Discarding the Ptolemaic Model of the Marine Corps
Mark Nostro
April 10, 2019
According to the Ptolemaic model, the Earth is at the center of the universe, with the rest of the universe orbiting around it. According to the heliocentric model, the sun is at the center of the solar system, and the Earth and other planets revolve around it.
From even before we earn the title of marine, we are indoctrinated with a Ptolemaic view of Marine Corps history that emphasizes the contribution of the Corps above other services, sometimes at the limit of reality. As the Marine Corps grapples with existential questions — “Who am I? Why am I here?†— Leo Spaeder recently posed one central question in War on the Rocks: Are marines naval in character or in purpose? If marines are to be naval in purpose, there are many ideas that he and others have put forward to recover that purpose. Some proposals rely on things outside the service’s control or on fielding different technologies that may take years to develop, depending on the larger fiscal situation.
https://warontherocks.com/2019/04/discarding-the-ptolemaic-model-of-the-marine-corps/
