Use Of Raider Moniker For Modern Special Ops Marines Was Hotly Contested Internally

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated Jun 5, 2018 4:54 PM EDT

When the U.S. Marine Corps established its special operations component in 2006, the new Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, or MARSOC, immediately wanted to create a link between itself and the Marine Raiders, a storied, specialized commando force from World War II. But military forces are, as a general rule, steeped in history and lore with complex and often pedantic rules and regulations to uphold those traditions and the honors that come along with them and new documents show the service’s own historians were vehemently opposed to the idea.

In August 2014 , then Commandant of the Marine Corps General James Amos announced he had finally approved the decision to rename all of the units under Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, or MARSOC, as Marine Raiders. The Marine Special Operations Battalions became Marine Raider Battalions, for example, while the Marine Special Operations Regiment turned into the Marine Raider Regiment. The original Marine Raiders came into existence in 1942 to support operations against the Japanese during World War II, before becoming the 4th Marine Regiment in 1944.

“MARSOC is the modern-day embodiment of the Marine Raiders of World War II,” U.S. Marine Corps Captain Barry Morris, then a spokesman for the command, said in a statement at the time, according to Marine Corps Times . “We feel we owe it to those Marine Raiders still alive and their families to make every attempt” to maintain their legacy.

Behind closed, doors, however, at least two official Marine Corps historians – including one from MARSOC’s own history office – had been apoplectic about the name change. They registered their complaints in writing, which we at The War Zone only recently obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request that dates back to 2015. Censors redacted both individuals’ names for privacy reasons.

A Marine Raider, at left, together with other U.S. and foreign special operators forces during a demonstration as part of the annual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in May 2018., USAF

“MARSOC claims to the Raider title are based on a perceived legacy that is largely mythological,” the command’s historian wrote in an information paper dated June 2, 2014. “MARSOC has no claim to the Raiders’ lineage and honors, which are currently held by organizations that were formed directly from the original Raider battalions.”

To rewind quickly, the World War II-era Marine Raiders themselves have almost as much claim to controversy as combat achievements. Formed just over two months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt had personally ordered the Marines to create the specialized units over the service’s not inconsequential protests.

A Marine Raider in a dive tank gestures to a civilian wearing a Raider-themed t-shirt during a public demonstration., USMC

U.S. Army Colonel William “Wild Bill” Donovan , then in charge of the clandestine Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and who became the chief post-war architect of the Central Intelligence Agency , and U.S. Marine Corps Major Evans Carlson , were both instrumental in the Raider proposal. Carlson was a veteran of the “ Punitive Expedition ” to kill or capture Mexican rebel Pancho Villa and one of the numerous American interventions in Nicaragua . He had gone on to serve in China, where he closely studied the tactics of Communist forces fighting the Japanese in the 1930s.

Donovan and Carlson strongly believed there was a unique value in crafting small raiding parties to harass the enemy behind the front lines, forcing them to divert resources to handle the incursions and protect key locations. U.S. Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz, who became head of the Pacific Fleet immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack, was also eager to get “commando” units to attack lightly defended Japanese island outposts.

U.S. Marine Corps Major Evans Carlson., USMC

Between 1942 and 1944, the Marine Raiders, which eventually consisted of four full battalions organized into a single regiment, were a key part of operations, particularly during the island-hopping campaigns across the Central Pacific. They also became well known for experimenting with new fighting doctrine and tactics, as well as weapons and equipment, including camouflage uniforms .

But despite the success of the Raiders, Carlson proved to be a divisive figure within the Marine Corps. He had active connections with Communist and Leftist groups, which he had established to solicit aid for China in its fight against the Japanese.

Marine Raiders at Bougainville in the Solomon Islands in January 1944, shortly before the Marines renamed the units as elements of the 4th Marine Regiment., NARA

The Marine Corps Major had brought the service’s now widely known mantra “ Gung Ho ” back from China, where Communist insurgents rallied under the slogan “ gōnghé ,” which literally translates to “work together.” He espoused lessons inspired in no small part by what he had seen in his travels with Mao Tse Tung and Zhou Enlai.

