Why it matters that a US Marine officer just earned the Royal Marines beret
by Tom Rogan, National Security Writer & Online Editor
December 18, 2023 04:23 PM
Completing the arduous 13-week Royal Marines Commando selection course, U.S. Marine Capt. Joseph Brown has earned both the top student award and the Commando Medal. The top student is selected by the training cadre, and the medal awardee is selected by their classmates as exemplifying the Royal Marines Commando values.
While Brown retains his oath of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution and thus won't actually become a serving Royal Marine, his performance does him great credit. The Royal Marines are renowned as an exceptionally well-trained force. Approaching 50% of recruits do not complete the commando course. Far smaller than the 180,000-strong U.S. Marines, the Royal Marines have a total strength of around 6,000 personnel. Brown's example is just one element of the cooperation between these two marine service branches. Where the U.S. Marines provides heavy combined arms amphibious maneuver forces, the Royal Marines center on providing light infantry amphibious raiding forces. The Royal Marines's mission is to seize beachheads, attack maritime infrastructure, and provide a highly mobile advance force. This underlines the Royal Marines's focus on infantry movement over difficult terrain. The respective mission sets for a U.S. Marine officer and a Royal Marine officer are thus similar but different in important ways.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/why-it-matters-that-a-us-marine-officer-just-earned-the-royal-marines-beret#google_vignette
