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William Freeland Fullam, USN — Bête noire of the Marine Corps

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William Freeland Fullam, USN — Bête noire of the Marine Corps I would hazard a guess that more Marines recognize the name William Fullam than do sailors, despite his having had a Fletcher Class destroyer commissioned in his name. Nearly every time someone in a position of authority questions the need of the United States for the Marine Corps, some Marine historian invokes his name. This is because of his dogged efforts to have Marine guards removed from duty aboard the capital ships of the Navy between 1890 and 1913. Marines of the day believed such a move would destroy the Corps, resulting in its dissolution, or absorption into either the Army or the Navy. Often missed, is the irony in his views, which called for the Marines adopting a force design that garrisoned Marines ashore, trained, equipped, and at-the-ready to dispatch “for service beyond the seas.”      To understand what he was trying to accomplish vis a vis the United States Marine Corps, we need to understand...
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Common Ground: The Advanced Base Force and the Marine Littoral Regiment

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Common Ground: The Advanced Base Force and the Marine Littoral Regiment 28 July, 2026   Introduction In the face of increased peer competition in the western Pacific, the Marine Corps has fielded a novel, task organized fighting unit, the Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR). Composed of infantry, anti-shipping, anti-aircraft and logistics Marines, the MLR is deployed to island positions in the Pacific today. Persistent aggressive posturing by Chinese military forces, the enduring threat to Taiwan, and continuing threats to shipping lanes and unincorporated Philippine territory motivated Marine Corps leadership to adopt a new approach to its participation in the defense of the region.    The Marine Littoral Regiment is a major departure from the status quo; it combines infantry deployed in platoon sized units employing drones and advanced communications technology; anti-shipping weapons; anti-air weapons; and organic logistics forces designed for decentralized operations in the...
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