Republic of Korea Marine Corps
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The Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC) is the Marine Corps of the Republic of Korea. It is a separate organisation from the Korean Navy, unlike most other Marine organisation, which are part of their navies. It was founded after the Korean War, as a reconnaissence group. It is now is considered to be one of the deadliest, if not the best, fighting marines or specials operation forces of the world.
The ROKMC was created in 1949. The ROKMC is the largest Special Operation force in South Korea. They first saw action in the Korean War. One during the Korean conflict, a squad of ROKMC wiped out an entire battalion of Communist forces. As a result to this, they were acclaimed by foreign media and were dubbed the "Invincible Marines." They and also saw action during the Vietnam War. In Vietnam they were stationed in Danang. There they sometimes fought alongside with the USMC or the Navy SEAL's. Their most notable operations were "Operation Van Buren" and the Battle of Hoi An.
During "Operation Van Buren," a ROKMC platoon of about 13 people wiped out an elite North Vietnamese Army regiment. There were only 2 Koreans dead and more than 400 NVA soldiers dead. It was first a gun battle but it broke down into hand to hand combat. The ROKMC boasted a kill ratio of 24 to 1 in the Vietnam War
The marine corps remains a small force primarily dedicated to protecting the nation's islands. The marine corps, with 25,000 personnel, is organized into two divisions and one brigade under the Marine Corps Command. To execute amphibious operations, it possesses a range of amphibious equipment such as amphibious vehicles, as well as its own means of fire support.
The ROK Marine Corps is a special force taking charge of landing operations, which is accomplished by the navy with landing parties aboard landing crafts, fleets and aircraft. They attack the enemy's seashore from the sea or ground landing sites. The ROK Marines has the ability to accomplish missions which include ground battles, special fighting scenarios, facility protection and security services. Whenever there's a call for duty, they are as responsive as 911 rescue.
The ROK Marine Corps was established April 15, 1949 with an initial strength of 380 men. They won battles in both the Korean and Vietnam wars with invincibility as they were never defeated on the battlefield. As a result, they gained a fighting reputation with nicknames like; "Ghost Buster", "The Invincible ROK Marines" and "The Legendary ROK Marines".
The Marine Corps Headquarters is organized into two divisions and one brigade. For amphibious landing operations, the marines possess a wide range of landing equipment, such as amphibious tanks and their own fire support.
The principal influence on ROKMC acquisition programs is their wartime role as part of the Combined Marine Forces Command. Acquisition plans are tied to ROK Army procurement and focus on increasing tactical mobility, firepower, and command and control.
Until recently, the ROKMC fleet of Amphibious Vehicles consisted of sixty-one Landing Vehicles Tracked (LVT) and forty-two AAV7A1. Additionally, in an effort to replace the LVTs, the ROKMC is in the final year of a fifty-seven vehicle, three-year AAV7A1 co-production effort. The ROKMC is in the process of modifying that contract and producing an additional sixty-seven additional AAV7A1 vehicles.
A major naval evolution during Foal Eagle 2000, an annual combined U.S. and Republic of Korea (ROK) exercise, was an amphibious assault launched by U.S. and ROK Marines from U.S. Navy ships belonging to 7th Fleet's permanently forward-deployed Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) based in Japan.
TBC... -
At the request of the United States, President Park Chung Hee of the Republic of Korea agreed to send military units into Vietnam, despite opposition of both in Assembly and among the populace. In exchange, United States agreed to provide additional military funds to Korea to modernize its armed forces, totaling about a billion dollars.
Republic Of Korean Army unitsÂ’ Area of Responsibility were southern half of the II Corp. The Marine Corps units were deployed on the I Corp alongside with US Marines.
Initially, the AK47-equipped Vietcong and NVA outgunned Korean soldiers, since they were armed with World War II-era weaponry. But soon they received more modern weapons from United States military.
Most of the operations never exceeded battalion-size, but they also conducted divisional size operation. Before conducting a mission, Koreans will carefully laid out the plan and do through search more than once to firmly root out the foes. Koreans quickly learned pidgin Vietnamese language; for fear that most Vietnamese translators are and was spies for Vietcong and NVA. Koreans also had better field intelligence than their American counterparts. Koreans did counterinsurgency operations so well that American commanders felt Korean AOR is the safest. This is further supported when Vietcong documents captured after Tet Offensive warns their compatriots to never engage Koreans until full victory is certain. In fact, it is often the NVA and Vietcong who were ambushed by Koreans and not vice versa. Koreans used deadly hand-to-hand combat equally as destructive fire control.
