UNSC Marine Corps

"Man, I'm never going to get another hour's sleep."

- Corporal Locklear

"Sleep when you're dead, Marine."

- Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson

The UNSC Marine Corps is branch of the United Nations Space Command Defence Force primarily responsible for land-based military operations, and protecting UNSC Navy starships and bases from attack.

Introduction
A rugged and diverse assortment of warriors, the Marines of the United Nations Space Command Defense Force are fighting a losing war against the Covenant's superior technology and numbers. Under the leadership of notable figures such as Captain Keyes, or Admiral Whitcomb, they continue to wage a furious struggle against the Covenant, even as their numbers dwindle. They're the best of the best. Unfortunately, they're only Human.

Equipment
Marines have few bio-augmentations and usually wear passive camouflage uniforms. They wear dark-colored metal-alloy armor to shield them from plasma fire and the few occasional bullets. Marine helmets are mounted with display eyepieces and helmet recorders, which give them information about their surroundings. As well as helmets, Marines on field ops in more humid locales sometimes choose to wear boonie covers. Orbital Drop Shock Troopers or "Helljumpers," distinctive in their black-based camouflage scheme and more protective body armor, are a special operations group within the UNSC Marines Corps.

Marine NCOs are easily recognized by the hat, not helmet, that has the Eagle, Globe and Anchor of the Marine Corps that they wear. They occasionally wear helmets, although in Halo: Combat Evolved, they are portrayed as never wearing them. Sergeants are (usually) more tactically adept, are better shots, and are tougher to kill than normal Marines, though these differences in gameplay, if any, are largely unnoticed.

The UNSC Marine armor is much different in Halo 2. The utilities worn under the armor are now camouflaged. The standard issue armor is more efficient and is a rough offshoot of the original armor used by Master Chief in Halo: Combat Evolved. The Marines are less of a rag-tag group in Halo 2 than they were in Halo: Combat Evolved. They no longer wear boonie covers and are never in combat without their armor. In fact, in Halo 2, the only times Marines are seen without any armor is during the awards ceremony on the first level. In this case, they are wearing their dress whites, and one armored Marine is missing the armor for his arms. It should be noted, however, that the full gray Marine armor with additional pockets/backpack in Halo: Combat Evolved was a medical uniform, as suggested by the letters EMP (Emergency Medical Pack) written on the back.

In the Halo Wars trailer, Marines are seen wearing helmets, balaclavas, and environmentally-suited armor to protect them from the cold.

List of equipment

 * CH252 Helmet
 * M52B Body Armour
 * VZG7 Armoured Boots
 * S90 Gas Mask
 * Spoofer
 * VX7 Nerve gas
 * PG000E Portable Electricity Generator

Halo: Combat Evolved
In Halo: Combat Evolved, almost all Marines carry MA5B Assault Rifles, though occasionally they can be seen with a Sniper Rifle, Needler, Shotgun, or Plasma Rifle. They are relatively accurate with these weapons, but incidents of friendly fire sometimes occur. Marines will strafe and avoid fire but not usually seek cover. They will roll out of the way of a vehicle but they will not pick up different weapons, Health Packs, or additional ammo.

Marines are conscious of back stabbing. After you have killed three Humans of any type, the rest of the Marines in the level will attack you. If you kill Captain Keyes or any other members of the bridge crew in The Pillar of Autumn, Cortana will lock the doors and summon a squad of invincible Marines to destroy you.

Marines hitch rides on player-driven Warthogs and Scorpion Tanks but are only capable of piloting Ghosts by themselves. They will exit Scorpions when the player leaves the driver seat, but will stay in a Warthog until they are ordered to get out. Be careful of Marines piloting Ghosts. They are occasionally prone to running you over. In Halo: Combat Evolved, the only practical way of getting a Marines' weapon, unfortunately, is by killing them.

Halo 2
In Halo 2, the Marines are much more intelligent. They are able to drive the Warthog, the Ghost, the Wraith, the Spectre and the Scorpion, albeit a bit clumsily. They can now melee sleeping Grunts or enemies with their backs turned, a vast improvement over the Halo: Combat Evolved Marines, who had to fire their weapons in such situations. The Marines are far more interactive, capable of more independent thought and wield a greater variety of weapons. The player can also easily switch weapons with the Marines to make sure that they are well armed or that the player is. As in Halo: Combat Evolved, the Marines are aware of backstabbing, and will attempt to kill you after you kill a few of their comrades. The number of Marines that can be killed before the others turn against you oddly seems to vary depending on the weapon used and the way they are shot. For example, taking out three Marines with head shots usually won't make them see you as an enemy, but meleeing three Marines usually does. However, if the player progresses through the level and meets another group of marines a distance away from where the betrayal was performed, they will be marked as allies once again. Also, if the player does not harm any marines who are shooting at him/her for a certain amount of time the marine(s) will reluctantly return to an allied condition. They will seek cover behind boxes and walls, though this mainly only happens when the Marines are desperate, so they don't use cover as the player does.

Halo 3
It is unknown what the Marines' armor and abilities will be in Halo 3. All that is known about them AI-wise is that they are better drivers and more capable of surviving without the player's aid. Their armor is only seen in the Halo 3 Vid-Doc Et Tu Brute?. It is the most clearly seen at the "4:54-4:57" mark in the Vid-Doc. It appears to be a slight modification of the Halo 2 Marine armor with a hint of ODST armor and seems metallic and is a blue/black color. There is another picture of a Marine getting stabbed by a Brute in the "5:49-5:55" mark, as well. But according to Bungie, since the Vid-Doc was made a while back that many things have changed since then. So, it is unknown what their current armor looks like.

