United States Marine Corps

USMC emblem

* Korean War
* Vietnam War

War on Terror

* Operation Inherent Resolve

Dominion Wars

The **United States Marine Corps** (abbreviated **USMC** & stylized as **U.S.M.C.**) is the United States Military's amphibious combined arms branch. The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. The Marine Corps has been part of the U.S. Department of the Navy since 30 June 1834 with its sister service, the US Navy. The USMC operates installations on land and aboard sea-going amphibious warfare ships around the world.

The USMC traces its origins to two battalions of Continental Marines, formed on 10 November 1775 in Philadelphia as a service branch of infantry troops capable of fighting both at sea and on shore. During World War II, the Marines took the lead in a massive campaign of amphibious warfare, known as island hopping (capturing islands crucial to the Imperial Japanese occupation of Indochina instead of every single island) against the Imperial Japanese Empire.

## Overview

According to the National Security Act of 1947, and Title 10 of the US Code, the three primary areas of responsibility for the Marine Corps are:

* Seizure or defense of advanced naval bases and other land operations to support naval campaigns;
* Development of tactics, technique, and equipment used by amphibious landing forces in coordination with the Army and Air Force; and
* Such other duties as the President or Department of Defense may direct.

The last clause is derived from similar language in the Congressional acts *"For the Better Organization of the Marine Corps"* of 1834, and *"Establishing and Organizing a Marine Corps"* of 1798. In 1951, the House of Representatives' Armed Services Committee called the clause "one of the most important statutory – and traditional – functions of the Marine Corps".

Historically, the Marine Corps was founded to serve as an infantry unit aboard naval vessels and was responsible for the security of the ship and its crew by conducting offensive and defensive combat during boarding actions and defending the ship's officers from mutiny; to the latter end, their quarters on the ship were often strategically positioned between the officers' quarters and the rest of the vessel. In the USMC's infancy, Continental Marines manned raiding parties, both at sea and ashore. America's first amphibious assault landing occurred early in the Revolutionary War on 3 March 1776 as the Marines gained control of Fort Montagu and Fort Nassau, a British ammunition depot and naval port in New Providence, the Bahamas. Since then, the USMC's purpose has significantly expanded.

## Notable members

* Norman M. Smith
* Robert J. Davis
* Miguel E. Bullard
* Arthur K. Lee
* Brian A. Crane (KIA)
* Carl Miller (KIA)
* Charles P. Galvan (KIA)

## Weapons and equipment

### Assault rifles and battle rifles

* M16A2 - Mostly being replaced by M27 in infantry battalions.
* M16A4 - select fire. Safe, semi, burst. Mostly being replaced by M27 in infantry battalions.
* M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle - Support weapon based on the Heckler & Koch HK416 (itself a piston-driven M4) using a free-floating barrel. Initially issued as a replacement for the M249, in 2018 the decision was made to adopt the M27 as the standard USMC assault rifle in infantry battalions.
* MK18 Mod 1 - Modified M4 with 10.3-inch barrel. Used by MARSOC
* M4/M4A1 - Mostly being replaced by M27 in infantry battalions.
* Mk 17 Mod 0 used by MARSOC
* Mk 16 Mod 0 used by MARSOC

### Sub-machineguns & Personal Defense Weapons

* UMP-45
* H&K MP7A1
* Heckler & Koch MP5
* Colt 9mm SMG

### Designated Marksman Rifles

* M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle - Improved marksman version of the M14 rifle.
* Mk 12 Mod 1 - Improved marksman version of the M16 rifle.
* M38 Designated Marksman Rifle - Modified M27 IAR fielded as a marksman rifle

### Sniper rifles

* Lee-Enfield MK.IV
* Mk 13 mod 7 - .300 Winchester Magnum chambered sniper rifle built on Accuracy International Chassis System with Remington 700 long action.
* Mk 11 Mod 0 - 7.62×51mm sniper rifle based on the M16 direct impingement gas system.
* M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System - Improved version of the Mk 11, replacing the M39 and Mk 11.
* M40 rifle - M40A3, M40A5 and M40A6 variants in use as sniper rifles.
* Barrett 50 Cal/M82/M107 - in use as the M82A3 and M107 variants. The M82A3 being an upgraded M82A1A, and the M107 being a variant made in response to requirements issued for an anti-materiel rifle.
* M21 - modified M14 rifle

### Shotguns

* Remington 870
* M1014
* Mossberg 590A1

### Machineguns

* M2HB - heavy machine gun chambered in .50 BMG used primarily as a secondary weapon on the M1 Abrams and other vehicles.
* M240G - 7.62×51mm medium machine gun used by infantry and in the M1 Abrams, light vehicles, and helicopters.
* Mk48 Mod 1 - 7.62×51mm light machine gun, used by US MARSOC.
* M249E4 - 5.56×45mm light machine gun, infantry support weapon. Not replaced, but being supplanted by the M27 IAR.

### Launchers

* Bazooka
* SMAW
* M136 AT4
* FIM-92 Stinger
* FGM-148 Javelin