Whither the USMC?

In an attempt to be relevant to big shooting wars in two nations where they had no natural role - one landlocked, the other with a single port and no coastline - the Marines invented reasons to play in the sandbox. In doing so, they've had to redefine themselves away from their traditional power projection role into a sustained ground combat force. But is that what they really want/need to be? Secretary Gates isn't so sure, and he's telling the Marines to figure it out.

The US Marine Corps has become too accustomed to fighting land battles and must redefine its mission in the context of traditional maritime role, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
The roughly 202,000 members of the Marine Corps have been called upon in recent years to fight predominantly in ground wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, prompting "anxiety in some circles," Gates said at a speech in San Francisco.
The Corps has air, infantry and armored divisions, but is primarily intended to operate as a rapid-deployment expeditionary force capable of moving into areas much more quickly than an Army deploying with heavy equipment.
Gates acknowledged fears that deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have forced the Marines to function "as a so-called second land army."
"The perception being that they have become too heavy, too removed from their expeditionary, amphibious roots and the unique skill sets those missions require," he said.
"Yet fundamentally, the Marines do not want to be, nor does America need, another land army. Nor do they want to be, nor does America need, a 'US Navy police force,'" he added.

Now again, we see some inaccurate terminology creeping into a news article:
"The Corps has air, infantry and armored divisions"
To someone who doesn't know that a "division" is an actual unit of military organization, this seems perfectly fine. But using the correct terminology, there are no "armored division[s]" in the Marine Corps. They have 2 - count 'em, 2 - tank battalions. There are no armored divisions; there's not enough armor for 1 division. There are no "air divisions"; they're called "air wings". The Marines have 4 divisions, and none of them are segmented into air/infantry/armor; they are all "Marine divisions".

By: Brant