The Marine officer also imparted a concept of “ ethical indoctrination ” on units under his command, which emphasized the role of non-commissioned officers in helping commissioned officers. The Marine Corps saw this in part as encouraging lower ranking personnel to question superiors and their orders. For the service’s senior leadership, the Raiders represented an organization within an organization, which they found almost completely antithetical to their own experience.

The insignia of the modern day Marine Raider Regiment, at left, which features the Chinese characters for “ gōnghé,” and the original World War II insignia, at right., USMC/Wikimedia

“The Marine Corps has always felt that its infantry elements are essentially raiders and that the Pacific conditions are different from the European which resulted in the establishment of commandos,” the Pacific Section of the War Plans Division within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations explained in a memo in 1943. “It would like to end its raider program so as to make all infantry organizations uniform and to avoid setting up some organizations as elite or selected troops.”

In 1944, the service won out, transforming the Raiders into the 4th Marine Regiment. Carlson died in 1947, escaping what would almost certainly have been serious post-war scrutiny over his leftist activities.

Though the Marine Raiders have become a fixture in popular culture since World War II, the Marine Corps’ mixture of ambivalence and open hostility to the organization never really went away. The Marines rejected MARSOC’s request to use the name in 2006 and again in 2011. Before then, the service had fought against the idea of sending personnel off to form its own dedicated special operations entity for decades , arguing that its units were already “ special operations capable ,” essentially the same logic it had used to oppose the Raiders.

Members of Marine Corps Special Operations Command Detachment One, the predecessor to Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, circa 2003., Patrick J. Rogers via USMC

“Your allegiance, your loyalty … is to the Marine Corps, based on the title you have on your uniform,” Amos reportedly told a gathering of other generals in 2011. “He made it clear that the tie, the connection to our past is absolutely important to him, but we’re not going to name a unit by some naming convention – any unit in the Marine Corps – because we’re Marines first,” Brigadier General David Berger, director of operations at Marine Corps headquarters, told Marine Corps Times after that event.

MARSOC’s historian went so far as to cite the 1943 War Plans Division memo detailing opposition to the original Raiders in explaining their own reticence to the idea. They also reiterated that the Raider legacy already lived on in the Marine Corps, with the 4th Marine Regiment.

“The Raider name went away, but these Marines fought on under the Fourth Marines’ colors,” they noted. “I have studied, taught, and written history for three decades, and while I am familiar with the battles they fought in, I have never encountered the glamorization of the Raiders that one encounters at MARSOC. Frankly, it is based on a misinterpretation of history that is so far-fetched it borders on fabrication.”

“Discussions with younger Staff Noncommissioned Officers reveal that they believe the Raider tradition has been passed on to MARSOC through the Reconnaissance community,” they continued. “However, I can find nothing to substantiate this claim beyond word of mouth/social media examples.”

Marine Raiders train with AK-type rifles during a foreign weapon familiarization course., USMC

This individual got another jab in at other units already using the “Raider” name without official sanction. In these cases, it appeared to be linked to the Marine Corps’ use of the term “raid” for various types of operations. Marine Expeditionary Units now train to employ so-called “ Maritime Raid Forces ” for limited missions, such as boarding ships at sea or securing objectives ashore.

“I should add that MARSOC is not the only Marine Corps organization currently claiming the Raider title – it seems to have come into common use among Marine Expeditionary Unit companies trained to perform small boat operations,” the historian wrote, suggesting they were talking about one of these elements. “A video posted on You Tube [sic] depicts one unit using the title “Blackfoot Raiders.” Having lived in Montana, I can assure you that the Blackfeet did indeed conduct raids – but mounted on horses, not in rubber boats.”

The video below is very likely the one the MARSOC historian was referring to in their information paper.

The second document we obtained, which is undated, but appears to have come after the decision to change the names within MARSOC, makes many of the same arguments about the 4th Marines’ history. This second individual, a member of the service’s central History Division, also brought up how this would create a problem from the well-established, if obtuse rules about how honors get passed from one unit to another.

“Lineage and honors cannot be shared by two units, nor can lineage and honors be arbitrarily changed,” they declared. “The Fourth Marines have far more than a tenous [sic; tenuous] “claim” on the lineage and honors of the World War II Raider battalions. The MCBUL [Marine Corps Bulletin] 5400, released in January 2015, which ordered the redesignation of the MARSOC units, also states that the lineage and honors will remain with the 4th Marines.”

