U.S. Marines Closing Ranks With Special Operations

摘要

After 15 years of keeping its distance, the tradition-oriented U.S. Marine Corps is cooperating more closely with the unconventional U.S. Special Operations Command. The two organizations are stepping up joint training exercises and deploying together more often in combat operations. The Marines have agreed―for the first time ever―to contribute a small unit to the Special Operations Command. The end result, according to some insiders, eventually could be a major Marine organization within special operations, on a par with the Navy's Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) teams or the Army's Special Forces. USSOCOM was formed in 1987 in an effort to improve the military services' ability to perform unconventional and sensitive operations. The new command―headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, Fla.―was to include all special operations forces in the U.S. armed services.