7 Facts About US Marine Corps

1. In 1959, William Rankin, a pilot in the US Marine Corps ejected from his plane at 47,000 feet, above a thunderstorm.

2. The US Marine Corps is older than the United States itself, predating the Declaration of Independence by a year.

3. The US Marine Corps have not formally announced how many personnel were invovled.

4. The US Marine Corps operates both rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft mainly to provide assault support and close air support to its ground forces.

5. Every year, over 2,000 new US Marine Corps officers are commissioned, and 38,000 recruits accepted and trained.

6. The US Marine Corps was involved in over 28 separate interventions in the 30 years from the end of the American Civil War to the end of 19th century.

7. The US Marine Corps is one of the four armed service branches in the US Department of Defense and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States.