Marines
Marines (or
naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on
amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included
raiding ashore (often in support of naval objectives) and the
boarding of vessels during
ship-to-ship combat or capture of
prize ships. Marines also assisted in maintaining security, discipline, and order aboard ships (reflecting the historically
pressed-nature of the rest of the ship's company and the risk of
mutiny). While maintaining many of their historical roles, in modern times, marines also engage in duties including
rapid-response operations,
humanitarian aid,
disaster relief,
special operations roles, and
counter-terrorism operations. In most nations, marines are an integral part of that state's
navy, such as the United Kingdom's
Royal Marines; in some countries their marine forces can instead be part of the
land army, such as the
French Troupes de Marine; or, more uncommonly, a nation’s marine forces may be an
independent military branch such as the
United States Marine Corps or the
Ukrainian Marine Corps.
The exact term "marine" is not found in many languages other than English. In French-speaking countries, two terms which could be translated as "marine", but do not translate exactly: (marine troops) and (marine riflemen) and in Portuguese (). The word ''marine'' means "navy" in many European languages such as Dutch, French, German, Italian and Norwegian. “Naval infantry” may also refer to
sailors forming both temporary and permanent infantry units, such as the British WWI-era
63rd (Royal Naval) Division (an infantry division made-up of
Royal Navy sailors and
Royal Marines on a semi-permanent basis) or the Imperial Japanese
Naval Landing Forces (ad-hoc formations of
Imperial Japanese Navy sailors temporarily pressed into service as infantry).
Provided by Wikipedia