Officers joining George Washington’s army outside Boston in the summer of 1775 didn’t swear allegiance to the United States. They couldn’t: America didn’t exist. The U.S. Marine Corps, Navy and Army all celebrated their 250th anniversary in 2025, making them a year older than the nation they support.
Elder status doesn’t mean the Army, Marine Corps, and Navy rise above the nation. It does mean their traditions are long established. These traditions influence how services conduct operations, provide logistics and solve problems.
Traditions aren’t arbitrary or accidental. Instead, they are based on history and reflect fundamental differences arising from the separate domains in which the services fight. In his book “The Masks of War: American Military Styles in Strategy and Analysis,” the late Carl Builder posits that “service personalities are … marked by the circumstances attending their early formation and their most recent traumas.” Builder suggest that those who work with the services should know their personalities.
Early formations and most recent traumas
It is difficult to downplay the extent to which the Army is defined by its early history. Organizers of every change of command in the past quarter millennium have followed a set format that mirrors Washington’s assumption of command outside Boston on July 3, 1775. Also derived from the Revolutionary War is the view that soldiers represent America. This view has two origins. First, much of what land forces accomplished during the war was performed by militias, which the Continental Congress convinced states to place under Washington’s command whenever he thought it necessary. Second, even soldiers in the Continental Army returned home after relatively short enlistments. Although many today think of the Army as one continuous formation, Congress had to recruit four times during the war.
Although the Army’s recent experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq can justifiably be considered as traumatic by participants, it was Vietnam that profoundly shook the service. The Southeast Asian conflict was fought with draftees and became the first time in history America lost a war. The Army bore the brunt of the fighting.
Like the Army, the Marine Corps also has its beginnings in the American Revolution. Formed by Congress on Nov. 10, 1775, Marines served on the first U.S. ships and successfully raided the Bahamas. The Marine Corps hymn omits the Revolution, however. Instead, the first conflict it refers to is the Barbary Wars, America’s attempt during the early 19th century to stop pirates from accosting shippers. “The shores of Tripoli” and subsequent operations against non-governmental entities, called counterinsurgency today, are very much part of the Marine Corps’ identity. Examples include interventions in Latin America during the second half of the 19th century and first two-thirds of the 20th century, as well as non-kinetic aspects of Vietnam and the Global War on Terror.
In addition to conducting counterinsurgencies, the Marine Corps has also acted as a land force. Famous battles in locations such as Belleau Wood in World War I, the Chosin Reservoir in Korea, Khe Sanh in Vietnam, and the second battle of Fallujah in Iraq all prove Marines can fight far from a shoreline. Even so, Defense Department civilians questioned the need for the Marine Corps after World War II. Its island-hopping campaign across the central Pacific helped defeat Japan, but there seemed to be little need for an amphibious assault capability early in the postwar period.
The Navy is similar to the Marine Corps in that, while formed during the American Revolution, its foundational story dates to a more recent conflict. Although John Paul Jones set a paradigm for independent command in the Revolution, winning ship-on-ship battles and raiding the British coast, it was the bold captains of the War of 1812 whose victories are glorified today. Isaac Hull, Charles Stewart, Thomas McDonough, David Porter, William Bainbridge and Stephen Decatur all set a standard for boldness and bravery that sailors still admire more than 200 years later.
The Soviet fleet had justified the service’s existence during the Cold War; its removal as a threat was good for peace but bad for the nation’s blue-water force. Despite supporting roles in the First Gulf War and the War on Terror, the Navy became “A Global Force for Good,” serving the nation in important but non-warfighting ways.
Why service personalities are important
Builder’s “Masks of War” remains valuable today because it connects service personalities with recruitment. In the era of an all-volunteer military, the services have to attract talent. Helped by literature, movies, and the gaming industry, the services promote glorified interpretations of their pasts to fill ranks with young men and women.
To both soldiers and the public, the European Theater of Operations in World War II is the Army’s most exalted success. Occurring 80 years ago, the campaign was the largest concentration of Army units moving against a single objective in service history. The advance through Europe from D-Day in June 1944 to V-E Day in May 1945 showcased the effectiveness possible from synchronizing movement, maneuver, fires and sustainment.
World War II was also the height of warfighting success for the Navy and Marine Corps, with the exception that the Pacific and not Europe is deemed the theater worth emulating. Although the common claim is that the Navy entered World War II having engaged in only 56 hours of combat, four years of conflict in the Pacific multiplied the service’s combat experience by many times. Of the several identity-shaping battles were fought over those years – Coreal Sea, Guadalcanal, Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf – Midway is the best remembered today.
The Marine Corps also considers World War II in the Pacific an ideal model for replication because its advance across the Pacific allowed it to conduct amphibious operations instead of counterinsurgency or land warfare. If Midway is the pinnacle of success for the Navy, then Iwo Jima fills that role for the Marines. To many Americans, the battle is the defining achievement for the Corps.
The Marines survived as a separate service because of the Korean War. Seizing Inchon in September 1950 and defending the Chosin Reservoir three months later secured the Corps’ existence to the present day.
How traditions are expressed
Traditions are expressed in many ways. Ceremonies are the most intentional. When ships enter ports, crews man the rails. Uniforms are the most ubiquitous. Army Lt. Gen. Andrew T. McNamara, DLA’s first director, received pushback from the Marines when he tried to standardize belt buckles on dress uniforms. Equipment is the most substantial. Many in the Army opposed transitioning from horses to tanks for sentimental reasons. Because DLA provides parts, procures uniforms, and participates in ceremonies, understanding how history affects service traditions is important for the agency. In addition to explaining how and why the services differ, this history defines America, itself on the brink of its 250th birthday.