WATCH: Marines’ 246th Birthday Message Reveals Hyperfocus on Amphibious Roots
The Marines are returning to their roots. Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Chad Pulliam. Composite by Coffee or Die Magazine.
The 38th commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. David Berger, has a new message for the Corps’ 246th birthday: Marines are returning to the sea.
Every year, in celebration of the Marine Corps’ Nov. 10 birthday, the commandant releases a birthday message to honor the Marines’ legacy and realign the branch’s sights on the future. This year’s message makes one thing crystal clear: The Marine Corps is preparing for a fight at the water’s edge.
“We earned our reputation as an elite counterinsurgency force, but that remains only part of who we are,” Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Troy Black says in the video message.
“What Marines are, what Marines have always been, is amphibious warfighters,” a narrator adds.
The message also emphasizes that the Corps will keep the infantry as its focus, but it looks like those riflemen can plan on getting wet and sandy. Scenes of Amphibious Combat Vehicles, Combat Rubber Reconnaissance Craft, and soaking-wet Marines emerging from the sea dominate the majority of the five-minute video.
Berger’s 246th-birthday message is clear: No matter the clime or place of America’s next fight, the Marine Corps intends to win.
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Mac Caltrider is a senior staff writer for Coffee or Die Magazine. He served in the US Marine Corps and is a former police officer. Caltrider earned his bachelor’s degree in history and now reads anything he can get his hands on. He is also the creator of Pipes & Pages, a site intended to increase readership among enlisted troops. Caltrider spends most of his time reading, writing, and waging a one-man war against premature hair loss.
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