In chapters that follow, I'll try to give you a feel for the "nuts and bolts" of a MEU (SOC), its people, equipment, and organization. We'll have a chance to talk with the Corps' top Marine, and get to know how a young person becomes one of the "brothers and sisters." In addition, you'll see the equipment that is used by the sea Marines, as well as spend some time with one of the MEU (SOC)s that helps maintain forward presence for the United States. By the time we are done, I think you will have a feeling for how the Marines do their vital jobs, and why they can proudly bark their motto, "Semper Fi!" ("Always Faithful!"), when asked how things are in their world.
Warrior Prince of the Corps: An Interview with General Charles Krulak
The Marine Corps reserves a special trust for the officers that pass through its ranks. Each of them is charged with responsibilities and obligations that frequently exceed those of their counterparts in the other military services. Every few years, one of these officers, after a lifetime of commitment and devotion to the Corps and its personnel, takes on a trust that goes beyond even that and is given a title unlike that of any other military officer — Commandant. Just the name sounds like responsibility incarnate. It is. The position of Commandant of the Marine Corps has traditionally been awarded to a leader of unique qualifications; and to look at the list of those who have held the job is to see the history, direction, and ethos of the Corps embodied. There are peaks and valleys on the list, as there are in the history of any great organization; many of those on the list were not even generals — no Marine of that rank even existed until after the close of the American Civil War. Yet every one of them has reflected the culture and direction of the Corps, for it is their leadership that should, and does, set the pace for the Marines during their tenure and beyond.
Now, it should be said that the Marines have been blessed during the past few years with what has to be considered both inspired and timely leadership. Since the early 1980s in particular, the Corps has known a string of truly great Commandants, each of them with significant gifts and strengths that have made the Corps into the highly ready and capable force that it is today. They took a force demoralized and battered by the experiences of the Vietnam War, and made it into an organization that Americans and our allies trust and our enemies fear. The road back actually started in the 1970s when the 26th Commandant, General Louis H. Wilson, told the Corps to look to itself to solve the problems that Vietnam created. Then there was General Paul X. Kelley, the 28th Commandant, who rebuilt the material capabilities of the Corps during the early 1980s. To General Kelley, himself the first commander of the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (the precursor of the present Central Command, CENTCOM), fell the job of getting the resources to buy the equipment, munitions, and supplies that the Marine Corps eventually used to succeed in the Persian Gulf, Somalia, and elsewhere. Following him was General Alfred M. Gray, the 29th Commandant of the Corps. Known as "the Warfighter" and possessing a voice like the ghost of "Chesty" Puller (gravelly with a distinct Southern drawl), General Gray will always be remembered as the Commandant who reestablished the concept of combat as the core mission of the Marine Corps. He did this through a renewed emphasis on warfighting basics and professional military education and a program of new manuals. The wisdom of this was proven by the performance of Marines in the field, especially in the Persian Gulf during 1990 and 1991. He further demonstrated his creative powers by conceiving and designing the unit we will explore later, the Marine Expeditionary Unit — Special Operations Capable, MEU (SOC). Following General Gray came General Carl E. Mundy, Jr., the 30th Commandant of the Corps. General Mundy's greatest achievement was reestablishing the preeminence of the Marines in joint operations and holding the active strength of the Corps at 174,000 (216,000 with reserves) during the so-called "Bottom-Up Review" in 1993. The latter effort was particularly impressive as the other services suffered substantially deeper cuts, proportionately, during this era of the massive Federal budget reductions that have been a hallmark of the 1990s.
In early 1995, with General Mundy's tenure as Commandant was coming to an end, there was great speculation among members of the Corps over who would be his replacement. There were many excellent candidates, but within the Marines there was a favorite, a man whose name was whispered with a voice of hope and respect. Then in February 1995, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima, the announcement came down from the White House that this man, General Charles "Chuck" Krulak, the son of one of the Corps' most famous Marines, was to be nominated. It was a job, some would say, which he was not only qualified for, but born for. A warrior prince of the Marine Corps was arriving to take up the post that his father had come so tantalizingly close to holding some three decades earlier. The story of these two men, the most outstanding father and son combination in Marine Corps history, is worth looking at more closely, and thus we shall.
Father and Son: The Krulaks
In 1934, when Victor "Brute" Krulak graduated from the Naval Academy to become a Marine (the nickname was from his days as a coxswain at Annapolis), it is doubtful that he ever considered the family odyssey he was beginning. A veteran of prewar service as a China Marine and battle in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, he is in many ways a living symbol of the Corps — much like his former commander and mentor, the legendary General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. It was Brute Krulak who took the photos of Japanese landing barges in China and urged the creation of the early U.S. landing craft that would be so important to Marine amphibious operations in the Second World War. He would also personally command the first unit of amphibian tractors, as well as write influential reports on tactics and doctrine that are still important today. Later in World War II, the elder Krulak led Marines in raids and assaults on numerous Japanese-held islands. After the war, as a full colonel, he was influential in the development of the first vertical assault experiments using helicopters. He played a key role in shaping the National Security Act of 1947, which established the Marine Corps as a separate service. And he was instrumental in the creation of Public Law 416, which established the size of the Marine Corps as not less than three combat divisions and air wings and which accorded the Commandant of the Marine Corps coequal status with the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when considering matters that directly concern the Marine Corps.
The senior Krulak's service continued into the 1960s, by which time he was generally considered one of the nation's leading experts on the new science of guerrilla warfare. In early 1964, now a Major General (two stars), he helped plan raids into North Vietnam, even before active United States involvement started. He was later promoted to Lieutenant General and was placed in command of the Fleet Marine Forces, Pacific (FMFPAC), where he commanded the Marines in Vietnam through much of that ill-starred effort. He also came tortuously close to the post of Commandant of the Marine Corps: He was actually promised the post when the appointment was given to another Marine officer. Since that time, he has gone on to write his own book on the Corps, First to Fight, which many see as a classic work on the Marines and warfare. Yet despite his many personal achievements, it will be, perhaps, the achievements of his son that will go down as his single most lasting contribution to the Marine Corps. For when Chuck Krulak entered the Marines, Brute Krulak gave the institution a unique gift, a warrior around whom they could rally in a time of need. Let's talk to Chuck Krulak about it.