Major General Thomas Holcomb opposed a separate Marine commando identity even as President Roosevelt, Admiral Nimitz, and mid-ranking officers pressed for forces suited to raids on lightly defended islands. The Raiders were trained and lightly equipped for short, highly tactical attacks. They were then assigned conventional battalion work that required troops to take and hold ground. Their predictable difficulty in that role helped produce the case for disbandment.
Notable Point · 12:17-16:15
Why Raiders failed conventional battalion tests
The institutional argument against the Raiders became self-fulfilling when a lightly armed raiding force was assigned conventional take-and-hold missions.