The United States Marine Corps is an arm of the naval service. It provides the Navy with a force, primarily trained as soldiers, for duty ashore in connection with the operations of the fleet; but its men must also possess certain seagoing qualities which will enable them to serve efficiently as part of the regular complement of the larger naval ships. To carry out the peculiar mission of their corps, both officers and men must be versatile in the extreme.
This versatility can best be illustrated by a simple statement of the distribution of troops. The total strength of the corps is approximately 18,000. Of this number 2,000 are on duty aboard ships of the Navy; 6,000 are serving ashore outside the continental limits of the United States in the West Indies, Nicaragua, Panama, Hawaii, Guam, China, and the Philippines; 1,000 are attached to the Marine Corps air squadrons; and the remainder are at home stations. All recruits are undergoing military training at the recruit depots in Parris Island, South Carolina, and San Diego, California. Men who have been designated for duty aboard naval vessels are attending the Sea School at Norfolk, Virginia, and San Diego, California, where they are pursuing courses in ship's routine, the handling of small boats, and the elements of naval gunnery.
Marine officers are attending a wide variety of schools. All second lieutenants, even those who have graduated from the Naval Academy or distinguished military colleges, must attend the Basic School at Philadelphia. There they receive practical instruction which prepares them for command in the field or service at sea. The value of this early education was recently demonstrated in Nicaragua, where young officers, just out of the Basic School, successfully led their men in minor warfare of the most trying nature. At the Marine Corps Schools in Quantico, Virginia, other officers are pursuing the company and field-officers' courses. Thus within a few years it is hoped that every marine officer below the grade of major will be thoroughly trained to fill the duties of the rank next above his own. Ranking marine officers are attending both the Army and Navy War Colleges and the Army Command and General Staff Schools. Officers of lower rank are among the students in the Infantry School of the Army. The Marine Corps maintains two regiments of artillery, and officers are sent to the Army Artillery Schools so that they may keep us in touch with the latest developments in this important branch of military science. One officer is attending the Cavalry School. In the past it has frequently been necessary to employ mounted marines during operations in such countries as Haiti and Nicaragua, and the Marine Corps must have a few officers to instruct others in the elements of cavalry tactics. For a number of years the Marine Corps has sent officers to the Motor Transport School, developing a highly valuable group of specialists for duty as instructors in our own schools and as staff officers in the field. Our graduates of the Signal Corps School have brought back to us vital information on the subject of communications. The Subsistence School and the Army Industrial College have taught our officers the fine points of the service of supply; and our aviators now attend both the Army and Navy flight schools. Several marine officers are pursuing language courses in China and Japan, and one officer is a student at L'Ecole Superieure de Guerre in France.
The versatility of the enlisted marine was thoroughly tested during the national elections in Nicaragua last fall. The events which led to the landing of marines in that country and the holding of elections under American supervision have been so well aired in the press that I shall not go over them here. However, while much space has been devoted to the more dramatic phases of the Nicaraguan campaign, the tasks performed by our men in connection with the elections have attracted little public attention. They involved nothing more theatrical than hard work, but marked a great advance by Nicaragua toward peace and prosperity.
The first step toward the holding of the Nicaraguan elections was the appointment of Brigadier General Frank R. McCoy, U. S. Army, as special representative of the United States Government in Nicaragua for the purpose of supervising the elections. General McCoy brought with him several assistants, but the bulk of the personnel for more than four hundred polling places had to be provided by the Second Brigade of Marines. This force was augmented by 117 officers and bluejackets who were taken from ships of the Battle Fleet specially for election duty. Rival political parties, who but a short time before had been engaged in the disastrous civil war, agreed that our men could be trusted to administer the details of the election with disinterested honesty. During the summer preceding the elections schools were established in several of the larger cities where our men were given an intensive course in Spanish and the Nicaraguan election laws. This special training was necessary because few marines had ever taken part in such activities. In fact, the last election which marines supervised was held in Haiti many years before, and there were few officers and men in the brigade who even remembered it.
It is worthy of note that in many isolated villages young non-commissioned officers and privates successfully carried out the duties of directors of elections, tellers, and poll guards without any immediate supervision by commissioned officers. It was a supreme test of discipline and loyalty. So well was the work done that even the leaders of the losing party had nothing but praise for the marines.
Since the elections there has been a marked improvement in conditions in Nicaragua. Only a few scattered bands of outlaws remain, and they are no longer a serious menace to the existing government. Our forces have been able to isolate the territory in which they are operating in much the same manner that the sanitary authorities cut off an area where disease is epidemic. The region where outlaws are to be found is almost inaccessible, but our patrols, aided by Marine Corps air squadrons, have prevented any formidable concentration of those still at large. In this difficult task the air squadrons have been of inestimable value. Reconnaissance from the air has greatly reduced the danger of ambushes, and the planes have kept commanding officers in constant touch with their widely separated detachments. Many outposts have been completely supplied by the fliers. Important troop movements have been carried out by transport planes. Seriously wounded men have been rushed to the base hospital by air. It is safe to say that many of these men would have died had they been obliged to endure a long journey over rough trails before receiving surgical attention. Such perfect cooperation from the air has had a distinct effect on the morale of the ground troops. They now have the utmost confidence in the ability of the aviators to give them adequate support. They have developed a new technique by putting into practice many theories involving liaison between ground and air forces which, prior to the Nicaraguan campaign, had never been tested under actual field conditions.
