Republic of China Marine Corps


The Republic of China Marine Corps, commonly known as the National Military Marine Corps, is the amphibious arm of the Republic of China Navy responsible for amphibious warfare, counter-landing and reinforcement of the areas under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China, including the island of Taiwan, Kinmen, and the Matsu Islands, and defense of ROCN facilities, also functioning as a rapid reaction force and a strategic reserve capable of amphibious assaults.
Established in 1947 on mainland China, the ROCMC is considered the most selective branch within the ROC Armed Forces. The ROC Marines have gained much publicity for the "Road to Heaven" phase of one of their training courses which is the final phase of the 10-week long selection program for their special forces, the Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit.
The ROC Marine Corps' official motto is "Forever Loyal", the Chinese translation of "Semper Fidelis". The ROC Marines train with the USMC though these are generally classified, unofficial, or with trainees officially considered by either side as "observers."

Organization

The main force of the ROC Marine Corps consists of two Marine Brigades assisted by the Amphibious Vehicle Group, along with the Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit, with the latter being comparable to the USMC Force Reconnaissance. There used to be three brigades, but one was disbanded in 2013.

Structure

  • Marine Corps Command
  • * Combat Support Group : formed in 2010 with the Logistics Group and the Communications, Information, Electronic Warfare Group. In 2013 the Corps HQ Battalion was added to the Support Group. It provides logistical, engineering, medical, and military band services to the Marine Corps.
  • ** Support Squadron, formerly the Corps HQ battalion
  • ** Health company
  • ** Honor guard company
  • ** Security guard company
  • ** Logistics company
  • ** 272nd Company of the Marine Corps Military Police
  • ** Military band
  • * Amphibious Armor Group : created in 1997 from the 651st Regiment, and currently has four transport, two artillery, and one support squadron. The transport vehicles used are the AAV7 and LVTP-5.
  • ** 4 Amphibious Transport Squadrons, includes two AAV7 squadrons.
  • ** 2 Amphibious Artillery Squadrons
  • ** Support Squadron
  • * Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit : Formed in 1997 and nicknamed "Frogmen," it is regarded as the ROC Marine Corps counterpart to MARSOC or Force Reconnaissance. Over half of the 600 troops of this unit are aboriginal Taiwanese.
  • **3 Reconnaissance Companies
  • ** 1 Special Service Company : the primarily counterterrorism related special unit of the ARP.
  • ** 1 Underwater Demolition Company : equivalent of the U.S. Navy SEALs. Transferred to the Marine Corps Command from the ROC Navy in 2005.
  • ** 1 Support Company
  • * 66th Marine Brigade 'Vanguard', Taipei area
  • * 99th Marine Brigade 'Iron Force', Kaohsiung
  • * Air Defense Group
  • * Wuchiu Garrison Command
  • * Armed Force Joint Operation Training Base
  • * Marine Corps Recruit Training Center
  • * Marine Corps School : providing both officer and non-commissioned officer education.

    History

Early development

In 1909, the government of the Qing dynasty sent the Minister of the Navy, Zaixun, to study Western navies. Based on his findings in Britain, and noting the lack of coordination between China's ground and naval forces during the First Sino-Japanese War, he recommended to the Qing court that a naval land force be created to defend naval facilities and capture strategic locations. An effort was made to create a Naval Guard Corps at a base in Shandong, but it was still in the early stages of development when the 1911 Revolution broke out. With the establishment of the Republic of China, the Naval Guard Corps was under the control of the Beiyang government. During the Revolution, several Chinese naval cadets studying Japan returned to participate in the fighting, and became part of a small "Marine Corps" organized by the revolutionary governor of Shanghai, Chen Qimei. It had several hundred members and fought against Qing forces before being disbanded when the emperor abdicated. During the presidency of Yuan Shikai, the original Naval Guard Corps was redeployed from Shandong to Shanghai and was used to suppress the Second Revolution in 1913.
In December 1914, the Naval Guard Corps was reformed as the Republic of China Marine Corps by the Ministry of the Navy, on the recommendation of Admiral Liu Guanxiong, to better protect the Chinese coast. The ROCMC consisted of one battalion organized into four infantry companies, and was stationed in Fujian. A second battalion was added in 1918. From that point the Marine Corps was under the direct command of the Navy Ministry in Beijing. During the early Republic, the marines provided security at naval bases, and suffered from the same lack of pay and resources as the rest of the Navy because of the political division and warlordism. In 1922, a marine battalion was involved in operations against bandits in Fujian. In January 1923, a Marine Corps Command was created there by the Navy Ministry, and the Corps was expanded over the next several years to continue maintaining order in Fujian, with the 1st Mixed Brigade of the Marine Corps being created later that year. The brigade had four regiments along with artillery and machine gun battalions. Also during the warlord era, the Fengtien clique in northeast China and the forces of Sun Yat-sen's alternative government in the south also created marine units, but they never reached the strength of the main ROC Marine Corps in Fujian, which was loyal to the Beiyang government.
In 1925, the Navy Ministry under the admirals Lin Jianzhang and Du Xigui ordered the downsizing of the Marine Corps, with the 1st Marine Mixed Brigade being abolished in October, though was restored in January 1926 by Admiral Yang Shuzhuang and again participated in operations. When the Northern Expedition began, the Marine Corps in Fujian defected to the KMT National Revolutionary Army forces under He Yingqin, along with other elements of the Beiyang Fleet. In December 1926, the Marine Corps of the NRA was established. The marines fought with the National Revolutionary Army in 1927, and under Admiral Yang Shuzhuang the Corps was expanded to fight against warlords in the Fujian province, by incorporating the 11th Mixed Brigade of the former Beiyang forces. In August two Marine Mixed Brigades and four independent regiments were created. A Marine unit was deployed for the campaign against the Zhili clique warlord Sun Chuanfang in the Yangtze River valley, while other units were continuing operations in Fujian. By 1928, the Marine Corps absorbed additional units and had more than doubled in size, consisting of two mixed brigades and six regiments, which were stationed at different locations along the Fujian coast.
The new Nationalist government reduced the size of the ROC Marine Corps in 1928 to save costs, with the independent regiments being combined into the two existing brigades. As of 1931, the two Marine brigades together had a total of over 14,412 personnel. Each brigade had two infantry regiments of three battalions each, and one artillery battalion. Around this time a Marine Corps General Command was established in Fujian to oversee their operations. In July 1933 the Ministry of the Navy issued the "Provisional Regulations for the Organization of the Marine Corps," which described the structure of a marine brigade as two infantry regiments, an artillery battery, and some support units.

