The Marine Raider Association preserves and promotes Marine Raider history and traditions; connects Marine Raiders, families, partners, and supporters; and mobilizes the Marine Raider community to enhance the Marine Raider spirit and values.
The 2026 Marine Raider Reunion will be in Sneads Ferry, NC April 21-24. We will celebrate MARSOC’s 20th Anniversary. It will include many events with MARSOC. Registration will be available soon.
RAIDER PATCH
WWII RAIDERS
A new type of unit is born in the US Marine Corps. Edson’s 1st Raider Battalion was designated, and several days later, Carlson’s 2d Raider Battalion was named. Later in the year, Liversedge’s 3rd Raider Battalion and Roosevelt’s 4th Raider Battalion were created. These WWII combat-ready ground troops were the predecessor of all United States special operations forces. Their history is filled with amazing tales of combat actions against the Japanese enemy, to include conducting the initial ground offensives against the Japanese and participating in turning back the Japanese advance. They were the only ground units to participate in every island assault in the Solomon Islands. Raiders, as individuals or units, were in virtually every island-hopping event in the Pacific War and made the first landing in Japan after its announced surrender. The WWII U.S. Marine Raiders and attached Navy Corpsmen earned 7 Medals of Honor, 141 Navy Crosses, 22 Distinguished Service Crosses, 330 Silver Stars, 18 Legions of Merit, 6 Navy and Marine Corps Medals, 3 Soldier's Medals, 223 Bronze Stars, and 37 Letters of Commendation.
DET ONE
The Marines and Sailors of Marine Corps Detachment One, US Special Operations Command, were following a similar path as the WWII Raiders. Colonel Robert Coates’s “proof of concept” unit was the “initial USMC force contribution to US Special Operations Command” and tasked with proving that Marines could successfully operate in the Special Operations world. After deploying to Iraq with SEAL Team One, the men of Det One proved that the Marine Corps could indeed hold their own as a special operations unit. Det One was disbanded in 2006 and its personnel reassigned to units throughout the USMC.
MARSOC
The action was being taken on one of then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s famous “snowflakes”--the directive to stand up a permanent USMC component to join the US Special Operations Command. The Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) was activated at Camp Lejeune, N.C. on February 24, 2006, and initially consisted of a small staff and the Foreign Military Training Unit, which had been formed to conduct foreign internal defense. For more than 10 years, the Marines and sailors of MARSOC have cemented USMC contributions to Special Operations. To bring things ‘full circle”, the units of MARSOC were officially redesignated as “Marine Raiders” on June 19, 2015. They continue the Raider legacy...