This last part is both true and notable. When Amos finally gave in, after substantial pressure from private groups such as the Marine Raider Association & Foundation , he approved the name change, but made clear that 4th Marines still “own” the historical achievements of the World War II Raiders.

The two historians do differ in their conclusions. The individual at MARSOC continued to push against renaming the special operations elements as “Raiders,” arguing “that the title Marine is sufficient to mark this Command as unique in Special Operations.”

Marine Raiders train to operate all-terrain vehicles., USMC

The record from the Marine Corps History Division ultimately cedes the argument given that Amos had already made his decision. “One can certainly appreciate the desire by Marine Corps leadership to pay homage to the Raiders of World War II,” they wrote.

“One can also understand the desire to keep that storied name alive, and part of the Marine Corps lexicon, a name that has come to symbolize hard training and hard fighting,” it continues. “With the redesignation of the MARSOC units, that desire has been fulfilled.”

Since then, the new Marine Raiders have joined other U.S. special operations forces in important missions around the world, including in Iraq, Syria , and Afghanistan . We don’t know whether MARSOC’s history office still thinks the name change was the wrong decision, but they’re undoubtedly focused more on documenting the new achievements of the modern Raider Battalions.

Contact the author: jtrevithickpr@gmail.com

Comments couldn’t be loaded. Please refresh the page.

作者：约瑟夫·特雷维西克

更新于美国东部时间2018年6月5日下午4:54

2006年，美国海军陆战队成立特种作战部队——海军陆战队特种作战司令部（MARSOC）时，立即希望与二战时期一支历史悠久的特种突击队——海军陆战队突袭队建立联系。然而，一般来说，军队都深受历史和传统的影响，并制定了复杂且往往繁琐的规章制度来维护这些传统及其带来的荣誉。最新文件显示，海军陆战队自己的历史学家也强烈反对这一想法。

2014年8月，时任海军陆战队司令詹姆斯·阿莫斯将军宣布，他最终批准了将海军陆战队特种作战司令部（MARSOC）下属所有部队更名为“海军陆战队突袭队”的决定。例如，海军陆战队特种作战营更名为海军陆战队突袭营，海军陆战队特种作战团更名为海军陆战队突袭团。最初的海军陆战队突袭队成立于1942年，旨在支援二战期间对日作战，后于1944年改编为海军陆战队第四团。

据《海军陆战队时报》报道，时任海军陆战队特种作战司令部发言人的美国海军陆战队上尉巴里·莫里斯当时在一份声明中表示：“海军陆战队特种作战司令部是二战时期海军陆战队突袭队的现代化身。我们感到有责任尽一切努力”来传承那些仍然健在的海军陆战队突袭队员及其家人的精神。

然而，私下里，至少有两位海军陆战队官方历史学家——其中一位来自海军陆战队特种作战司令部（MARSOC）的历史办公室——对更名一事极为不满。他们以书面形式表达了抗议，而我们“战区”（The War Zone）网站直到最近才通过《信息自由法》申请获得了这些文件，其历史可以追溯到2015年。出于隐私考虑，审查人员隐去了这两位历史学家的姓名。

2018年5月，在一年一度的特种作战部队工业大会上，一名海军陆战队突袭队员（左）与其他美国和外国特种作战部队成员一起进行演示。（美国空军）

“MARSOC对突袭者称号的主张是基于一种很大程度上带有神话色彩的认知传承，”该司令部的历史学家在2014年6月2日的一份信息文件中写道。“MARSOC对突袭者的传统和荣誉没有任何所有权，这些传统和荣誉目前由直接从最初的突袭者营发展而来的组织所拥有。”

简单回顾一下，二战时期的海军陆战队突袭队本身就极具争议，几乎与他们的作战战绩不相上下。这支特种部队成立于日本偷袭珍珠港两个多月后，当时富兰克林·罗斯福总统亲自下令海军陆战队组建，尽管海军陆战队内部对此提出了不少反对意见。

