In WWII they leaned on understanding from British occupations across the world. Insurgents were a big issue for the British, and they had started to sort out how to fight a guerrilla war as the empire was collapsing.
I wish I could remember the book I read. It details things like how the one person you had to worry about at a security checkpoint was the person with all their papers in order... I want to say it was Western Africa, or a similar holding that the book centered around.
[edit] All that to say I agree with you. A self-sufficient force seems to be, by nature, multi-talented. [/edit]
> In WWII they leaned on understanding from British occupations across the world.
Nah. The Corps has had plenty of opportunity to acquire the experience organically:
"During about 85 of the last 100 years, the Marine Corps has been engaged in small wars in different parts of the world."
--Small Wars Manual (1940 Edition)
Running through the list of the Corps' most revered heroes... I can't think of a single one that didn't face an enemy that employed guerilla warfare tactics. Chesty Puller started out fighting an insurgency in Haiti and then Nicaragua. Before that SgtMaj Daly fought in the Boxer Rebellion. Smedley Butler fought Cuban insurgents in the Spanish–American War (later writing "War Is a Racket"). Archibald Henderson fought in the Seminole Wars...
The Corps has more experience with asymmetric warfare than the stereotypical military campaign. It also has a very long institutional memory where best practices are developed and passed down - I don't remember ever hearing somebody cite British colonialism during a period of instruction, we had our own colonialism to refer back to: the banana wars.
I wish I could remember the book I read. It details things like how the one person you had to worry about at a security checkpoint was the person with all their papers in order... I want to say it was Western Africa, or a similar holding that the book centered around.
[edit] All that to say I agree with you. A self-sufficient force seems to be, by nature, multi-talented. [/edit]
[edit2] And the book, which is quite good, is "Small Wars" by a Colonel Callwell. https://www.amazon.com/Small-Wars-Their-Principles-Practice/... [/edit2]