Second Sino-Japanese War

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the ROC Marine Corps was used to defend railroads, waterways, highways, and the coastline. During the war the Navy was used to support land operations, and it lost much of its personnel, which were made up for by transferring marines to the Navy.
After the Marco Polo Bridge incident in July 1937 that started the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese troops landed in Zhejiang province in September. The ROC 3rd Marine Regiment from the 2nd Marine Brigade was deployed to Zhejiang to defend Hangzhou, but the city had fallen by then, so the regiment stayed in Jinhua and Quzhou to defend those cities together with the Army. The 1st Marine Brigade was sent to Jiangxi province. In January 1938, the Military Commission ordered a reduction in the size of the Navy, including the Marine Corps, because of the war with Japan. The total number of marines is estimated to have been around 7,000. Later that month a regiment of the 1st Marine Brigade was deployed to stop Japanese landings along the Yangtze River, before being sent back to Jiangxi in February. In the spring of 1938 both marine brigades were used by the Navy Headquarters to defend the section of the Guangzhou–Hankou railway in the Hunan and Hubei. In 1939 the 1st Marine Brigade were used against bandits in western Hunan, and for the next several years the marines were used often for maintaining order in the border region of Hunan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. The 4th Marine Regiment was the only marine unit to remain in Fujian.
At the end of the war, the Chinese government decided to disband the Marine Corps. Admiral Chen Shaokuan, the head of the Navy, tried to prevent it and delayed implementing the order, arguing that the marines were needed to defend certain naval bases. But eventually the order was carried out. Several Marine units were merged into the Army. In July 1946, the disbanding of the Marine Corps was completed.

Restoration

The commander of the Republic of China Navy in the late 1940s, Admiral, decided to recreate the ROC Marine Corps on 1947 after speaking to the U.S. Marine general Gerald C. Thomas in Qingdao. Gui worked with the U.S. forces in East Asia, and after his return to China he thought the ROC Navy would benefit from having marines. He chose soldiers and officers from the Republic of China Army to become the members of the Marine Corps, and it was expanded over then next several years by additional volunteers from the Army. September 16, 1947, is considered to be the founding date of the current ROC Marine Corps.
The initial force of marines, a battalion commanded by Yang Houcai, was stationed in Nanjing before going to Shanghai later that year, and were deployed along the coast at different locations. Admiral Gui organized recruitment efforts for the Corps in the coastal cities of China. The reconstituted Marine Corps was organized into three regiments, with the 1st Marine Regiment being established in 1948 in Mawei, Fujian. As the communists made advances, a 2nd Marine Regiment was created by the Navy towards the end of 1948, and a 3rd Regiment in January 1949. They were deployed in coastal regions and some of the offshore islands of China. An artillery unit was transferred to the ROCMC from the Army. In March 1949 the three regiments, the artillery regiment, and Navy security forces were combined into the 2nd Marine Division.
By the late spring of 1949, two Marine Divisions of three regiments each were organized under a Marine Corps Command. They participated in fighting the Communists for the Zhoushan Islands of the Zhejiang Province, including at the Battle of Dengbu Island, and the for the Wanshan Archipelago, in the Wanshan Archipelago Campaign. In August 1949, about 1,000 Marines from the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Division defended the Changshan Islands in Shandong Province from 30,000 Communist troops, where they fought to the death. Marines also saw action in Mawei, Fujian, and elsewhere. In 1950, elements of the 2nd Marine Brigade helped in the evacuation of Hainan.