# What is the relationship of the Marines to the Navy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928 "2005-10-19T16:30:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/1 "2005-10-19T16:30:23Z")
Simple question: How autonomous is the Marines from the Navy? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/2 "2005-10-19T17:00:16Z")
They can’t get very far from A to B without the Navy. Also, Marines do not have medics - they use Navy corpsmen. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/3 "2005-10-19T17:04:15Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > They can’t get very far from A to B without the Navy. Also, Marines do not have medics - they use Navy corpsmen. Isn’t there much more to it administratively then that? I’m just thinking of a Few Good Men where Cruise, a Naval JAG officer, is trying two Marines. I know I shouldn’t get my information form Hollywood, that’s why I ask. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/4 "2005-10-19T17:05:16Z")
> [@whole bean](#): > > Isn’t there much more to it administratively then that? I’m just thinking of a Few Good Men where Cruise, a Naval JAG officer, is trying two Marines. I know I shouldn’t get my information form Hollywood, that’s why I ask. than that . . . from Hollywood ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/5 "2005-10-19T17:18:57Z")
Well, the Marines are rather dependant on the Navy - after all, MARINE is stands for "My A\*\* Rides In Navy Equipment. " 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/6 "2005-10-19T17:24:26Z")
The US Department of Defense is split into three Departments: Department of the Air Force, Army, and Navy. As the military head of each department, you have a Chief of Staff (these Chiefs serve as the Joint Chiefs of Staff). Each of these Chiefs of Staff reports to a civilian – the service secretaries. The Navy’s Chief is called the Chief of Naval Operations, or CNO, and is a 4-star admiral who reports to the Secretary of the Navy. The Commandant of the Marine Corps is also a 4-star (general). The Commandant of the Marine Corps sits on the Joint Chiefs, and reports to the Secretary of the Navy just as the CNO does. So, at least administratively, they are co-equal services within the Department of the Navy, and have the same level of autonomy as any other service. Functionally, they are just as able to function without the Navy as the Army is able to function without the Air Force – not very. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/7 "2005-10-19T17:29:33Z")
As **Jurph** says, they are part of the Department of the Navy. Their ID cards (well, at least the old ones) had a nice big “Department of the Navy” across them. Of course we Sailors liked to rib them on this. It’s not that odd, historically. The Air Force branched from the US Army Air Force, for example. Truckloads of information about this stuff online. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/8 "2005-10-19T17:37:32Z")
As a Navy vet we used to joke about shelling the beach for a while then going to drop off a few hundred Marines. We would go off the coast a bit sit in the AC, take hot showers and play cards until it was time to go pick up whoever is left. They can call us a taxi service all they want and I’m fine with it. Logistically the Marines are a short term expaditionary force. They go in and blow up shit and kill people like there’s no tomorrow. Without logistical support from the other branches they can’t stay for long. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/9 "2005-10-19T18:27:38Z")
The current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is a Marine - General Peter Pace. He’s been in that post for less than a month - [link](http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/pace_bio.html). He is the first Marine to hold that job, and I seem to recall that it was regarded as a milestone in some circles - it removed one of the remaining arguments/perceptions that the Marine Corps is “under” the Navy. Others are probably more suited to comment on the significance of this than I am. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/10 "2005-10-19T18:28:07Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > Simple question: How autonomous is the Marines from the Navy? Gangster, in direct answer to your question, they are very autonomous. Day to day, both in the field and in the Pentagon, you’d never know that they were technically part of the Navy. They are for all intents and purposes, their own service. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/11 "2005-10-19T19:11:04Z")
They’re just very, very good friends. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/12 "2005-10-19T19:12:04Z")
“Anytime we gotta go somewhere, you guys give us a ride!” \ - Lt. Kendrick, _A Few Good Men_ ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/13 "2005-10-19T19:22:24Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > They’re just very, very good friends. …who rag on each other constantly and get in your occasional in-house barfight, but will stand behind one another against any outsider. More like brothers, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/14 "2005-10-19T23:49:45Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > What is the relationship of the Marines to the Navy? If you ask a Marine, “Amused contempt”. 😉😃 ---
**Author:** ![Schuyler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@Schuyler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schuyler)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/15 "2005-10-20T04:28:37Z")
> [@YaWanna](#): > > …who rag on each other constantly and get in your occasional in-house barfight, but will stand behind one another against any outsider. More like brothers, actually. Also, the Navy and Marines share a service academy, go through the same flight schools (through type selection, and beyond in some cases), etc. Opinions vary depending on what part of each service is considered, but I’d guess that many sailors and marines, while they might bicker between themselves, would align against either air force or army. One thing that I always found interesting, given the common misconception that the Marines are a subset of the Navy, is [parade precedence](http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Historical/Customes_Traditions/Parade_Precedence.htm): > [@](#): > > The present order of parade precedence is indicated in DoD Directive 1005.8 as Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. Basically it boils down to traditions surrounding the order of instantiation of each service. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/16 "2005-10-20T12:48:41Z")
> [@Schuyler](#): > > One thing that I always found interesting, given the common misconception that the Marines are a subset of the Navy, is [parade precedence](http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Historical/Customes_Traditions/Parade_Precedence.htm): > > Basically it boils down to traditions surrounding the order of instantiation of each service. I have to say that the Navy is a little older than the Marines. > [@](#): > > On Friday, October 13, 1775, meeting in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress voted to fit out two sailing vessels, armed with ten carriage guns, as well as swivel guns, and manned by crews of eighty, and to send them out on a cruise of three months to intercept transports carrying munitions and stores to the British army in America. This was the original legislation out of which the Continental Navy grew and as such constitutes the birth certificate of the navy. from [here](http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq31-1.htm) a Navy faq page. > [@](#): > > Formal commemoration of the birthday of the Marine Corps began on 10 November 1921. That particular date was chosen because on that day the Second Continental Congress resolved in 1775 to raise two battalions of Continental Marines. from [here](http://www.marines.com/page/The-Marines-Birthday.jsp) the USMC homepage. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/17 "2005-10-20T14:31:00Z")
> [@Schuyler](#): > > One thing that I always found interesting, given the common misconception that the Marines are a subset of the Navy. It’s not a misconception. It’s a fact. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/18 "2005-10-20T16:04:32Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > If you ask a Marine, “Amused contempt”. > 😉😃 I thought Marines were the bastard stepchildren of the Navy? Or is that only the Royal Marines 😛 ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/19 "2005-10-20T16:27:19Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > It’s not a misconception. It’s a fact. It really is a misconception. Like **Jurph** said, The U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy are coequal branches of the military under the U.S. Department of the Navy. The Commandant of the Marine Corps isn’t under and doesn’t report to the Chief of Naval Operations, they both report to the Under Secretery and the Secretary of the Navy. Check out this chart: [http://www.navy.mil/palib/organization/org-sec.html](http://www.navy.mil/palib/organization/org-sec.html) ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928/20 "2005-10-20T17:03:43Z")
Blah. The Navy and the Marines are part of the Department of the Navy. Let’s not pretend here that Navy here is used in two different senses. It means the same thing in both cases. Fact of the matter is that both the CNO and the Commandant report to the Secretary of the Navy. The fact that the CNO and Commandant are equal is irrelevant. There is a near-1-1 matching in ranks between all of our services, and many foreign services as well. It doesn’t change the fact that historically the Marines were created as landing troops for the Continental Navy and that today they pretty much serve the same role. I really don’t get this argument. “But, the Marines _and_ the Navy are part of the Department of the Navy, ergo, the Marines aren’t part of the Navy!” huh? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-relationship-of-the-marines-to-the-navy/326928.md?page=2)