Reddit reviews Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps
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SEALs began as amphibious scouts used in advance of amphibious operations. The debacle at Tarawa is a good example of the need for that. Combat divers who would scout enemy beaches, who eventually learned underwater demolition to destroy obstacles on the beach. Then they applied that toward being sneaky and conducting raids. 20 years later the Navy found itself in irregular wars in littoral environments, and took the amphibious commando-esque force it already had and applied it toward that mission, so we had Underwater Demolition Teams and SEA, Air, and Land Teams. By the 80s we needed more of the new skillset and less of the old one so the UDTs became SEAL teams. And the SEALs continued to train for whatever missions the country throws them at. In the 2000s they were doorkickers who could occasionally swim. Now "the water's coming back" and there's more focus on reconnaissance.
Not disagreeing with you; continuing the discussion.
I think you would enjoy the book Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps. It's 300-something pages but it's a quick read. He argues WW2 was the turning point in the development of the Marine Corps. Although I think you're right to say WW1 (Marines operating as a second land Army.... in France not even allowed to wear their own uniforms but the Army's) was a significant event in Marine Corps history and definitely relevant now after Iraq and Afghanistan.
There's been a lot of educated articles and lectures over the last few years trying to get at what the Marine Corps is now and what type of force it should try to be. Between WW1 and WW2 it identified itself as a force skilled in amphibious operations, because it thought the Pacific would be the next war, and that turned right --but the last time we did an amphibious invasion was Korea. Should it be a "small wars" force, fighting counterinsurgency in Latin America like the 20s? One article I read (that I can't find anymore) argued it should be a small, elite raiding force, a lot like what you just described. Everything comes around again, I suppose.