The U.S. Marine Corps was established on November 10, 1775, when the Continental Congress ordered the raising of two battalions of marines to serve as a landing force alongside the Navy. The U.S. Marine Corps, a distinct armed service under the Department of the Navy, was charged with providing Marine troops to capture and defend advanced bases, and conducting operations on the ground and in the air in connection with naval campaigns. Ride Along The Chieftains Title 10 Responsibility for providing the fleet Marine Forces [for services] in seizure or defense of advanced naval bases, and conducting such ground operations as may be necessary for executing naval campaigns,66 is its contribution as the crisis-response force to the Army. The U.S. Marine Corps is also responsible for providing units to serve aboard certain types of naval vessels, and for providing security forces to shore installations of naval vessels and U.S. diplomatic missions overseas.

While Marine Corps aviation assets eventually originate from its sister services, the majority of support is drawn from the U.S. Air Force. While the Marine Corps has a much smaller number of installations, both in the U.S. and around the world, compared to other branches, there is a marine presence at a number of Army installations, sister-service stations, and U.S. Air Force bases.

Marine Corps Plaques
The Marine Corps also provides land combat training support for the Navys various Field Medical Corps (Hospital Corpsmen), Navy Construction Forces (Seabees), and the Navys Expeditionary Warfare Personnel, Units, and Commands. The U.S. Marine Corps has also played a critical role in developing the Rapid Deployment Force, a multi-service organization created to ensure flexible, prompt military responses worldwide as needed. Examples of the latter include longer-range weapons, allowing the Marine Corps to sustain maritime campaigns, such as anti-ship cruise missiles and anti-aircraft weapons (both of which negate an adversarys ability to freely act against American forces); amphibious ships and unmanned platforms, both harder to locate than their older, far larger counterparts; and marines equipped with sensors and intelligence-related tools, which allowed them to be more effective in the theatres of operations that are most important to U.S.

Serving both ashore and at sea, two battalions of marines distinguished themselves in several major operations, including their first amphibious assault on the Bahamas in March of 1776, commanded by Captain (later Major) Samuel Nicholas. The first officer to receive commission with both Battalions of Marines, Nicholas remained the most senior officer of Marines during the entire American Revolution, and is considered to have been the first Commandant of Marines. Overall, for joint forces, the Index has focused on forces needed to win two major wars as a basic metric of force size for Army, Navy, and Air Force, but the Index has adopted another paradigm–one war plus a crisis response–for Marines.