Originally Posted by
Capt Kremmen
By what stretch of the imagination are the Marines part of the Navy ? The Marines are first and foremost soldiers whose transport into battle is usually but not solely the responsibility of the Navy. Both services share the same disciplinary code and there the mix of identity ends.
My opinion is that our Marines would be much better administered under Army command - as it used to be - altho' briefly, certainly for the Commando's.
A - We (the RN) pay for them.
B - They’ve always been a part of the RN. They (until the HERRICK years) were routinely part of Ship’s Company’s, and pre-Commandos, were integrated into the Ship (IIRC Y Turret was always the RM’s).
C - We have an Army. Given A applies, why should the RN pay for anything to do with the Commandos? We pay for 29 and 24 BTW.
D - If they are simply “soldiers from the sea”, see C.
Fortunately the Corps has some pretty switched on Officers who understand that C (in particular) is a huge risk for them. So they are adapting (as ever) and demonstrating to the RN that they are worth paying for, and they bring something different that 1 LOAMS. Part of that is by following the Dutch model of having their Officers use Naval Rank insignia - to demonstrate they are Naval, not mildly lost pongos.
I imagine the next step will be to put a fair amount of RM at sea, permanently, QE already has a dedicated Coy Gp from 42 Cdo - they’re probably the first step in the right direction.