Why Did The U.S. Marine Corps Stop Using Tanks?

Tanks, the armored cavalry — it's a division commonly associated with the army, but that wasn't the only branch of the armed forces to use tanks. The United States Marine Corps has worked alongside the army and tanks since early World War I, but didn't experiment with tanks of its own until the mid 1920s. Even then, the unit didn't stay together for more than a few years. It wasn't until 1941 that the USMC formed its 1st Tank Battalion. Then in 2020, the Marine Corps announced a monstrous overhaul for itself that would require a 10-year transition period, bringing it back to its naval roots. This included scaling back the number of tanks it operated from 452 to zero.

Some might think that tanks aren't as useful in the modern age when you consider all the tools at a military's disposal, presumably leading to why the Marines are doing away with them, but that's not the reason. A series of war games and experiments influenced the Marine Corps Commandant General David Berger's decision. Speaking with the Heritage Foundation in 2019, "The current Marine Corps is not optimized for great power competition."

Divulging itself of tanks allows the Marine Corps to reorganize itself into smaller units that can position themselves at key points to support the navy. This will bring the Corps back to its roots and act as the naval expeditionary force it's supposed to be. 

Tanks, overall, aren't going anywhere. The U.S. Army will still have its fearsome armored divisions and use tanks when necessary. In fact, that's where the Marines sent their tanks when they started divesting their equipment for the restructure. When the announcement about redesigning the Corps was made in 2019, it had 452 tanks across three armored battalions at its disposal. By December 2020, the Marines sent 323 of them to the Army. The remaining 102 tanks had been spread out across the globe in storage and aboard ships, but were also eventually transferred to the U.S. Army.

Besides the best tank ever made, the Corps also divested other equipment such as radar systems and the M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle. What do the Marines do if they find themselves in a position where they need a tank or two? Then they call in the army, according to the Marine Corps Times. Anton Stubbs, the assistant portfolio manager for Logistics with Marine Corps Systems Command, went on to say that their relationship with other branches will be more critical.