Tracing the history of U.S. Marine Force and Battalion Reconnaissance from its formation in 1898 through its operations during the Vietnam War (1963-1971), this book provides insight into Force Recon's selection, training and deployment. Emphasis on actions with the South Vietnamese ARVN highlights important lessons for today's Special Forces community, illustrating the inter-service cooperation of Recon operations. Firsthand accounts of Marines who served are included, along with photographs, maps and appendices.

From 1899 until 1945, the United States Marine Corps “Fought Our Country's Battles” in a series of “Small Wars” starting in the Philippines in February 1899 until the end of World War II against the Japanese in the Southwest Pacific. In each of these conflicts, the Marine Corps perfected the prosecution of such wars in its famed “Small Wars Manual” written at the Marine Corps Schools in the late 1930s. This book is a chronological examination of the Marine Corps and the lessons learned in the various expeditions in the Pacific, West Indies, Central America, and in the Southwest Pacific against the Japanese during WWII.

This complete history of the partnership between the Department of State and the U.S. Marine Corps traces the evolving role that Marines have played in conjunction with the Foreign Service. From its formation in 1775, the Corps developed a close working relationship with the diplomatic service of the Continental Congress and later, in 1798, with the newly created United States Department of State. The Marines accompanied U.S. diplomats to France in 1778 and worked closely with the State Department during the Barbary Wars and the opening of China.In 1905, an executive order by Theodore Roosevelt established a Marine Legation Guard, and the Corps played an increasingly important role in embassies across the globe. This relationship was solidified by a 1948 agreement between the State Department and the Department of the Navy, and, in the years that followed, these Marines saw action in revolutions, coups and civil wars, with service in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam War. Today, the war on terrorism highlights this important relationship as Marines guard some of the most dangerous embassies in the world.

This book continues to tell the story of the U.S. Marine Corps' involvement in what were called ""Small Wars"" beginning after World War II with their advisory efforts with the Netherlands Marine Korps (1943-1946); The book is a detailed look at the Marine Corps' Counterinsurgency efforts during the Korean War (1950-1953); the development of vertical assault in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s in Vietnam; Marine Corps Counterinsurgency in Southeast Asia, 1962 thru 1975; involvement in Central America 1983-1989; and the current conflicts including the War on Terror, Operations Iraqi Freedom and 'Enduring Freedom', Libya; U.S. marine Corps force structure, 1980-2015, and a special chapter on marines and War Dogs in combat operations. Based on extensive research and analysis, the book illustrates the Marine Corps' contribution to the current, on-going efforts in the Middle East and Africa in combatting global terrorism.

The planning that allowed for the successful amphibious landings at the end of World War II actually began during the 1880s as the Marine Corps sought to define their role in the new Steel Navy. Over sixty years, officers from the Marines, the Army and the Navy braved skepticism, indifference and outright opposition to develop a credible amphibious warfare doctrine. Each service brought its own contributions to the drawing board - the Marines, experience with Advance Base Force and landing operations; the Navy, research on naval gunnery and ship design; and the Army, work with logistics and engineering.From the 1898 War with Spain through the disastrous 1915 Australian landing to the successful assaults in the Pacific and northwest France in 1945, this chronological history explores the successes and failures pivotal to the concept of amphibious warfare through the lives and careers of fourteen officers instrumental to its development. The profiles include General George S. Patton, Jr.; rear Admiral Walter C. Ansel, USN; Lieutenant John A. Lejeune, USMC; Admiral William Sims, USN; and Colonel Robert W. Huntington, USMC.

Marines in the Korean War Commemorative Series. Discusses the contributions the British Marines and the Korean Marines made to the Allied Forces in the Korean War.

"Train Wreckers and Ghost Killers" discusses the contributions the British Marines and the Korean Marines made to the Allied Forces in the Korean War. In praise of the British Royal Marines that had been attached to his command since mid-November 1950, Major General Oliver P. Smith, Commanding General, 1st Marine Division, wrote that their services in the recently concluded Chosin Reservoir campaign made "a significant contribution to the holding of Hagaru, which was vital to the 1st Marine] Division." General Smith's comments reflected the view held by many Marines, both officers and enlisted, of the fighting abilities of both their British cousins and their Republic of Korea Marine Corps allies. During the three years they fought together on the Korean peninsula, the British, Korean, and U.S. Marines forged bonds that still exist today.