USNAviator
03-07-11, 07:10 PM
We have a Raider Marine aboard. Mr Ray Merrell, I think your opinion about this would appreciated sir
Corps won’t rename MARSOC for WWII Raiders
<input id="url" value="http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/03/marine-marsoc-raiders-rename-030711w/" type="hidden">Commandant Gen. Jim Amos denied a proposal from Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command to resurrect the World War II “Marine Raiders” moniker.
The proposal was presented to Amos and the service’s senior general officers during a late-January gathering in New Orleans, said Brig. Gen. David Berger, director of operations at Marine Corps headquarters. Amos thumbed down the plan, Berger said Feb. 18, because “your allegiance, your loyalty … is to the Marine Corps, based on the title you have on your uniform.”
“He supports them,” Berger said of MARSOC. “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.”
The original Raiders were highly trained amphibious forces, four battalions strong that helped seize key islands during pivotal campaigns in the South Pacific.
Efforts to speak with Amos were unsuccessful. His spokesman was unfamiliar with the proposal and referred questions about it to MARSOC. Officials with MARSOC declined to comment.
Certainly, the commandant’s decision will come as a great disappointment not only to those in the special operations community who pushed the idea, but also to the 1,100 or so Raiders still living. They have maintained an affiliation with MARSOC since its activation five years ago.
Renaming MARSOC would keep the Raiders’ legacy alive, and help erase lingering criticism about their combat achievements and doubts about their value to the Corps, said Robert Lyn Dix, the U.S. Marine Raider Association’s president.
Corps won’t rename MARSOC for WWII Raiders
<input id="url" value="http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/03/marine-marsoc-raiders-rename-030711w/" type="hidden">Commandant Gen. Jim Amos denied a proposal from Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command to resurrect the World War II “Marine Raiders” moniker.
The proposal was presented to Amos and the service’s senior general officers during a late-January gathering in New Orleans, said Brig. Gen. David Berger, director of operations at Marine Corps headquarters. Amos thumbed down the plan, Berger said Feb. 18, because “your allegiance, your loyalty … is to the Marine Corps, based on the title you have on your uniform.”
“He supports them,” Berger said of MARSOC. “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.”
The original Raiders were highly trained amphibious forces, four battalions strong that helped seize key islands during pivotal campaigns in the South Pacific.
Efforts to speak with Amos were unsuccessful. His spokesman was unfamiliar with the proposal and referred questions about it to MARSOC. Officials with MARSOC declined to comment.
Certainly, the commandant’s decision will come as a great disappointment not only to those in the special operations community who pushed the idea, but also to the 1,100 or so Raiders still living. They have maintained an affiliation with MARSOC since its activation five years ago.
Renaming MARSOC would keep the Raiders’ legacy alive, and help erase lingering criticism about their combat achievements and doubts about their value to the Corps, said Robert Lyn Dix, the U.S. Marine Raider Association’s president.