrine, as would surely have
been the case in a number of Instances
had we allowed foreign interests to
suffer during such Instructions.
This evpeditionary work has been
and rs the primary work Of the Ma
rine corps. The results in Panama,
Nicaragua, Cuba, Hayti and San Do
mingo speak of the manner in which
this work was performed.
Second in the matter OF Importance
Of work performed is that required Of
the advanced base force. This force
IS attached to the fleet, and when op-
Grating with it is embarked on spe-
cially constructed transports. II is
essentially "A war unit; Its organization
is complete in big howltzer and field
artillery batteries. machine gun, mine,
engineer and signal units, together
with airplaue service aud infantry sup
ports.
Foree's Special Functions.
The special function Of this force in
time of war and in conjunction with
the fleet is to seize the harbor, fortify
the positions, mine the sea approaches
and defend it as a base from which
the fleet can operate-in just such
manner as occurred at the commence
ment of the war of '9S, when the ma
rines lahGaa at Guantanamo bay,
Cuba, and held it against the superior
forces for base from which the fleet
operated against the enemy in Santi-
ago bay.
The last mentioned Of the three
classes of work performed-that Of the
detachment on board every battleship
in the fleet--is most important. These
fleet marines form a separate division
on board for drill ana battle stations
they man the torpedo defense battery,
perform the guard duty ard form the
advance landing force.
They receive, by reason Of this duty
the necessary sea training to enable
them to live in a restricted space Ga
most necessary military requirement.,
to handle boats and to serve naval
ordnance ashore when necessary. 1t
is the result Of this nautical training
that distinguishes the marine from the
soldier of the army.
The foregoing is an outline of the
general duties of the marines-that in
times of peace they represent the
strong arm Of the state department
in helping to maintain recognized gov
ernments, where insurrectionary at
tempts at their overthrow are the gen
eral rule; that in time of war the corps |
has it's specific work in connection with /
maritime and overseas operations, and |
IN this Instance we have available by /
reason Of their training a force Of vet /
'ran soldiers of the navy for a van
guard to our overseas army that is
now in the making.
The pay Of marines is good, and the
privileges are attractive. Fun infor-
nation as to the nearest place one mag
'nlist will be sent upon application to
.he United States marine corps at
d. c. Recruiting stations
IRE maintained in all Of the principal
'iries, their locations being easily 4
.ound by consulting the telephone di- /
'ectories. Men over five feet five |
nches and between nineteen and thir-
y-five are acceptable.