The Marines provide a scalable tailored force in readiness that can be landed in any scenario across the ROMO. And it is far more agreeable in crisis response situations to land forces from amphibs, perform their mission, then LEAVE than it is to airlift in heavy Army forces, build contractor manned base camps, etc.

I knew a guy who did testing on the EFV. Had the water speed but all the transforming it had to do to go from water to land mode was pretty complicated plus it had this huge engine in the middle of the passenger compartment so couldn't carry more than a fire team. Hoping to get there some day but maybe a bridge too…

South Korean Marines and Indonesian Marines use the AAV-7 just like the USMC.

E.g. After the Haiti earthquake and the airport was destroyed the MEU and HSV were the only things bringing in supplies over the beach while everyone else sat on their thumbs.

Used to be parked by the 101 freeway when I was a kid. Wonder where it is now.

It’s because of these guys!

Good name recognition. Small Corps/even smaller community. Says something about his leadership that as a LtCol he literally led the charge.

Is that you Mike Sparks? Is this me?

You haven't read any of his other posts then.

Kind of like this soldier?

Wingers call them lawn darts, Scareriers, FOD vacuums etc but in the end we do love our aircraft even if people call them widow makers etc. The Marines single minded devotion to acquiring first the AV8 and now the F-35B all goes back to justifying the Corps’ amphibious mission and requirements.

Chocks and chains being dragged over what felt like my face since I had the top rack facing the overhead.

HMX pilots fondly remember the Reagan era as he would always invite them to watch movies with him at Camp David.

I recall reading somewhere that Roddenberry based the Klingons on the Soviets and the Romulans on the PRC as a reflection of the Cold War era. Their ship designs are part of that - Federation/NATO = ship of components joined together. Klingons/USSR = tiny leadership in front of proletariat. Romulans/Red China = one…

Um...right. That’s not how respect works - at least not in the military which it seems you’ve never actually served in? Can you post links to your published works and articles? Your CV?

LPD-6 USS Duluth. I think at the time had CIWS but that was it. Hell the LPH Brokinawa still had open tub deck guns - can't remember either 3 or 5 inch guns.

When I was on an old LPD -all they had for air defense was the MEU LAAD guys on deck with Stingers. Maybe they were even Redeyes? I'm old...

Recently read an American Rifleman article that said it’s ok to use the terms interchangeably as early documents regarding magazine fed weapons made no distinction.

Doubtful? I think I know where I worked. Where were you serving and why would the Marines care about what you thought about anything? If we wanted any crap out of you we would have squeezed your head. JK! not...

I have. One of the last West Pacs to stop there when it was still a US base. The Filipinos kicked us out of there and Clark AFB and more power to them. Of course they are now inviting us to come back more thanks to the PRC island building of their coast. We won’t be calling them US bases though we’re just visiting!