Total of 300,000 Koreans served in Vietnam, with its actual strength throughout the year was around 45,000. About 4,000 never came back to home alive, with tens of thousands more suffering physical and psychological trauma. Many who fought were equally confused about the war as was with Americans. War also affected the war deeper in Korea than was at United States, one out 200 Koreans were sent to Vietnam, in oppose to 1 in 300 in United States. This was further aggravated with knowledge that they are fighting against fellow Asians who want to expel what Vietnamese saw was foreign invasion. Fighting in a different environment and living in strange culture led to indifferences among Koreans towards Vietnamese. About 4,000 Vietnamese had died by atrocities committed by Korean soldiers.
Officers and men of the Capital Division were the best, received the best and fought well in Vietnam War. They boasted that they have a kill ratio of 1 to 17 and they do not exaggerate their body counts. Men of the 9th Infantry didnÂ’t have same caliber as the Capital, but they achieved equal accomplishment in combat. From the creation, Korean Marines were the elite. In Korean War they earned the nickname "Invincible Marines," by foreign press after a Marine squad wiped out a Communist battalion. In Vietnam, they earned the new nickname "Devil Fighters," had a kill ratio of 1 to 25.
Vietnam War was a boon to Korean economy, as construction contracts and other markets were poured currency into Korean wallet. It could be seen in same light with Japan reignited its industry during Korean War.
North Korea also sends its own personals to aid their fellow ideological comrades in North Vietnam. About a hundred pilots and psychological warfare unit fought in Vietnam.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Korea_Marine_Corps -
If what stated above is true then it means they are more garang then the USMC....juz my thought.......
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what type of arm to arm combat are they trained in..since its so lethal..
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to begin with, most of the asia countrie's army training and etc were more harsh and mentally/physically torturous than western countries. the western countries have higher advantage in technology at the time being though.
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Heard they were trained in Taekuando( sorry wrong spelling) then the usmc decided to follow them.....Originally posted by stellazio:what type of arm to arm combat are they trained in..since its so lethal.. -
They learnt taekwando. A friend of mine said if ur a black belt holder, u need to join the elite forces. They teach u many methods how to kill a man without any weapons. From a single bullet to a pebble, etc.
Now he uses his skills to open beer bottles without an opener
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Like that how about the Chinese special forces.. imagine what kind of power if they are all Shaolin trained 10 to 20 yrs in the mountains. Squads will consist of the 18 Iron Men team. What u guys think... u think will more terror in hand to hand ?
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Then how come our SAF soldiers keep complaining tkd is useless since it has been battle proven by the koreans. I believe it provides a gd foundation for u to learn other martial arts or unarmed combat. If u watch the SCV ( Go warrior!), they did an documentary on the south korea special forces learning tkd. If i m not wrong. heard that they train on tkd and unarmed combat almost everyday.But i know their tkd is not the kinda civilian tkd. They do all kinda funny thingsOriginally posted by alexkusu:They learnt taekwando. A friend of mine said if ur a black belt holder, u need to join the elite forces. They teach u many methods how to kill a man without any weapons. From a single bullet to a pebble, etc.
Now he uses his skills to open beer bottles without an opener -
becos taekwondo these days have really degraded to extremely pathetic standards these days. So much so that people prefer to call it martial sports rather than martial arts. But used in the right way, with the right type of techniques taught...it is deadly
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I believe their ROK armed forces TKD is a bit different. More for actual violent work rather than sport. Singapore's TKD scene, from what i heard is a bit diluted liao.
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Krav Manga is the way to go...all out, balls to the wall no holds barred hand-to-hand combat where u fight for ur life with everything u've got. If I'm not mistaken, its the only martial arts which does not have competitions etc.
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Krav manga is basically a rojak. Steal all the techniques from all the martial arts.Originally posted by SpecOps87:Krav Manga is the way to go...all out, balls to the wall no holds barred hand-to-hand combat where u fight for ur life with everything u've got. If I'm not mistaken, its the only martial arts which does not have competitions etc. -
do u practise it then?Originally posted by SpecOps87:Krav Manga is the way to go...all out, balls to the wall no holds barred hand-to-hand combat where u fight for ur life with everything u've got. If I'm not mistaken, its the only martial arts which does not have competitions etc.
as Tango have said..its a rojak of alot of Arts..
in combat..of cos u fight wif your life...
dun support a Art blindly becos the Special Force are learning it..
of cos u are mistaken...Aikido does not have competition too.. -
300,000 TKD black belt holders is sure formidable..
