Cool issue on Naval History magazine

Great cover, water color painting of Marines landing on New Providence in 1776. So what was New Providence? And what LEGACY did this establish for the future of the Marine Corps? It established THE MARINES EXPEDITIONARY LEGACY. Page 23 of that magazine threw me for a loop. After discussing the history of the expeditionary forces, titled "Fighting Far from Home". they included a good deal on the MPF program. I guess when you include a Marine Expeditionary force, you must include the Maritime Prepositioning Force. I like it best how they describe or try to define what an expeditionary force is or what its all about.

"Expeditionary warfare is at its most basic level a state of mind. It requires innovative thinking, a willingness to find a way to make do with less, and an aggressive style of recognizing that hesitation generally will permit a foe surprised by your rapid appearance in his backyard to recover and make use of his home-field advantage. The Corps repeatedly demonstrated these attributes almost from its beginning and so has remained the premier exemplar of an expeditionary force."

...and what is the defenition of an expeditionary force? The closest that ever comes to describing it is by WIKIPEDIA..."The organisation of a state's military to fight abroad especially when deployed to fight away from its established bases at home or abroad." In sum, expeditionary warfare remains an elusive and somewhat malleable concept, but throughout history it has been a vital component of national power.

Never quite thought of an expeditionary force as a state of mind, more like a state of readiness. And it felt more like being in a state of constant deployment. Lurking around for unrest in varioius regions. I was three years into the MPF shipboard when I found myself on an expedition to the Pesian Gulf. I was somewhat glad to have been recognized by Naval History Magazine and included in the making of history as a member of an expeditionary force with mention of the MPF along with my 1776 counterparts when they first made an expeditionary, amphibious landing in foreign country. It is nice to know that I was part of this legacy and that this article was not complete without mention of the MPF. The MPF is definately part of the expeditionary legacy set forth by those Leathernecks hitting the beaches of New Providence in Continental uniforms.

Great job Naval History Magazine. (Ok, so its not aviation affiliated but good history nonetheless.)