[A.A. Cunningham]

the Corps has apparently decided to form its own special operations unit.

Read the article again. The decision was made for them by SECDEF.

[Tyche]

Hmm.. I know everyone wants a piece of the SOCOM pie, but the emphasis of be a "Marine" thing might be a downfall.

One of the key things for operators is the "out of the box thinking" than normal training and thinking. Does he have Force background? He sounds like he has been 0300 his whole time. Will they undergoe language training and etc..Sounds like a SOF guy.

Open to debate on if this is a good thing.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Yeah, at least on the surface it appears that way, but believe me, funding battles and internal DOD politics are always at the root of these kinds of decisions. This is just my opinion, but Marines are conventional sea-based "soldiers" and serve a vital role in that capacity, and they should stay that way, leaving Special Ops to SEALs, Rangers, Delta Force, Green Berets, etc.

In the past, the Special Ops guys were treated like red-headed step-children by the services. Just read Charlie Beckwith's account of the 20-year troubles he had in getting the Army to just organize a counter-terrorist unit like the SAS. Schwarzkopf's initial attitude (he later changed his mind after the great SCUD hunt) toward the Special Forces during Gulf War I likewise reflected the hostility that permeated the services toward them.

Now that billions of dollars in funding at stake for counter-terrorism activities, everyone wants in on the special forces band-wagon. Remember that funding pretty much drives almost everything related to policy and organization in DOD.