SERVICE BEYOND THE SEAS ADVANCED BASES, EXPEDITIONS, AND LANDING OPERATIONS - Section III
SERVICE BEYOND THE SEAS ADVANCED BASES, EXPEDITIONS, AND LANDING OPERATIONS 1899-1923 SECTION THREE: EXISTENTIAL CHALLENGES Ten years after the Spanish American War, the Marine Corps remained in a state of transformation, moving from their role as shipboard enforcers and navy yard watchmen to becoming a landing force capable of supporting Navy fleet operations. Proof of concept exercises at Nantucket, Culebra, and Subic Bay were dress rehearsals for the nascent Advanced Base Force, then yet to be fully formed due to operational exigencies. Expeditionary units of the Marine Corps had fought in the Boxer Rebellion, fought in the Philippines, secured the independence of Panama from Colombia, and supported the Army in Cuban pacification. But for Marines of this era, it was Theodore Roosevelt’s Executive Order 969 which remains the most remembered event of the year 1908. Framed by many as yet another existential threats to abolish the Corps, it showed that Marine leadership fully embraced t...