See hed. The pilots are, right? (If they’re not, ignore this thread and throw things at me…)
I’m interested mostly in the culture of the Marines vs Every Other Service, sub-section, Marine Pilot vs Everyone Else in the Marines. Surrounded by the Navy.
I know there are Marine pilots, but generally the Marines are the Navy’s infantry. So I don’t think they’d spend much time on the flight deck. They’d be loaded into landing craft when used.
Carriers carry a Ship’s Company of Marines, plus (at least) one complete Marine Fighter Squadron, and back when we still flew A-6’s, maybe a bomber or Electronic Warfare squadron. Pilots, flight crew, plane captains, mechanics, admin guys, supply clerks, etc…
On the flight deck would be aircrew (pilot, back seater or side seater) and plane captain (enlisted Marine who makes sure plane is inspected and prepped for flight). All the rest of the people on the flight deck of a carrier during flight ops would be Navy.
If the carrier is providing air support for a land operation, then it is appropriate to have Marine aviators supporting their comrades on the ground.
By the way, the word “pilot” has a nautical meaning that predates the Wright Brothers. Navy and Marine flyboys call themselves “aviators”, and get very touchy if you call them “pilots”.
Look at the Tarawa class and now the America class. They are carriers meant to insert Marines. They carry helicopters Ospreys and Harriers. The aviators are often if not always Marine aviators.
There are USMC fixed wing squadrons, like VMFA-323, who flies F-18’s, and deploys as part of a Carrier Air Wing. They have all the usual squadron personnel (pilots, maintenance crew, plane handlers, “ordies”, etc). They will wear the colored flight deck jersey’s just like the squids.