一名身穿突袭者主题T恤的美国海军陆战队突袭队员在潜水舱内向一名身穿突袭者主题T恤的平民做出手势，当时正值一场公开示威活动期间。

美国陆军上校威廉·“野比尔”·多诺万（William “Wild Bill” Donovan）当时负责秘密的战略情报局（OSS），后来成为战后中央情报局的主要设计者。他和美国海军陆战队少校埃文斯·卡尔森（Evans Carlson）都在突袭行动方案的提出中发挥了关键作用。卡尔森曾参与“惩罚性远征”，该行动旨在击毙或抓捕墨西哥反叛分子潘乔·比利亚（Pancho Villa），他还参与了美国在尼加拉瓜的多次干预行动。之后，他前往中国服役，在那里他深入研究了20世纪30年代中国共产党军队对抗日军的战术。

多诺万和卡尔森坚信，组建小型突袭队骚扰敌军前线后方具有独特的价值，迫使敌军将资源用于应对入侵和保护关键地点。珍珠港事件后立即就任太平洋舰队司令的美国海军上将切斯特·尼米兹也渴望派遣“突击队”攻击防守薄弱的日军岛屿前哨。

美国海军陆战队少校埃文斯·卡尔森

1942年至1944年间，海军陆战队突袭队（最终由四个完整的营组成一个团）是作战行动的关键组成部分，尤其是在中太平洋的跳岛战役中。他们也因试验新的作战理论和战术，以及武器装备（包括迷彩服）而闻名。

尽管突袭队取得了成功，但卡尔森在海军陆战队内部却是一个极具争议的人物。他与共产党和左翼团体保持着密切联系，这些团体是他为了帮助中国抗击日本侵略而建立的。

1944年1月，海军陆战队突袭队在所罗门群岛布干维尔岛作战，不久之后，海军陆战队将这些部队重新命名为第四海军陆战团的一部分。（美国国家档案馆）

这位海军陆战队少校从中国带回了如今广为人知的“干劲十足”（Gung Ho）的军训。当时，共产党游击队员在中国高喊“干劲十足”（gōnghé），字面意思是“一起努力”。他所宣扬的理念，很大程度上受到了他与毛泽东和周恩来一同旅行时的所见所闻的启发。

这位海军陆战队军官还向其指挥下的部队灌输了一种“道德灌输”理念，强调士官在协助军官方面所扮演的角色。海军陆战队认为，这在一定程度上鼓励了下级人员质疑上级及其命令。对于海军陆战队的高层领导而言，突袭队员代表着一个“组织中的组织”，这与他们自身的经验几乎完全相反。

左侧为现代海军陆战队突袭团的徽章，徽章上印有“突袭”二字；右侧为二战时期的原始徽章。（图片来源：美国海军陆战队/维基媒体）

“海军陆战队一直认为其步兵部队本质上是突击队，而太平洋地区的形势与欧洲不同，因此组建了突击队，”海军作战部长办公室战争计划司太平洋科在1943年的一份备忘录中解释道。“海军陆战队希望结束其突击队计划，以便使所有步兵组织统一，避免将某些组织设立为精锐或特选部队。”

1944年，军方最终胜出，将突击队改组为海军陆战队第四团。卡尔森于1947年去世，几乎可以肯定的是，他因此在战后会因其左翼活动而受到严厉审查。

尽管自二战以来，海军陆战队突袭队已成为流行文化中的一个标志性形象，但海军陆战队对该组织的态度始终摇摆不定，既有矛盾也有公开的敌意。海军陆战队分别在2006年和2011年拒绝了海军陆战队特种作战司令部（MARSOC）使用该名称的请求。在此之前，海军陆战队数十年来一直反对派遣人员组建自己的特种作战部队，理由是其现有部队已经具备“特种作战能力”，这与当年反对突袭队的逻辑如出一辙。

2003年左右，海军陆战队特种作战司令部第一分遣队（海军陆战队特种作战部队司令部的前身）成员合影。（图片由Patrick J. Rogers提供，来自美国海军陆战队）

据报道，阿莫斯在2011年的一次将军聚会上说：“你们的效忠对象是海军陆战队，你们的忠诚体现在你们制服上的军衔上。”海军​​陆战队总部作战主任大卫·伯杰准将在那次活动后告诉《海军陆战队时报》：“他明确表示，与我们过去的联系对他来说绝对重要，但我们不会按照某种命名规则来命名一个单位——海军陆战队的任何单位——因为我们首先是海军陆战队员。”