Weapons

 * MA5B ICWS Assault Rifle
 * SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle
 * M90 Shotgun
 * M9 HE-DP Grenade

Vehicles

 * M12 Warthog LRV
 * M808B Scorpion Main Battle Tank
 * D77-TC Pelican

Weapons

 * M6C Magnum Sidearm
 * BR55
 * M7/Caseless Sub Machine Gun
 * SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle
 * M19 SSR SPNKr Rocket Launcher
 * M90 Mk.I Shotgun
 * M9 HE-DP Grenade
 * M247 GP Machine Gun

Vehicles

 * M12G1 Warthog LAAV
 * M12 Warthog LRV
 * M808B Scorpion MBT
 * D77-TC Pelican

Weapons

 * MA5C Assault Rifle
 * BR55HB SR Battle Rifle
 * M6G Pistol
 * M7/Caseless Sub Machine Gun
 * W/AV M6 Grindell/Galileian Nonlinear Rifle "Spartan Laser"
 * SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle
 * M41 SSR SPNKr Rocket Launcher
 * M90 Mk.I Shotgun
 * M9 HE-DP Grenade

Vehicles

 * M274 ULATV Mongoose
 * M12G1 LAAV Warthog
 * M12 LRV Warthog
 * M808 Scorpion MBT
 * D77H-TCI Pelican

List of Marines

 * Lance Corporal Janet Adams KIA
 * Al-Thani KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Staff Sergeant Marcus Banks ACTIVE DUTY
 * Private Bisenti KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Lieutenant Buckman KIA, Battle of Reach
 * Company Sergeant Tink Carter KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Lieutenant Jake Chapman KIA, Battle of Reach
 * Private Cochran WIA, Battle of Sigma Octanus IV
 * Sergeant Corly KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Second Lieutenant Dalu KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Dawkins KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Private Chipps Dubbo MIABattle of Installation 05
 * Major Easley ACTIVE DUTY
 * Corporal C. Errera KIA
 * Private Fincher ACTIVE DUTY
 * Private First Class M. Fitzgerald KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Lance Corporal Gobi ACTIVE DUTY
 * Corporal Harland ACTIVE DUTY
 * Private First Class Hosky KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Private First Class Wallace A. Jenkins KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson ACTIVE DUTY
 * Lance Corporal "Snaky" Jones KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Private Kappus KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * General Kits KIA, Battle of Sigma Octanus IV
 * Master Sergeant Lister KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Corporal Locklear KIA, Operation: FIRST STRIKE
 * Corporal Lovik KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Second Lieutenant McCasky KIA, Battle of Sigma Octanus IV
 * First Lieutenant Melissa McKay KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Private McKenzie ACTIVE DUTY
 * Private Manuel Mendoza KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Staff Sergeant Marvin Mobuto KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Private O'Brien KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Second Lieutenant Oros KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Sergeant Parker KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Corporal Perez ACTIVE DUTY
 * Private Marie Postly KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Parsons ACTIVE DUTY
 * Private Riley KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Private Satha KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Major Antonio Silva KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Sergeant Stacker ACTIVE DUTY
 * Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker ACTIVE DUTY
 * Major General Nicolas Strauss ACTIVE DUTY
 * Private First Class Suzuki KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Medic "Doc" Valdez KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Private Walker ACTIVE DUTY
 * Gunnery Sergeant Waller ACTIVE DUTY
 * Corporal Wilkins KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Yutrzenika KIA, Battle of Installation 04
 * Unnamed Master Gunnery Sergeant KIA, First Battle of Earth
 * Unnamed Lieutenant WIA, Battle of New Mombasa
 * Unnamed Marine Officer MIA, Battle of Mombasa

Marine Units

 * 405th Marine Infantry Division
 * 77th Marine Regiment
 * Alpha Company (Battalion unknown)
 * 105th Shock Division
 * 7th ODST Battalion
 * 1st Platoon (Company and Regiment Unknown)
 * 105th Drop Jet Platoon
 * Charlie Company
 * Tango Company

Fire Teams

 * Fire Team Zulu
 * Fire Team Charlie

Trivia

 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, the Marine's faces were modeled on Bungie employees.
 * Bungie went to great lengths to ensure that the Marines reflected the diversity of Earth; some Marines look and sound Anglo-Saxon, while others appear Asian, African, Hispanic, Italian, and Australian.
 * In the Halo: Combat Evolved level "Truth and Reconciliation", Captain Keyes tells a Marine to "Stow your belly aching...! Remember you're a leatherneck." Leatherneck was a nickname earned by U.S. Marines in the 19th century.
 * In the level Cairo Station, there is sometimes a battle damaged Marine. He is missing his helmet and is covered in blood. This is random and only happens on this level on the normal difficulty and above.
 * After a marine is killed in Halo 2, sometimes his/her eyes will continue to blink. (rare)
 * In the level Guilty Spark, one marine with a shotgun and fatigues will say after he kills a random flood combat form; "Oh god, I recognized that one - that was Bob!"
 * It seems like the UNSC Marine Corps follows most or all of the traditions of the late-20th century to early-21st century United States Marine Corps.