Brian Jones: “The Marine Corps Association was founded on April 25, 1913, in Guantanamo, Cuba, by marines of the 2nd Provisional…”

“The Marine Corps Association was founded on April 25, 1913, in Guantanamo, Cuba, by marines of the 2nd Provisional Brigade. John A. Lejeune, then a lieutenant colonel, headed the Marine Corps Association's first executive committee. In a statement signed by members of the committee, Lejeune and his fellow officers declared that the Marine Corps Association would publish the history of the Marine Corps and disseminate ``information concerning the aims, purposes and deeds of the Corps, and the interchange of ideas for the betterment and improvement of its officers and men.'' The Marine Corps Gazette was introduced in March 1916 as a vehicle used to establish the Marine Corps Association as the professional organization of all marines and to establish a venue to debate issues of importance to the Corps and disseminate military art and science to association members. In 1976, the Leatherneck Association, publishers of Leatherneck-- Magazine of the Marines, merged with the Marine Corps Association in a partnership that has proven beneficial to both organizations. In 2009, the Marine Corps Association founded the Marine Corps Association Foundation in order to provide more support to professional programs for marines, which include: awards--over 10,600 were provided in 2011 alone--battlefield studies, professional military education forums, and Commanders' Unit Libraries with books from the Commandant's Professional Reading List.…”