MARSOC的历史学家甚至引用了1943年战争计划部门的一份备忘录，详细阐述了当初反对突袭者行动的原因，以此解释他们自身对这一想法的犹豫不决。他们还重申，突袭者行动的传统已经在海军陆战队中延续了下来，即第四海军陆战团。

“突袭者”这个名称虽然消失了，但这些海军陆战队员仍然在第四海军陆战队的旗帜下继续战斗，”他们指出。“我研究、教授和撰写历史已有三十年，虽然我熟悉他们参与的战役，但我从未见过像海军陆战队特种作战司令部（MARSOC）那样对突袭者进行如此美化的描述。坦白说，这种美化是基于对历史的曲解，其离谱程度几乎到了捏造的地步。”

他们继续说道：“与年轻的士官长们交流后发现，他们认为突袭者传统是通过侦察部队传承到海军陆战队特种作战司令部的。然而，除了口口相传和社交媒体上的例子之外，我找不到任何证据来证实这种说法。”

美国海军陆战队突击队员在一次外国武器熟悉课程中使用AK型步枪进行训练。

此人再次抨击其他未经官方授权就使用“突袭者”（Raider）名称的部队。在这些案例中，似乎与海军陆战队将“突袭”（raid）一词用于各种类型的行动有关。海军陆战队远征部队目前正在训练所谓的“海上突袭部队”，以执行诸如海上登船或夺取岸上目标等有限任务。

“我应该补充一点，MARSOC并非目前唯一自称‘突袭者’的海军陆战队组织——这个称号似乎在接受过小型船艇作战训练的海军陆战队远征部队连队中已普遍使用，”这位历史学家写道，暗示他们指的是其中一支部队。“YouTube上发布的一段视频显示，有一支部队使用了‘黑脚族突袭者’的称号。我曾在蒙大拿州生活过，我可以向你保证，黑脚族确实进行过突袭——但他们是骑马行动，而不是乘坐橡皮艇。”

下面的视频很可能就是 MARSOC 历史学家在他们的资料文件中提到的视频。

我们获得的第二份文件没有日期，但似乎是在海军陆战队特种作战司令部（MARSOC）决定更改名称之后出具的。这份文件对第四海军陆战队的历史提出了许多相同的论点。这份文件的第二位出具者是该部队中央历史部门的成员，他也提到，此举会与既定的、尽管晦涩难懂的荣誉在不同部队间传承规则相冲突。

他们宣称：“两个单位不能共享血统和荣誉，血统和荣誉也不能随意更改。第四海军陆战队对二战突击营的血统和荣誉拥有绝对的‘权利’。2015年1月发布的第5400号海军陆战队公报（MCBUL）下令重新命名MARSOC部队，其中也明确指出，血统和荣誉将继续归第四海军陆战队所有。”

最后一点既属实又值得注意。在包括海军陆战队突袭者协会及基金会在内的私人团体施加巨大压力后，阿莫斯最终让步，批准了更名，但他明确表示，二战突袭者的历史成就仍然属于第四海军陆战队。

两位历史学家得出的结论确实有所不同。海军陆战队特种作战司令部（MARSOC）的那位人士继续反对将特种作战部队更名为“突袭者”，他认为“海军陆战队”这个称谓足以表明该司令部在特种作战领域的独特性。

美国海军陆战队突击队员接受全地形车辆操作训练。

海军陆战队历史部门的记录最终否定了这一论点，因为阿莫斯当时已经做出了决定。他们写道：“人们当然可以理解海军陆战队领导层想要向二战突袭队员致敬的愿望。”

声明继续说道：“人们也可以理解为何要保留这个历史悠久的名字，让它成为海军陆战队词汇的一部分，这个名字已经成为艰苦训练和艰苦战斗的象征。随着MARSOC部队的重新命名，这一愿望得以实现。”

自那以后，新的海军陆战队突袭营与其他美国特种作战部队一起参与了世界各地的重要任务，包括在伊拉克、叙利亚和阿富汗。我们不知道海军陆战队特种作战司令部（MARSOC）的历史办公室是否仍然认为更名是个错误决定，但他们无疑更加专注于记录现代突袭营取得的新成就。

联系作者：jtrevithickpr@gmail.com

评论加载失败，请刷新页面。