37: Royal Marine Light Infantry
Badges of the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines (RM), are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service. They are also the United Kingdom’s specialists in amphibious warfare, including the operation of landing craft; mountain warfare; and Arctic warfare. A core component of the country’s Rapid Deployment Force, the Corps’s 3 Commando Brigade is capable of operating independently and is highly trained as a commando force. It is trained to deploy quickly and fight in any terrain. The Royal Marines have the longest NATO basic infantry training course in the world.
Manpower
The Royal Marines have a regular manpower of 7,420 personnel. In addition the Royal Marines have a part time volunteer reserve force (RMR) of 970 personnel, giving a total of 8,390 Royal Marines. This makes the Royal Marines the largest force of its type in the European Union, and it is the only European force capable of carrying out amphibious operations at brigade level. The Royal Marines are the second largest force of its type in NATO.
History
Main article: History of the Royal Marines
The Royal Marines were formed as part of the Naval Service in 1755. However, it can trace its origins back as far as 28 October 1664 formed as “the Duke of York and Albanys maritime regiment of foot”, when English soldiers first went to sea to fight the Spanish and prevent them from reaching the fortress of Gibraltar. The Corps underwent a notable change after 1945 however, when the Royal Marines took on the main responsibility for the role and training of the British Commandos. The Royal Marines have an illustrious history, and since their creation in 1942 Royal Marines Commandos have engaged on active operations across the globe, every year, except 1968. Notably they were the first ever military unit to perform an air assault insertion by helicopter, during the Suez Crisis in 1956.
Role
The Royal Marines are a maritime-focused, amphibious, highly specialised Light – medium force of commandos capable of deploying at short notice in support of the United Kingdom Government’s military and diplomatic objectives overseas and are optimised for expeditionary warfare: operational situations requiring highly manoeuvreable, normally amphibious, forces. As the United Kingdom Armed Forces’ specialists in cold weather warfare the Corps provide lead element expertise in the NATO Northern Flank and are optimised for high altitude operations, with jungle training still carried out when deployments allow.
In common with the other armed forces, the Royal Marines can provide resources for Military Aid to the Civil Community and Military Aid to the Civil Power operations and have done so.
Command, control and organisation
The overall head of the Royal Marines is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, in her role as Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces.
The ceremonial head of the Royal Marines is the Captain General Royal Marines (equivalent to the Colonel-in-Chief of a British Army regiment). The current Captain-General is Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Full Command of the Royal Marines is vested in the Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET) with the Commandant-General Royal Marines, a Major-General, embedded within the CINCFLEET staff as Commander UK Amphibious Force (COMUKAMPHIBFOR).
The operational capability of the Corps comprises a number of Battalion-plus sized units, of which three are designated as “Commandos”:
- 40 Commando (known as Forty Commando) based at Norton Manor Barracks, Taunton, Somerset, England
- 42 Commando (known as Four Two Commando) based at Bickleigh Barracks, Plymouth, Devon, England
- 45 Commando (known as Four Five Commando) based at RM Condor, Arbroath, Angus, Scotland
- Commando Logistic Regiment based at Chivenor, Devon
- 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group[7] based at Stonehouse Barracks, Plymouth
- Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines based at HM Naval Base Clyde, Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute (Previously Comacchio Group).
- Special Boat Service based at Royal Marines Base Poole, Dorset (although Full Command is retained by CINCFLEET, Operational Command of SBS RM is assigned to Director Special Forces).
- 1 Assault Group Royal Marines based at HM Naval Base Devonport, Plymouth, Devon.
With the exception of the Fleet Protection Group and Commando Logistic Regiment, which are each commanded by a full Colonel, each of these units is commanded by a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal Marines, who may have sub-specialised in a number of ways throughout his career.
There is also a Mountain Leader Training Cadre based at Stonehouse Barracks, Plymouth.