Siyavush Saidian - Jobs in the U.S. Marine Corps

Published in 2023 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2023 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

Portions of this work were originally authored by Taylor Baldwin Kiland and R. Conrad Stein and published as Careers in the U.S. Marine Corps. All new material in this edition was authored by Siyavush Saidian.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Saidian, Siyavush.
Title: Jobs in the U.S. Marine Corps / Siyavush Saidian.
Description: New York : Rosen Publishing, 2023. | Series: Exploring military careers
| Includes glossary and index.
Identifiers: ISBN 9781499469981 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781499469998 (library bound) |
ISBN 9781499470000 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: United States. Marine Corps--Juvenile literature. | United States.
Marine Corps--Vocational guidance--Juvenile literature.
Classification: LCC VE23.S26 2023 | DDC 359.960973--dc23

Some of the images in this book illustrate individuals who are models. The depictions do not imply actual situations or events.

Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica

CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #CSRYA23. For further information, contact Rosen Publishing, NewYork, New York, at 1-800-237-9932.

CHAPTER 1
THE TIP OF THE SPEAR

CHAPTER 2
MID-CENTURY MARINE ACTION

CHAPTER 3
AS TIMES CHANGE

CHAPTER 4
THE MODERN MARINE CORPS

CHAPTER 5
BECOMING A MARINE

CHAPTER 6
FURTHER TRAINING

CHAPTER 7
JOINING THE MARINECOMMUNITY

CHAPTER 8
A TOUGH, FULFILLING JOB

T he U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) ranks among the worlds most decorated and elite military branches. Marines are often considered the ideal fighters, capable of traveling by air or by sea to do battle under any conditions, anywhere in the world. The USMC has a rich and lengthy history of honorably serving the United States in some of its most challenging and important conflicts. Marines are proud soldiers, eager to support other service branches to get the mission done. There is an old USMC saying, dating back to the late 1800s, that still inspires confidence in todays servicemen and women: The marines have landed and have the situation well in hand.

The modern USMC began in historic Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War.

In 1775, the United States was just beginning its war of independence against Great Britain. The Continental Congress-predecessor of todays Congress-established the Marine Corps on November 10. One month later, at the Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first official marine unit was recruited and formed. It was made up of 100 volunteer soldiers.

November 10 is now celebrated each year as the official Marine Corps birthday.

Using marines as sea-based soldiers was a tradition dating back to the British navy. In sea battles, British marine sharpshooters were asked to climb into the riggings of sailing ships to fire down at sailors on enemy vessels. The sharpshooters took special aim at enemy officers. British marines also disembarked from ships, rowed to enemy shores, and engaged in land warfare. A third duty of British marines was to act as a police force over regular sailors by breaking up potential mutinies. This unpleasant part of their job sometimes created resentment between marines and sailors, which can still be seen in the friendly competition between the USMC and the U.S. Navy today.

On March 3, 1776, the USS Alfred landed a small force of marines on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. At the time, war raged between the former colonies and their mother country, Great Britain. New Providence Island was a British stronghold. After 13 days of combat, the marines overwhelmed the British soldiers on the island while capturing 2 forts and seizing 88 enemy cannons. The ship-to-shore operation at New Providence Island was the first amphibious landing performed by the Marine Corps.

WHAT IS A CORPS, ANYWAY?

Many people are surprised when they see Marine Corps spelled out for the first time, typically because it is pronounced like Marine Core. Coming from French (and even earlier, from Latin), the modern use of the word corps refers to a group within the militaryfor example, the Marine Corps, which makes up its own armed service branch. Though soldiers who join the USMC are called marines, it is often said that they serve in the Corps.

SERVING THE YOUNG UNITED STATES

The United States gained independence from Great Britain in 1783. As an infant nation, it was weak, and foreign powers sought to take advantage of that vulnerability. One such foreign group was the Barbary Pirates, who called North Africa home. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent navy vessels and several hundred marines to North Africa. Led by Lieutenant Presley N. OBannon, they were ordered to subdue the bands of pirates who were attacking American ships. First, the marines had to march 600 miles (965 km) over the scorching North African desert to reach a pirate-held fort in the state of Tripoli. There, OBannon and his men launched a bold attack in 1805. After a harsh battle, the marines defeated the pirates. For the first time ever, the American flag was seen flying above shores on the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Thomas Jefferson, the nations third president, was among the first to use the marines to protect U.S. interests abroad.

However, things did not get easier for the young United States. A new conflict, called the War of 1812, broke out between Great Britain and the United States. In August 1814, Americans suffered a brutal embarrassment when a British army stormed their capital, Washington, D.C., and burned down many of the citys prominent buildings. Poorly trained and poorly equipped U.S. troops fled from battle before the polished, professional British soldiers marched to the capital. Only a small unit of sailors and marines put up real resistance against the British attack, though in the end they failed.

In the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), marines made landings on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Mexico. A marine unit was first to enter the gates of Mexico City. In September 1847, marines hoisted the American flag over the National Palace (later called the Halls of Montezuma) in the Mexican capital.

Throughout the 1850s, the major issue of slavery split the United States into opposing political and economic camps. In October 1859, an extreme antislavery activist named John Brown took over a government arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown and his small band of followers urged slaves to rise up in rebellion and join him at the arsenal. Marines were the first troops to arrive on the scene of this uprising. A marine unit broke into the firehouse the group had turned into a fort and captured John Brown. The marines were led by Colonel Robert E. Lee of the U.S. Army, who would later become the famous commander of the Confederate forces in the Civil War (1861-1865).