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yea..look at their riot police...pity them..Originally posted by SMAPLionHeart:300,000 TKD black belt holders is sure formidable.. -
A book I read had a different take on this issue. The ROKMC did not sympathise with the Vietnamese in any way about fighting foreign invaders. Nor was "indifference" anywhere near to describing the ROKMC mentality.Originally posted by kaka_22:...This was further aggravated with knowledge that they are fighting against fellow Asians who want to expel what Vietnamese saw was foreign invasion. Fighting in a different environment and living in strange culture led to indifferences among Koreans towards Vietnamese.
It said that the South Koreans had just finished a brutal war against communists in their own country during the Korean War. The outcome was inconclusive and South Koreans were still filled with very deep hatred for anyone who is a communist.
So when the ROKMC came to Vietnam, they brought their hatred for communist with them. They were in Vietnam ready to exact a vengeance on Communism they couldn't in Korea due to the truce. This partly explained their brutal methods.
It was reported that communist activity was near zero in their AO. With a reported 4,000 "VC" dead, this is hardly surprising. But their methods are not to be praised as they committed murder and other atrocities indiscriminately on the Vietnamese people including women and children, oftentimes merely on suspicion of being communist sympathisers. Theirs was a reign of absolute, merciless terror.
About 4,000 Vietnamese had died by atrocities committed by Korean soldiers.
During the early phase of the war, the Australians also had great counter-insurgency ops going on in their AO. They knew of the Vietcong's habits and their need for the people to supply them with food and money. So they gave villages protection and set up ambush at night when the VC come to collect their taxes. This way the Aussies could pick the battleground.
In fact, it is often the NVA and Vietcong who were ambushed by Koreans and not vice versa.
Their kill ratio was also high. Though they obviously were a lot more humane and didn't kill 4,000 "VC", they succeeded in starving the VC so badly they became desperate and made even more mistakes. Many surrendered due to hunger and poor morale. The villagers felt safe and that they could trust the Australians and readily co-operated by giving intel etc. leading to more successes.
Unfortunately, the Americans got into the picture and ordered the Australians to switch from Counter Insurgency to full-scale gung-ho Search and Destroy that the US cowboys favour.
So, like the Americans, the Australians went hunting deep in the jungles and left the villages in the protection of the poorly-armed and trained local militia. Soon, the VC were back in business terrorising the people and collecting food and taxes.
In the jungles, it was mostly wild goose chase and when they do get into a firefight, it was usually the VC or NVA's initiative and it was the commies who picked the time and place, not the other way round.
But the most casualties were caused by encounters with mines and booby-traps made from unexploded Allied ordnance. The VC used unexploded arty rounds or they dig up the mines from Aussie minefields to re-lay them against the Aussies in other areas.
Troopers were killed without the enemy even being anywhere near. This led to great frustrations and poor morale. It also put the troops on constant edge thinking their next step could be their last and no chance to even fire a shot in anger. Australian casualties mounted and Australian public opinion soon sent them packing back home to Australia. -
I found out something too. The ROK special forces dont just learnt tkd. They learn hapkido also. You have to be a TKD black belt inorder to take hapkido.Thats y they always sae black belt in TKD is just the beginning, not ending.
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btw, among martial arts...
i think Jit Kun Do is the most effective...
it is developed by my idol (BRUCE LEE) -
Bruce Lee's famous sidekick was from TKD.He learnt all his kicking from a Korean TKD master. Btw, anyone got read the Wed New paper about a black belt who whacked off 3 robbers. That guy is a TKD black belt.Cos i know who he is. Once again, TKD has proven its usefulness in real life situation if u learn the correct way.Originally posted by Arena:btw, among martial arts...
i think Jit Kun Do is the most effective...
it is developed by my idol (BRUCE LEE) -
Actuali from my opinion, all martial arts is very usefull but then again learning it and mastering the art is 2 diff things....
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This is their training
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Haha.Thats y their unarmed combat and TKD is deadly.Not the normal kinda we learn in Spore. They even use real baynonets for training in unarmed combat unlike SAF.SAF uses wooden knives.However, some SAF soldiers still can get injured from it.Originally posted by Manager433:This is their training .How to teach them chim martial arts or techniques?Sigh -
oh.... i see
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i remember reading an article on the korean marines. apparently during their winter training, one of their exercise is a 4000km route march in the snow