The Colonial Marine Corps is a branch of the Colonial Forces tasked with ground combat operations and ship-board security.
Galactica initially had about thirty Marines left, although there are no snipers among them (Bastille Day). This number increased drastically with the addition of the battlestar Pegasus to the Fleet.
After Pegasus's destruction, a number of Marines are integrated into Galactica's crew. During a briefing between Colonel Tigh and Admiral Adama, Tigh says "A hundred Marines too weak to work, two hundred more about to drop", which implies that there are now at least 300 Marines, probably accounting for the Pegasus survivors (The Passage).
A Marine's duties include guarding the CIC and the brig as well as other critical areas on the ship, and assisting the Master-at-Arms (Litmus) and are part of Raptor boarding parties ("Bastille Day", "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II", "Resistance", "Pegasus"). Naturally, they are also responsible for repelling enemy boarding actions (Valley of Darkness). Admiral Adama's quarters are constantly under marine guard, and the same is true for President Roslin when she is aboard ship. A Marine is also tasked with serving Admiral Adama's food (A Day in the Life).
Very few marine officers appear to be stationed on Galactica; when they are shown on missions, usually Fleet officers command the Marine units. Crashdown's actions on Kobol (Fragged) suggest that Fleet officers are cross trained in conducting ground operations. The only Marine officer shown so far is Lieutenant Terry Burrell (Sacrifice).
Marines are evidently untrained in crowd control, as the actions on the Scylla and Gideon demonstrate. In each of these situations Marines react with little discipline to enraged crowds ("Razor", "Final Cut").
Colonial Marines are also called "jarheads". Like the Colonial Fleet, the Corps has a reserve component (Final Cut)
Rank Structure
Only the ranks of the enlisted crew have been established so far. See Military Ranks (RDM) for details.
Known Marines
Active
Deceased
Status Unknown
Real life costuming notes
The Colonial Marine Corps battle uniforms appear to be based on those of the U.S. Army's Delta Force or the counter-terrorist branch of the British Army's Special Air Service Regiment. Besides their black combat uniforms, the weapons and personal combat equipment of the Marines are similar to what today's police SWAT teams and anti-terrorist special forces units utilize.
To date, the Marines have appeared in either an all-black BDU (aboard ship) or an olive-drab/green BDU (planetside, as in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I"). There is evidence that the Colonial Marine Corps do utilize digital camouflage uniforms like the real-life United States Marine Corps with their MARPAT digital camouflage uniforms, but it appears that the wearing of digital camouflage uniforms are restricted to regular Colonial Marine Corps forces while the Marines serving as security personnel on the warships of the Colonial Fleet are issued solid-color combat uniforms in black, khaki, and olive-drab. One piece of evidence that the Colonial Marine Corps do utilize digital camouflage uniforms can be seen the in the episodes "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I" and "Part II" when the rescue team that is deployed to Caprica have "woodland" digital camouflage backpacks on their backs. Furthermore, in one of the Razor Flashback episodes, two Colonial Marine medics are wearing "woodland" digital camouflage uniforms on Galactica's hangar deck. Digital camouflage is also used by the landing party on Kobol in "Home, Part II" (by both William and Lee Adama), as well as the Shore Patrol personnel in "Scattered".
To outfit the Marines, the show's costume department appears to use the following real-world items:
- Helmet
- Giro Bad Lieutenant snowboard/ski helmet, black — far less heavy and less expensive than the US/UN PASGT helmet
- Goggles
- Paulson 510T Tactical Goggles — these, or...
- Paulson 510TF ATAC "Frag" Goggles — these... it depends on what the costume department was budgetted for, or got them for. The closures, hinges, and "face gasket" are the giveaways.
- Small Arms
- Main article: Small arms
- Combat Vest
- PBBA SPIDER — offered by a company called Point-Blank Body Armor, Inc., the vests appear to be one of these models, with a "modular grid attachment system" based around snaps (the telltale characteristic if you see a Colonial Marine's back) and velcro (a costumer's best friend!). This affords the costume department the option to attach whatever they want to the vests, regardless of compatability, since all they need to do is stitch on some velcro. As far as if it is the SPIDER specifically that's being used, or one of the following models, or a model offered from another manufacturer, has yet to be confirmed, but substantial research points towards this being the vest used in the series.
- PBBA MRV+ SWAT — "heavier" vest variant
- PBBA SWAT Cert+ — higher-collared variant
- Pinnacle Armor Tactical Vest — It more than likely is this one in the "modular grid base" unit. It makes the most sense, since it would be most cost effective to get the unlined, unarmored modular vest, with the velcro and snaps, and just attach whatever is wanted to it.
- Knife
- M7 bayonets (though they've never been drawn, bayonets carried by the Marines appear consistent with M7's sheath and handle)