The formal and permanent use of Marines as security guards began with the Foreign Service Act of 1946 , which authorized the Secretary of Navy to , upon the request of the Secretary of State , assign Marines to serve as custodians under the supervision of the senior diplomatic officer at a diplomatic post . The first joint Memorandum of Agreement was signed on 15 December 1948 regarding the provisions of assigning Marines overseas . Trained at the Foreign Service Institute , the first Marines arrived at Tangier and Bangkok in early 1949 . The Marine Corps assumed the primary training responsibility in November 1954 . The authority granted in the Foreign Service Act of 1946 has since been replaced by and the most recent Memorandum of Agreement was signed in August 2008 . Although embassy duty is a crucial aspect of the Marines ’ mission with a long tradition , the Corps is only budgeted to train and maintain a limited cadre of guards to cover over 100 embassies worldwide . In response to the 2012 Benghazi attack , Congress ordered a near doubling of Marine Security Guards in the midst of a post-war drawdown in overall USMC numbers . The USMC has responded by redeploying one company from 1st Battalion 1st Marines while additional guards are trained
2012 Benghazi attack
2012 Benghazi attack
Marine Security Guard