Small Wars Journal

raid

Nothing Like a Good Maritime Raid

Wed, 02/01/2012 - 6:40pm

 

As the services work to figure out the shape of their future, many in the Navy and Marine Corps are inching together to "create synergies" (like a boss... on a boat).  Benjamin Armstrong writes about the virtues of maritime raiding in the February volume of Proceedings:

The Navy/Marine Corps team has a long and storied past, operating together in everything from ship versus ship combat in the Age of Sail to the mastery of small wars and the amphibious warfare that has become its staple over the past half century. Operationally, many of the successful missions conducted by the Navy/Marine Corps team have involved maritime raiding.

As the Navy welcomes the Marine Corps’ return to the sea in the 21st century following a decade of war ashore, the modern redevelopment of the historic maritime raiding capability is just as vital to the future of the Sea Services as sharpening the dulled skills needed for a full amphibious assault.