US Marines - The legendary elite force

The non-fiction book US Marines (English original title: Marine ) was written by Tom Clancy , a well-known author of many thrillers .

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The book portrays the US Marine Corps , based on his books about the US Navy (“Atom U-Boot / Reise ins…”) , the US Army (“Armored Cavalry”) and the US Air Force (“ Fighter Wing ”) .

The book is extensive (approx. 550 pages) and deals with the history of the Marines, from the War of Independence to Operation Desert Storm and the resulting ethos as an elite force and 911 force (911 is the number of the American emergency call) to the fictional future of the Corps as guardians of American interests in a global world. The second part is followed by an interview with the Commander-in-Chief of the Marines, the Commandant , General Charles C. Krulak, at the time the book was written . In the following, the training and the various career options of the Marines will be discussed in great detail.

The description of the equipment is described in detail, starting with the standard M-16 rifle on the battle tank M1 Abrams to large landing ships of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship with 40,530 tons displacement. The author then visits an association of Marines, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (26th MEU (SOC)). In two chapters he reports on how he lives with the troops on the ship while they carry out their exercises and preparations for the following mission. This is followed by two fictitious simulation games about the use of such an association, one in the conflict over the Iranian Bushehr nuclear power plant , and one in the occupation of Brunei by Malaysia .

At the end there is an afterword and a glossary in which all the abbreviations in the book are explained again and which can also be very useful, since Clancy, as usual in the military, works a lot with abbreviations. This fact may make it difficult for a beginner to find his way around immediately.