Forced to be Special

Abstract

For the past five years, there has been heated discussion over whether or not the United States' Marine Corps will integrate a portion of its forces into the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM). On 1 November 2005, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced the creation of a force of approximately 2,600 highly specialized Marines selected to join SOCOM as part of the elite troops available for counterterrorist operations and other missions requiring exceptional skills. The integration of Marines into SOCOM presents the possibility that the Marine Corps will face a possible denigration of the history, traditions, and culture that make The Corps unique from every other military force worldwide. To avoid losing their identity, the Marine Corps and SOCOM leadership need to have a plan to bridge the gap between these two very distinct organizations. The solution should be focused in an effort to ensure that the Marines still maintain their long-standing culture within an organization that has built its own distinctiveness. As the Marine Corps prepares for this integration, will it prepare for a possible decline in the traditional ethos that sets Marines apart from other services?

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 16, 2005
Accession Number
ADA506033

Entities

People

  • S. A. Huesing

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Afghanistan Conflict
  • Antiterrorism
  • Army Rangers
  • Department Of Defense
  • Environment
  • Information Operations
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Organizations
  • Special Forces
  • Special Operations Forces
  • Terrorism
  • Training
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • United States
  • United States Special Operations Command
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Strategic Security Studies