Timeline for Why was Congress able to create an Air Force without a constitutional amendment?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 3 at 15:45 | comment | added | Stuart F | The US Marine Corps claims to have been founded in 1775, before the Constitution was enacted, so its existence was presumably assumed at the time. Something similar was part of any navy of the era. | |
| Jun 21, 2018 at 20:41 | comment | added | CramerTV | The Navy's budget STILL includes money for the Marine Corps - not just prior to the Fifth Congress. The 'green' Navy hauls Marines around and the funding for those ships is included just like the funding for Marine Corps bases. There is no separate budget for the Marine Corps like there is for the Air Force. I don't believe the comparison is apt for the Constitutional question being asked. | |
| Jun 21, 2018 at 9:40 | comment | added | Qsigma | When the constitution was drafted, it was common practice for warships to carry a complement of infantry, so it would never come into question that those marine soldiers were part of the Navy of the new republic. However, I would suggest that RBarryYoung's point is just a nuance to your answer that I suggest you edit in, so I have upvoted even though I prefer politics.stackexchange.com/a/31639/10122 | |
| Jun 20, 2018 at 19:38 | comment | added | RBarryYoung | But that's exactly what the question was about. | |
| Jun 20, 2018 at 19:35 | comment | added | T.E.D. | @RBarryYoung - Disagree. The "distinction" only matters if you buy the implicit argument in the question that the Constitution was intending to spell out exactly what management structure Congress could use for its armed forces. That argument is of course nonsense. | |
| Jun 20, 2018 at 19:30 | comment | added | RBarryYoung | No, the distinction between them is critical. The question is about the constitutionality of congress's actions in creating the Air Force. Congress did this by creating a new military department (and transferring the Army Air Force into it), which is were the question of constitutional powers comes in. Congress never separated nor transferred the Marines out of the Department of the Navy so there was never any question of their constitutional powers. It is a different situation, specifically in the context of this question. | |
| Jun 20, 2018 at 19:20 | comment | added | T.E.D. | @RBarryYoung - Right. And I actually said that up in the answer, in a parenthetical. Your point that they aren't identical situations is quite correct, but for the purposes of this question they are effectively the same type of situation. History never really repeats itself, but it does sometimes rhyme. | |
| Jun 20, 2018 at 19:15 | comment | added | RBarryYoung | Technicalities: The Marines were never separated from the Department of the Navy. The Air Force was separated from the Department of the Army. It is now a separate military department, the Marines are not. | |
| Jun 20, 2018 at 19:12 | comment | added | RBarryYoung | Hmm, well the term "service" was the distinction used when I was younger, but these days that seems to have blurred somewhat. Now they say that it is a separate military department, but I'm not sure that that carries the same connotation. | |
| Jun 20, 2018 at 19:10 | comment | added | T.E.D. | @RBarryYoung - "The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is a branch of the United States Armed Forces ... The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the four armed service branches ..". I know what you are getting at, but if you are going to "well actually" someone with a comment that is only technically true, but doesn't actually enlighten anyone on the subject at hand, you should at least get your own technicalities right. | |
| Jun 20, 2018 at 19:06 | comment | added | RBarryYoung | The US Marines were and still are a branch of the US Navy, they are not a separate service. This is different from the US Air Force which started out similarly as part of the US Army, but in 1947 were made into a separate service, which appears to be what the OP was asking about. | |
| Jun 20, 2018 at 18:41 | history | answered | T.E.D. | CC BY-SA 4.0 |