The gradual withdrawal of marines from Nicaragua is now under way, but we cannot completely evacuate the country without leaving behind us some force to maintain the reign of law and order. For this purpose the Guardia Nacional has been organized. Its enlisted personnel is exclusively native, but the commissioned grades are now occupied by officers and non-commissioned officers of the Marine Corps. The commanding officer of this force is a colonel of the marines. The Guardia has already demonstrated its courage and loyalty. Its men have seen hard service alongside our own, and a feeling of mutual respect has grown up between them. Eventually educated Nicaraguans will be trained to command their own troops. Thus, when we leave, the people of Nicaragua will have some assurance that the pacification of their Country will endure.
The organization of the Guardia Nacional in Nicaragua was no mere experiment. In two other Latin republics the Marine Corps has built up similar native forces. Before the marines evacuated Santo Domingo a Guardia Nacional was trained to carry on the work. This force is now entirely in the hands of Dominican officers and for several years has kept the country at peace without foreign assistance. In the early days of the formation of this force our officers had great difficulty in inducing educated Dominicans to accept commissions in the Guardia. We tried to make them believe that we wished only to build up the Guardia so that we might leave the country at the earliest possible time. It was only after years of patient effort that their cooperation was secured. Today Dominican officers wear the same type of sword as our own in honor of the marines who trained them in the profession of arms, and marine officers who have visited the republic report that they were treated as honored guests.
In Haiti our problems have been solved in much the same manner. The Garde d'Haiti now exercises all the functions of army and police force. All marines have been withdrawn from the interior, leaving only two small garrisons at Port au Prince and Cape Haitien. In developing a corps of native officers we had to face the same feeling of distrust which was encountered in Santo Domingo. But we have finally managed to impress them with out sincerity, and today a large number of educated Haitians are serving as officers of their own national guard. The higher ranks are still occupied by marine officers and enlisted men, but several Haitians have advanced to the grade of captain. A military school has been established under the command of a marine officer, but most of the instructors are Haitians who have shown unusual ability. The formation of the native garde and the gradual reduction of the American forces have led the great majority of Haitians to believe our oft-repeated statement that we wish to remain in their country only long enough to develop a force that can maintain internal peace and national security.
Aside from the regiment now stationed in Nicaragua, the largest force of marines on foreign soil is serving in China. During the revolutionary disorders which preceded the formation of a strong national government, it was necessary to keep a brigade in the country. As conditions have become stabilized this force has been reduced, until now we have one regiment in Shanghai and the regular legation guard at Peking. While China was torn by internal strife, many delicate situations developed, but there were no real hostilities between our troops and the Chinese. The tact and forbearance displayed by officers and men won the respect of the people and enabled our government to avoid unpleasant incidents. Before the marines left Tientsin they rebuilt a fallen Chinese bridge which was presented to the people of the city as a monument to good will.
The permanent military forces of the United States are maintained through voluntary enlistment. In our efforts to induce the right type of young Americans to enter the service we must compete with those who are able to hold out promising opportunities in civil life. Therefore we must have something worth while to offer them. Once they are in the service we must induce as many as possible to remain and make it their life work, for a reenlisted man is obviously more valuable than a recruit. A discontented man, or an ambitious man who sees nothing ahead, does not reenlist. Pay, living conditions, and opportunities for advancements have a direct relation to efficiency and morale. Consequently every effort is made to feed men well, house them comfortably, and reward them for faithful service.
In the field and on foreign duty the marine realizes that he must endure certain hardships, but when he returns home he has a right to expect some of the comforts and conveniences enjoyed by his civilian friends. There has been a great improvement in housing conditions in the Marine Corps within the last few years. However, until recently the men stationed at our largest home post, Quantico, Virginia, were living in old, wartime barracks which their builders never intended to stand for more than a few years. Within the last few months three modern, permanent barracks have been completed at Quantico together with a central heating plant. Half of the personnel of the post are now comfortably quartered, and as funds become available the rest will live under the best possible conditions.
However, three meals and a good place to sleep are not sufficient inducements to keep the right type of men in the service. The pay of both officers and men has not kept pace with the rising cost of living, and steps are now being taken toward relieving this condition by means of legislation. The passage of a law which will assure to officers a steady flow of promotion is also being sought, in order that we may retain the services of men of ability who are constantly tempted by opportunities to reenter civil life.
The ambitious man in the ranks is always a problem to his officers. He must never be allowed to feel that he cannot progress, that the service offers no opportunity for advancement. The establishment of the warrant grade has helped to maintain the morale of the older non-commissioned officers by holding out to them an opportunity to reach the pay and allowances of a junior officer. The younger marines can no longer say that they are prevented in any way from advancing to the highest rank. Every year a group of the most promising young enlisted men are sent to the Candidates' School where they are prepared to take the examination for a commission. Others may take courses leading to an appointment to the Naval Academy. Only a comparatively small number can hope to make the grade, but after all how many men who start at the bottom of the business ladder ever land in an executive position? Men who do not intend to remain in the service after their current enlistment are encouraged to prepare themselves for success in civil life. A free correspondence school is maintained for this class and for all others who wish to fill whatever gaps may exist in their early education. Many men now leave the Marine Corps with the equivalent of a high-school education or better. These men always retain their loyalty to the corps. Any number of them have won success in business. The Marine Corps is their "alma mater" where they learned lessons of discipline and thoroughness which enabled them to meet the competition of the outside world.